Cattle Market Pulse

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, January 31, 2024

2,685 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 heifers $292.11/cwt ≈ $1,536/hd at 526 lb · 166 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $267.35/cwt -2.65 vs last sale · ≈ $1,561/hd at 584 lb · 149 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $311.23/cwt ≈ $1,762/hd at 566 lb · 124 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 2,685 1,652 227
Feeder cattle 2,004 204 156
Slaughter cattle 541 1,034 49
Replacement cattle 140 414 22

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle offerings were limited last week as that sale featured bred cows and weigh ups. Todays sale featured feeder cattle. Comparisons are to the last feeder special which was Friday Jan. 19th. Feeder steers under 500 lbs sold generally steady in a narrow comparison. 500-599 lbs steers sold mostly 10.00 higher, steers over 600 lbs sold steady to 5.00 lower. Heifers under 500 lbs sold fully steady, heifers over 500 lbs sold steady to 5.00 lower. Quality was mixed this sale from plain to attractive with lots of variation seen. Demand was good to very good for high quality cattle, however demand for plain to average quality cattle was mostly moderate. Offerings were moderate. Quality hampered demand in places. The best demand continues to be for light fleshed cattle suitable to develop into yearlings. Market activity today was mostly moderate to active with an average size buyer pool noticed. Weigh up cows sold on moderate to good demand for light to moderate offerings. Packers tried to balance buying both feeding and slaughter cows this week. Packers continue to show need for cows for immediate harvest, however demand for slaughter cows was lighter today as packers opted to send more cows to feed. Slaughter cows sold steady to weak on breaking cows, boning and lean cows sold 2.00-4.00 lower. Packers showed good demand for high quality cows suitable to feed to premium white. Both private feeders and packers were aggressively over high quality cows again this week. These offerings sold generally steady to weak. Cow quality today was mostly average to attractive, but overall not as attractive as last weeks sale. Weigh up conditions were mixed today. Slaughter bulls sold mostly steady to 4.00 lower. Young age cows were not well compared this week as more heifers that lost calves were seen. Demand for young cows was mostly moderate today.

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
388 388 8 365.00 $365.00 $1,416 —
400–440 421 5 337.50–342.50 $339.43 $1,429 —
453–465 458 28 330.00–337.50 $334.61 $1,533 —
502–536 523 109 319.00–334.00 $326.60 $1,708 —
551–592 566 124 297.50–316.00 $311.23 $1,762 —
611–634 628 69 284.00–295.00 $287.66 $1,807 —
656–689 680 76 265.00–272.50 $268.06 $1,823 +12.55
701–732 717 59 250.00–256.00 $252.66 $1,812 —
798 798 8 237.75 $237.75 $1,897 —
876 876 27 220.00 $220.00 $1,927 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
425–447 443 12 325.00–337.50 $332.35 $1,472 +7.35
451–463 455 6 320.00–328.00 $322.71 $1,468 —
519–538 530 18 310.00–315.50 $313.12 $1,660 +16.12
575–599 595 6 282.00–295.00 $284.09 $1,690 —
620–643 637 35 265.00–280.00 $276.10 $1,759 —
688–691 690 8 256.00 $256.00 $1,766 —
719 719 4 241.00 $241.00 $1,733 —
765–783 776 15 233.00 $233.00 $1,808 +4.30
873 873 2 222.00 $222.00 $1,938 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
555 555 9 300.00 $300.00 $1,665 —
615 615 10 267.50 $267.50 $1,645 —
651–680 652 75 232.50–264.00 $261.93 $1,708 +26.93
877 877 3 225.00 $225.00 $1,973 —
1150 1150 5 185.00 $185.00 $2,128 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
344 344 9 325.00 $325.00 $1,118 —
465–490 478 6 318.00–320.00 $319.03 $1,525 —
508 508 4 311.00 $311.00 $1,580 —
618–645 630 52 259.00–272.00 $267.02 $1,682 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1061 1061 16 188.00 $188.00 $1,995 —
1110 1110 15 184.00 $184.00 $2,042 —
Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
363 363 3 305.00 $305.00 $1,107 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
340 340 11 322.50 $322.50 $1,096 —
430–442 432 20 305.00–311.00 $309.83 $1,338 —
451–490 475 74 294.00–309.00 $299.14 $1,421 —
501–545 526 166 284.00–298.00 $292.11 $1,536 —
550–598 584 149 261.00–286.00 $267.35 $1,561 -2.65
603–634 623 119 254.00–266.00 $259.34 $1,616 —
657–690 679 39 235.00–244.00 $238.76 $1,621 -10.24
692 692 6 228.00 $228.00 $1,578 -21.00
702–734 719 17 224.00–235.00 $226.45 $1,628 —
729 fancy 729 7 240.00 $240.00 $1,750 —
765 765 37 234.00 $234.00 $1,790 +15.00
845 845 2 217.50 $217.50 $1,838 —
857–880 863 4 204.00–210.00 $205.53 $1,774 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
432–441 437 17 287.50–294.00 $291.36 $1,273 —
450–495 478 27 277.50–290.00 $284.69 $1,361 —
513–530 520 16 279.00–282.50 $281.14 $1,462 +8.64
592 592 21 243.00 $243.00 $1,439 -17.80
603–615 608 14 233.00–237.50 $234.95 $1,428 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
365–399 393 6 277.50–295.00 $280.21 $1,101 —
486 486 5 266.00 $266.00 $1,293 —
591 591 6 236.00 $236.00 $1,395 —
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
497 497 8 293.00 $293.00 $1,456 —
576 576 4 250.00 $250.00 $1,440 —
759 759 4 215.00 $215.00 $1,632 —

