Cattle Market Pulse

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report, Billings, MT

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, March 20, 2024

3,098 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $260.64/cwt +0.74 vs last sale · ≈ $1,757/hd at 674 lb · 119 head
light 5-weight M&L 1 steers $351.52/cwt +6.35 vs last sale · ≈ $1,835/hd at 522 lb · 86 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $341.25/cwt +17.28 vs last sale · ≈ $1,935/hd at 567 lb · 85 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 3,098 892 1,450
Feeder cattle 2,440 333 746
Slaughter cattle 559 390 456
Replacement cattle 99 169 248

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle sold mostly 5.00 to 10.00 higher. Demand for feeders was good. Quality today was mostly average. Most calves were offered in small packages or as singles. Demand for cattle suitable to run on grass was very good. Market activity today was mostly active. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for moderate offerings. Cow quality was average to very attractive today. Packers showed good demand for all cows on offer this week, packers passed on several sets of feeding cows as they sold to private feeders this week. Demand from feeding buyers was very good. Slaughter cows sold 3.00 to 7.00 higher on breaking and boning cows, and lean cows sold mostly steady. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 2.00 higher. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to above average today. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00-7.00 higher with several very attractive high yielding bulls. Young age cows were too lightly tested to develop a full market trend, however steady undertones were noticed. Demand from feeding and rebreed cow buyers continues to be good.

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
295 295 1 395.00 $395.00 $1,165 —
305–325 313 4 385.00–400.00 $394.88 $1,236 —
360–389 386 11 380.00–385.00 $380.42 $1,468 +1.42
405–449 428 75 365.00–375.00 $367.08 $1,571 -7.92
450–493 477 51 350.00–367.50 $359.87 $1,717 +5.87
500–532 522 86 340.00–357.50 $351.52 $1,835 +6.35
552–570 567 85 327.00–347.00 $341.25 $1,935 +17.28
600–642 624 80 301.00–321.00 $316.01 $1,972 +4.68
653–698 676 20 285.00–307.00 $287.34 $1,942 +2.89
700–742 722 42 270.00–281.00 $274.48 $1,982 —
752–767 760 40 250.00–268.00 $264.07 $2,007 +5.07
808–809 808 13 239.00–244.00 $241.31 $1,950 +0.49
903–945 917 3 222.50–236.00 $231.36 $2,122 +12.36
980 980 2 213.00 $213.00 $2,087 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
345 345 1 375.00 $375.00 $1,294 —
400 400 1 350.00 $350.00 $1,400 +9.41
488 488 2 340.00 $340.00 $1,659 +2.50
521–537 530 21 327.50–336.00 $330.92 $1,754 +13.92
550–574 562 38 324.00–327.00 $326.23 $1,833 —
613–638 624 27 288.50–307.00 $292.43 $1,825 —
670–693 680 49 265.00–282.00 $273.54 $1,860 -3.46
731–742 736 19 249.00–251.00 $249.95 $1,840 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
340 340 1 340.00 $340.00 $1,156 —
415 415 3 325.00 $325.00 $1,349 —
453–478 462 8 315.00–320.00 $318.06 $1,469 —
545 545 1 315.00 $315.00 $1,717 —
553–598 567 9 302.50–310.00 $307.38 $1,743 —
600–646 621 11 265.00–280.00 $276.46 $1,717 +23.46
676–695 679 17 222.00–235.00 $224.41 $1,524 -20.59
789 789 37 213.00 $213.00 $1,681 —
800 800 1 194.00 $194.00 $1,552 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
350–390 379 17 315.00–328.00 $325.22 $1,233 —
405–437 426 20 315.00–330.00 $320.88 $1,367 —
454–486 476 41 310.00–322.50 $318.97 $1,518 +1.68
505–545 528 24 288.00–310.00 $295.67 $1,561 -4.46
568 fancy 568 3 320.00 $320.00 $1,818 —
551–590 582 65 280.00–294.00 $291.47 $1,696 +14.47
605–648 627 76 270.00–285.50 $280.49 $1,759 +13.35
650–699 674 119 255.00–273.00 $260.64 $1,757 +0.74
703–740 724 36 241.00–258.00 $249.38 $1,806 —
750–770 767 23 236.00–241.00 $236.77 $1,816 —
808–840 819 13 223.00–228.00 $224.88 $1,842 —
883 883 2 222.00 $222.00 $1,960 —
983 983 2 207.00 $207.00 $2,035 —
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
410–445 428 13 292.50–312.50 $305.12 $1,306 -6.88
482–498 489 31 295.00–306.00 $303.25 $1,483 -1.75
515–538 534 25 267.50–292.00 $287.06 $1,533 -7.94
555–585 567 47 251.00–278.00 $271.18 $1,538 +1.27
600–640 621 37 246.00–269.00 $263.62 $1,637 —
655–693 674 24 235.00–250.00 $245.63 $1,656 —
701–744 736 72 232.00–238.00 $237.26 $1,746 —
773–793 785 5 215.00–229.00 $223.49 $1,754 —
809–840 815 10 190.00–200.00 $192.06 $1,565 —
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
285–290 289 6 325.00–330.00 $329.18 $951 —
337 337 3 310.00 $310.00 $1,045 —
385–395 388 3 290.00–300.00 $293.39 $1,138 +11.39
469–485 473 9 272.50 $272.50 $1,289 —
515–540 527 5 240.00–255.00 $250.44 $1,320 —
575 575 1 245.00 $245.00 $1,409 —
605–635 622 7 223.00–240.00 $229.41 $1,427 —
665–685 672 3 205.00–227.50 $219.85 $1,477 —
711–715 711 10 196.00–210.00 $197.41 $1,404 —
750–791 781 7 185.00–200.00 $196.89 $1,538 —
900 900 2 190.00 $190.00 $1,710 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
411 411 6 360.00 $360.00 $1,480 +5.00
450 450 1 320.00 $320.00 $1,440 —
525 525 1 315.00 $315.00 $1,654 —
600–623 612 4 287.00–290.00 $288.53 $1,766 —
892 892 6 221.00 $221.00 $1,971 —
923–942 934 5 213.00–221.00 $217.84 $2,035 —
960–997 992 7 201.00–217.00 $214.79 $2,131 +4.79
Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
525 525 1 265.00 $265.00 $1,391 —
720 720 1 215.00 $215.00 $1,548 —

