Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, May 17, 2023

2,886 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction report →

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $262.06/cwt ≈ $1,533/hd at 585 lb · 303 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $239.91/cwt ≈ $1,487/hd at 620 lb · 282 head

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $239.50/cwt ≈ $1,839/hd at 768 lb · 185 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,886	1,948	3,220
Feeder cattle	2,547	11	1,991
Slaughter cattle	140	524	528
Replacement cattle	199	1,413	701

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, feeder cattle have no comparison due to the special replacement sale last week. Trade was very active, demand very good on many load lots and packages of good quality steers and heifers. The bulk of the feeder sale consisted of heifers weighing up to 900 lbs. Slaughter and feeding cows sold mostly steady on lighter offerings.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
319	319	4	270.00	$270.00	$861	—
381–394	385	12	288.00–290.00	$288.68	$1,111	—
417–448	435	34	290.00–297.50	$294.84	$1,283	—
451 thin fleshed	451	6	302.50	$302.50	$1,364	—
461–498	475	64	287.50–292.50	$290.65	$1,381	—
460–485 value added	478	14	299.00–300.00	$299.28	$1,431	—
501 value added	501	22	290.00	$290.00	$1,453	—
503–542	515	92	282.00–289.00	$285.40	$1,470	—
563–597	587	46	273.00–280.00	$278.14	$1,633	—
603–615	605	23	261.00–268.00	$261.93	$1,585	—
608 value added	608	21	273.00	$273.00	$1,660	—
626 thin fleshed	626	8	274.00	$274.00	$1,715	—
650–668	665	65	250.00–265.00	$263.06	$1,749	—
714 thin fleshed	714	6	264.00	$264.00	$1,885	—
729–735	732	18	230.00–242.00	$235.98	$1,727	—
768	768	185	239.50	$239.50	$1,839	—
805–814	807	30	205.00–216.00	$207.59	$1,675	—
851–883	859	29	190.00–203.00	$201.19	$1,728	—
883 value added	883	60	207.00	$207.00	$1,828	—
922–927	926	40	197.00–200.50	$199.54	$1,848	—
1075	1075	2	154.00	$154.00	$1,656	—
1105	1105	2	150.00	$150.00	$1,658	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
425	425	4	280.00	$280.00	$1,190	—
585	585	4	259.00	$259.00	$1,515	—
643–646	645	10	240.50–249.00	$243.04	$1,568	—
673	673	11	245.00	$245.00	$1,649	—
725–737	732	12	211.00–225.00	$214.32	$1,569	—
798	798	2	203.00	$203.00	$1,620	—
828	828	2	197.00	$197.00	$1,631	—
915–922	919	5	168.00–182.00	$176.43	$1,621	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
303	303	2	235.00	$235.00	$712	—
389–398	391	10	240.00–250.00	$247.96	$970	—
510	510	2	215.00	$215.00	$1,096	—
579	579	5	230.00	$230.00	$1,332	—
813	813	3	165.00	$165.00	$1,341	—
923	923	2	160.00	$160.00	$1,477	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
380	380	11	257.00	$257.00	$977	—
406–445	434	43	255.00–265.00	$259.23	$1,125	—
480–493	488	52	253.00–266.00	$259.88	$1,268	—
521 fancy	521	7	264.00	$264.00	$1,375	—
507–541	522	131	248.00–261.00	$255.35	$1,333	—
550–590	567	95	245.00–260.00	$253.98	$1,440	—
593 value added	593	208	265.75	$265.75	$1,576	—
604–637	620	282	230.00–252.00	$239.91	$1,487	—
654–691	671	31	231.50–243.50	$237.92	$1,596	—
654–682	678	69	239.00–240.50	$239.93	$1,627	—
701–730	723	134	225.00–239.00	$237.33	$1,716	—
750 value added	750	4	226.00	$226.00	$1,695	—
753–794	775	72	196.00–210.00	$205.01	$1,589	—
812–829	813	156	196.00–210.00	$209.35	$1,702	—
853–869	861	8	166.00–178.00	$172.06	$1,481	—
888	888	10	183.00	$183.00	$1,625	—
954	954	7	171.00	$171.00	$1,631	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
412	412	3	247.50	$247.50	$1,020	—
472–483	476	15	241.00–244.00	$242.22	$1,153	—
541	541	13	244.00	$244.00	$1,320	—
553–595	576	23	224.00–239.00	$228.81	$1,318	—
621	621	6	230.00	$230.00	$1,428	—
655–686	672	25	207.00–225.00	$215.10	$1,445	—
709–730	722	10	217.00–222.50	$220.34	$1,591	—
778–791	783	10	177.00–184.00	$181.17	$1,419	—
816–843	829	16	168.00–185.00	$180.46	$1,496	—
888	888	2	166.00	$166.00	$1,474	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
288	288	2	223.00	$223.00	$642	—
373–392	385	8	200.00–207.50	$202.73	$781	—
405–418	412	6	200.00–210.00	$205.08	$845	—
577	577	3	202.50	$202.50	$1,168	—
612	612	3	205.00	$205.00	$1,255	—
655	655	2	197.50	$197.50	$1,294	—
737	737	3	160.00	$160.00	$1,179	—
845	845	3	153.00	$153.00	$1,293	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
473	473	2	282.00	$282.00	$1,334	—
561	561	3	277.50	$277.50	$1,557	—
603	603	2	254.00	$254.00	$1,532	—
725–748	735	9	215.00–225.00	$220.48	$1,621	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
514	514	4	252.00	$252.00	$1,295	—
592	592	5	248.00	$248.00	$1,468	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1090–1293	1188	80-85%	30	90.00–99.50	$95.79	$1,138	—
1292	1292	80-85%	3	78.00	$78.00	$1,008	—
1332	1332	80-85%	3	87.50	$87.50	$1,166	—
1120–1393	1337	80-85%	21	92.00–96.00	$93.90	$1,255	—
1365–1755	1560	80-85%	2	101.50–103.00	$102.34	$1,597	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1425–1593	1466	75-80%	14	97.00–101.00	$98.25	$1,440	—
1140–1630	1469	75-80%	11	102.50–109.00	$104.42	$1,534	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1020–1070	1037	85-90%	4	68.00–75.00	$71.96	$746	—
1010–1265	1133	85-90%	9	89.00–95.00	$94.16	$1,067	—
1050–1350	1171	85-90%	6	83.00–87.00	$84.20	$986	+4.27

