Cattle Market Pulse

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, June 28, 2023

860 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $232.58/cwt ≈ $1,419/hd at 610 lb · 25 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $233.46/cwt +4.40 vs last sale · ≈ $1,361/hd at 583 lb · 17 head
heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $224.00/cwt -0.90 vs last sale · ≈ $1,781/hd at 795 lb · 13 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 860 1,986 1,409
Feeder cattle 237 449 312
Slaughter cattle 506 636 664
Replacement cattle 117 901 433

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Demand for feeders was mostly good. Quality this week was mostly average, with a few offerings of attractive cattle seen. CME feeder contracts have gained ground since last week as corn prices have softened. Today, corn was down over 30 cents on the July while new crop Dec corn was down 24. Market activity remains active. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand today. Packers showed stronger demand for slaughter cows today as this is the last sale before the 4th of July holiday. Many sales across the plains will not host sales next week due to the holiday. Packers were aggressive as they purchased cows for next weeks harvest. Slaughter cows sold 1.00-3.00 higher on all classes. Packers did purchase a few high quality cows to feed this week, these offerings sold 1.00-3.00 higher. Lean cows and light boning feeding cows saw the biggest increase in demand this week as private buyers pushed these offerings 3.00-5.00 higher. They were competing with packer buyers who were mostly sending these offerings to slaughter. Cow quality today was mostly average to very attractive and significantly higher than last week. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to above today and better than last week. Slaughter bulls sold mostly steady from 1.00 lower. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly 5.00-10.00 higher. A few rebreed buyers stepped into the market this week which helped push all offerings higher. Quality was average to attractive this week.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
363 363 2 270.00 $270.00 $980 —
795 795 13 224.00 $224.00 $1,781 -0.90
800 800 1 213.00 $213.00 $1,704 —
915 915 7 198.00 $198.00 $1,812 +3.50
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
548 548 6 260.00 $260.00 $1,425 —
583 583 5 252.50 $252.50 $1,472 —
643 643 6 250.00 $250.00 $1,608 -4.56
735 735 2 229.00 $229.00 $1,683 -3.50
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
535 535 3 240.00 $240.00 $1,284 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
603–633 610 25 232.00–235.00 $232.58 $1,419 —
664–668 666 9 230.00–236.00 $232.66 $1,550 —
796 796 7 199.00 $199.00 $1,584 +4.77
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
490 490 2 235.00 $235.00 $1,152 +3.59
510 510 1 235.00 $235.00 $1,198 +2.42
566–588 583 17 233.00–235.00 $233.46 $1,361 +4.40
675–682 679 6 211.00–215.00 $213.01 $1,446 +8.78
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1035 1035 12 183.00 $183.00 $1,894 —
1148 1148 6 164.00 $164.00 $1,883 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
588 588 2 210.00 $210.00 $1,235 —
648 648 4 211.00 $211.00 $1,367 —

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1020–1045 1030 3 176.00–181.00 $178.35 $1,837 -12.65
1090 1090 1 176.00 $176.00 $1,918 —
1115 1115 1 157.50 $157.50 $1,756 —
1160–1170 1165 3 155.00–168.00 $162.98 $1,899 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
694 694 4 220.00 $220.00 $1,527 —
818 818 2 195.00 $195.00 $1,595 +7.50
Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
110–128 122 3 450.00 $450.00 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
808 808 3 205.00 $205.00 $1,656 -2.00
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
107 107 3 200.00 $200.00 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1140 1140 1 149.00 $149.00 $1,699 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1273–1575 1343 80-85% 53 100.00–105.00 $101.74 $1,366 —
1345 1345 80-85% 1 92.00 $92.00 $1,237 —
1215–1760 1367 80-85% 43 95.00–104.00 $98.84 $1,351 +0.40
1260–1522 1383 80-85% 66 104.50–112.00 $106.58 $1,474 +12.72
1380–1640 1427 80-85% 10 105.00–110.00 $107.47 $1,534 +1.37
1335–1665 1496 80-85% 9 89.00–95.00 $93.68 $1,401 +4.78
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
807–980 864 85-90% 6 79.00–85.00 $83.50 $721 —
905–950 928 85-90% 4 86.00–94.00 $88.28 $819 +5.29
945 945 85-90% 2 100.00 $100.00 $945 +17.01
1048 1048 85-90% 2 94.00 $94.00 $985 —
990–1203 1129 85-90% 13 102.00–105.75 $103.89 $1,173 —
995–1290 1161 85-90% 41 92.00–101.00 $96.36 $1,119 +9.58
1120–1295 1169 85-90% 23 101.50–105.00 $102.22 $1,195 +15.44
1020–1495 1195 85-90% 33 82.00–94.00 $86.83 $1,038 -7.11
1000–1288 1213 85-90% 33 95.00–102.00 $100.25 $1,216 -0.77
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1420 1420 75-80% 3 107.00 $107.00 $1,519 -6.00
1483 1483 75-80% 2 113.50 $113.50 $1,683 —
1400–1635 1561 75-80% 10 105.00–109.00 $105.81 $1,652 —
1670 1670 75-80% 1 112.00 $112.00 $1,870 +12.68
1560–1970 1708 75-80% 10 95.00–104.00 $101.42 $1,732 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1573 1573 65-75% 2 120.00 $120.00 $1,888 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1043–1300 1129 3 95.00–100.00 $98.08 $1,107 —
1150–1260 1205 2 99.00–105.00 $102.14 $1,231 —
1410 1410 1 125.50 $125.50 $1,770 —
1340–1810 1576 13 99.00–111.00 $106.84 $1,684 —
1535–2148 1749 50 113.00–123.00 $119.13 $2,084 —
1700–2335 1936 15 124.00–133.00 $128.43 $2,486 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
880–1320 1090 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 28 102.00–155.00 $126.44 $1,378
840–1363 1098 (<2 yrs)Open 39 136.00–189.00 $155.10 $1,703
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
813–920 849 (<2 yrs)Open 3 125.00–150.00 $140.97 $1,197
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
680–850 765 (<2 yrs)Open 2 157.50–160.00 $158.61 $1,213

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1210 1210 Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 1,675.00 $1,675.00
1215 1215 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 1,250.00 $1,250.00
1390 1390 Aged (>8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 1,450.00 $1,450.00
1230–1603 1479 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 3 1,550.00–1,725.00 $1,676.48
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1245 1245 Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 132.00 $132.00 $1,643

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1240 1240 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)Open 2 2,150.00 $2,150.00 —
1292 1292 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 7 2,475.00 $2,475.00 —
1575 1575 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 1 2,250.00 $2,250.00 —
1690 1690 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 2,500.00 $2,500.00 -75.00

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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.