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1048–1343 1059 80-85% 83 116.00–129.50 $128.88 $1,365 —
887–1415 1091 80-85% 10 125.50–132.00 $128.26 $1,399 —
930–1500 1122 80-85% 104 128.50–138.00 $130.89 $1,469 —
1165–1440 1275 80-85% 3 110.00–111.00 $110.62 $1,410 —
1070–1400 1295 80-85% 63 121.00–127.00 $124.45 $1,612 —
1020–1569 1373 80-85% 58 120.00–127.50 $124.08 $1,704 +5.28
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
865–1165 1030 85-90% 21 90.00–99.00 $92.24 $950 —
1045 1045 85-90% 1 109.00 $109.00 $1,139 —
1010–1325 1138 85-90% 8 101.00–112.00 $108.74 $1,237 -7.42
1110–1230 1174 85-90% 56 120.00–128.00 $125.63 $1,475 +4.96
1040–1293 1224 85-90% 7 119.00–125.50 $123.97 $1,517 +10.17
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1328–1523 1393 75-80% 15 121.50–128.00 $124.15 $1,729 —
1429 1429 75-80% 27 131.00 $131.00 $1,872 —
1364–1785 1464 75-80% 25 123.00–127.00 $125.97 $1,844 +0.97
1360–1910 1597 75-80% 12 128.50–133.00 $130.51 $2,084 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1230–1830 1533 6 112.00–121.00 $118.17 $1,812 —
1295–2510 1918 7 140.00–149.00 $143.92 $2,760 —
1940–2260 2100 2 133.00–136.00 $134.39 $2,822 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hd
630–995 887 (<2 yrs)Open 13 143.00–205.00 $169.99 $1,508
955–1158 1042 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 39 142.50–185.00 $160.06 $1,668

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1052–1283 1098 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)1st Stage (1-3 mo) 14 1,400.00–1,750.00 $1,664.67
1148 1148 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 2 2,400.00 $2,400.00
1060–1465 1233 Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 9 1,700.00–2,100.00 $1,988.38

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
1386–1550 1413 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 6 2,375.00–2,500.00 $2,397.85 —

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Dairy Cows

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1413–1452 1443 80-85% 9 110.00 $110.00 $1,587 —

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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.