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
643 643 10 267.00 $267.00 $1,717 —
1132 1132 3 143.00 $143.00 $1,619 —
Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
460 460 1 320.00 $320.00 $1,472 —
665–670 667 5 248.00–255.00 $250.81 $1,673 —
750 750 2 230.00 $230.00 $1,725 —
1085 1085 1 160.00 $160.00 $1,736 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1359–1482 1393 75-80% 98 99.00–100.00 $99.29 $1,383 —
1395–1620 1579 75-80% 22 94.50–97.00 $94.90 $1,498 -6.54
1625–1670 1648 75-80% 2 98.00–103.00 $100.53 $1,657 —
1625–1890 1746 75-80% 11 93.00–96.50 $94.98 $1,658 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
900–1210 989 85-90% 6 67.50–82.50 $77.43 $766 —
1010–1325 1104 85-90% 5 65.00–74.00 $71.09 $785 -1.20
1000–1350 1115 85-90% 36 75.00–89.00 $82.28 $917 +9.99
1128–1290 1180 85-90% 19 89.50–99.00 $92.48 $1,091 -0.37
1055–1288 1204 85-90% 30 88.00–98.00 $91.60 $1,103 -11.54
1220 1220 85-90% 1 81.00 $81.00 $988 -21.04
1240–1268 1259 85-90% 3 97.00–102.50 $98.81 $1,244 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1253–1610 1396 80-85% 18 90.00–101.00 $95.27 $1,330 -3.11
1300–1590 1398 80-85% 16 80.00–89.00 $85.28 $1,192 -13.10
1330–1467 1415 80-85% 40 92.00–101.00 $97.94 $1,386 +6.45
1301–1678 1423 80-85% 20 102.00–104.00 $102.91 $1,464 +11.42
1425 1425 80-85% 1 102.00 $102.00 $1,454 +10.51
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1910 1910 65-75% 1 103.50 $103.50 $1,977 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1218 1218 2 93.00 $93.00 $1,133 —
1644 1644 9 112.00 $112.00 $1,841 —
1558–2185 1812 24 94.00–110.00 $104.67 $1,897 -10.17
1575–2455 1886 31 111.00–118.00 $112.45 $2,121 -13.17
1972–2405 2084 6 119.00–121.00 $119.95 $2,500 —
2600 2600 1 92.00 $92.00 $2,392 —
YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
2340 2340 1 117.00 $117.00 $2,738 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
780–1164 1034 (<2 yrs)Open 33 131.00–187.00 $169.38 $1,751
910–1390 1074 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 32 102.00–148.00 $117.80 $1,265
1115–1369 1311 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open 7 96.50–102.00 $97.76 $1,282
1355 1355 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 114.00 $114.00 $1,545
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
785 thin fleshed 785 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 97.00 $97.00 $761
910 910 (<2 yrs)Open 1 120.00 $120.00 $1,092
885–1285 1047 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 3 94.00–125.00 $110.77 $1,160

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1218 1218 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 3 2,050.00 $2,050.00
1310 1310 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 2 1,650.00 $1,650.00
1323–1575 1397 Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 17 2,350.00–2,450.00 $2,416.84
1390–1405 1398 Aged (>8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 14 1,550.00–1,560.00 $1,554.97
1455–1590 1472 Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 8 1,550.00–1,635.00 $1,623.52

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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.