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1510–1530	1520	2	92.00–109.00	$100.56	$1,529	—
1875–2185	2014	4	116.00–123.00	$120.83	$2,434	—
2058	2058	2	131.00	$131.00	$2,696	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
862–1081	970	(<2 yrs)	Open	39	132.50–180.00	$160.22	$1,554
815–1500	1107	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	25	100.00–175.00	$119.39	$1,322

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1325	1325	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	1,800.00	$1,800.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
703–717	708	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	142	1,725.00	$1,725.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1400	1400	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	2,250.00	$2,250.00	-531.54

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Reading this report

What does "Medium and Large 1" mean?

USDA feeder grades describe frame size and muscle thickness, not quality of the individual animal. "Medium and Large" is the frame score; the number is muscle (1 = heaviest muscled). "Medium and Large 1–2" pens mix both muscle scores — common across the Southeast.

What is $/cwt?

Dollars per hundredweight — per 100 lb of animal. A 500-lb calf at $450/cwt brings 5 × $450 = $2,250. Lighter cattle usually bring more per cwt but less per head.

Why are some prices per head?

Bred cows, cow-calf pairs, and some replacement classes sell by the head, not by weight. We show those exactly as USDA reports them — a $/head figure is never converted into $/cwt on this site.

Where do these numbers come from?

From the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service's Livestock Market News — federal reporters at the sale. We publish each report in full and link the official USDA document at the top of the page.