Cattle Market Pulse

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, November 15, 2023

2,661 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $302.25/cwt ≈ $1,544/hd at 511 lb · 36 head
light 8-weight M&L 1 heifers $218.00/cwt ≈ $1,766/hd at 810 lb · 35 head
light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $254.00/cwt ≈ $1,529/hd at 602 lb · 30 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,661 2,671 2,307
Feeder cattle 692 246 920
Slaughter cattle 1,567 1,659 984
Replacement cattle 402 766 403

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested this week or last to develop any market trend. Both steer and heifer calves were scarcely tested last week as that sale featured mostly bred heifers and cows. Feeder quality today was mixed from plain to average, with a limited offering of attractive cattle seen. Demand was mostly moderate to good for light to moderate offerings. Buyer participation was mostly active this sale with buyers both ringside and on the internet actively bidding on offerings. Market activity was mostly active this week. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for heavy offerings. Slaughter cows sold 2.00-3.00 lower on all cows destined for immediate harvest. Demand for feeding cows was mostly moderate to good. Buyer participation was good again this week, as several buyers were active in buying cows to feed. Thin cows purchased to feed or turn out on corn stalks this winter sold 2.00-3.00 lower. High quality feeding cows suitable to feed to premium white sold 1.00-3.00 lower. Quality this week was average to very attractive with many long strings of reputation cows seen. Heavy supplies of cows continue to be seen a many ranchers are selling many open cows after preg. checking this fall. Some ranchers report astoundingly high open percentages as the breed up this year was very poor. Weigh up conditions were mixed today. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop a full market trend, however higher undertones were noticed on a higher quality offering. Feeding buyers helped create competition which pushed slaughter bull prices higher. Young age cows sold mostly steady. Quality was mostly average to attractive this week. Demand for these offerings was stronger this week as feeding buyers and rebreed buyers competed over offerings.

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
386 unweaned 386 7 340.00 $340.00 $1,312 —
434–439 unweaned 436 14 330.00–337.50 $334.26 $1,457 —
455–470 unweaned 466 10 305.00–315.00 $307.93 $1,435 —
500–528 unweaned 511 36 290.00–315.00 $302.25 $1,544 —
560–596 unweaned 571 23 254.00–273.00 $266.96 $1,524 —
602 unweaned 602 30 254.00 $254.00 $1,529 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
335 unweaned 335 4 337.50 $337.50 $1,131 —
361 unweaned 361 5 330.00 $330.00 $1,191 —
405–440 unweaned 421 26 300.00–317.50 $310.93 $1,309 +8.43
470–475 unweaned 472 3 285.00–300.00 $294.96 $1,392 —
522 unweaned 522 3 274.00 $274.00 $1,430 —
584 unweaned 584 4 244.00 $244.00 $1,425 —
638 unweaned 638 3 227.00 $227.00 $1,448 —
742 unweaned 742 14 214.00 $214.00 $1,588 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
413 unweaned 413 5 240.00 $240.00 $991 —
593 unweaned 593 2 200.00 $200.00 $1,186 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
620 unweaned 620 4 222.50 $222.50 $1,380 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
431 unweaned 431 4 155.00 $155.00 $668 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
471 unweaned 471 7 267.50 $267.50 $1,260 —
515–547 unweaned 536 15 246.00–252.00 $247.92 $1,329 —
554–558 unweaned 557 27 243.00–247.50 $246.84 $1,375 —
621 unweaned 621 5 235.00 $235.00 $1,459 —
673 unweaned 673 2 218.00 $218.00 $1,467 —
810 810 35 218.00 $218.00 $1,766 —
899 899 15 208.00 $208.00 $1,870 —
967–983 972 7 198.50–204.00 $202.41 $1,967 —
1062–1076 1068 9 188.00–194.50 $191.59 $2,046 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
372 unweaned 372 3 265.00 $265.00 $986 —
430–443 unweaned 439 15 245.00–272.50 $258.03 $1,133 +3.03
471–488 unweaned 479 15 225.00–249.00 $237.87 $1,139 —
640 640 3 220.00 $220.00 $1,408 —
672 unweaned 672 7 208.00 $208.00 $1,398 —
836 836 11 195.00 $195.00 $1,630 —
858 858 5 202.00 $202.00 $1,733 +3.09
923 923 4 202.50 $202.50 $1,869 +8.50
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
503–508 unweaned 504 7 191.00–210.00 $196.47 $990 —
Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
340 340 6 175.00 $175.00 $595 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
708 unweaned 708 2 210.00 $210.00 $1,487 —
1118 1118 3 186.00 $186.00 $2,079 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
455 455 1 215.00 $215.00 $978 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
463 unweaned 463 3 305.00 $305.00 $1,412 —
640 unweaned 640 3 213.00 $213.00 $1,363 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
870–995 913 85-90% 6 60.00–74.00 $63.52 $580 +11.29
793–983 941 85-90% 9 40.00–45.00 $40.94 $385 -11.29
965–1030 976 85-90% 6 62.00–63.00 $62.82 $613 —
995 995 85-90% 1 75.00 $75.00 $746 —
1054–1275 1130 85-90% 12 47.50–65.00 $59.39 $671 —
1008–1266 1140 85-90% 83 64.00–79.00 $74.11 $845 —
1073–1255 1184 85-90% 15 92.00–100.00 $97.05 $1,149 -1.76
1025–1375 1186 85-90% 53 68.00–79.00 $73.77 $875 -25.04
990–1315 1222 85-90% 165 79.50–90.00 $83.06 $1,015 —
1145–1340 1235 85-90% 32 79.00–86.00 $80.71 $997 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1380 1380 80-85% 1 87.50 $87.50 $1,208 +2.81
1278–1620 1392 80-85% 273 85.00–96.50 $90.75 $1,263 +6.06
1255–1542 1394 80-85% 34 76.00–85.50 $82.32 $1,148 -2.37
1340–1555 1399 80-85% 4 98.50–106.00 $102.70 $1,437 +18.01
1328–1760 1454 80-85% 31 74.00–84.00 $79.48 $1,156 -24.71
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1508–1750 1618 75-80% 4 91.00–93.00 $91.54 $1,481 -4.47
1630 1630 75-80% 1 102.50 $102.50 $1,671 +6.49
1635–1758 1704 75-80% 7 88.50–92.00 $89.23 $1,520 -3.79
1690–1749 1739 75-80% 6 95.50–98.00 $95.90 $1,668 +2.88
2005 2005 75-80% 1 97.50 $97.50 $1,955 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1480–1830 1620 5 106.00–108.00 $106.90 $1,732 —
1520–1895 1747 13 93.00–107.00 $104.02 $1,817 +4.52
1645–2193 1914 6 109.00–114.00 $111.29 $2,130 -0.58
1770–2142 1995 5 120.00–130.00 $126.94 $2,532 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
811–1250 923 (<2 yrs)Open 129 112.50–172.00 $161.44 $1,490
853–1395 1017 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 60 89.00–152.50 $122.29 $1,244
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
845–1028 955 (<2 yrs)Open 18 112.50–140.00 $127.80 $1,220
912–1135 967 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 8 100.00 $100.00 $967

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1023–1163 1074 Young (2-4 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 13 1,875.00–2,050.00 $1,956.89
1149–1290 1187 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 14 1,725.00–1,975.00 $1,857.35
1293 1293 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 11 1,425.00 $1,425.00
1316 1316 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 7 1,400.00 $1,400.00
1144–1410 1328 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 16 1,350.00–1,500.00 $1,454.67
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
970–1065 1018 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 4 1,450.00–1,650.00 $1,545.33
1005–1083 1067 Young (2-4 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 10 1,400.00–1,500.00 $1,418.83
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
1483 1483 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo) 2 97.00 $97.00 $1,439

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1107 1107 (<2 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 5 1,975.00 $1,975.00

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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.