Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, April 17, 2024

4,133 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 $272.35/cwt +8.37 vs last sale · ≈ $1,844/hd at 677 lb · 457 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $279.13/cwt +0.44 vs last sale · ≈ $1,761/hd at 631 lb · 408 head

light 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $298.15/cwt -1.69 vs last sale · ≈ $1,557/hd at 522 lb · 315 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	4,133	583	948
Feeder cattle	4,060	330	410
Slaughter cattle	73	168	538
Replacement cattle	—	85	—

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to the last special sale: Steers steady. Heifers over 675lbs steady. Heifers under 675lbs 3.00 lower. Quality mostly average with some packages of attractive cattle. Demand moderate to good. Replacement heifers quality average to attractive. Slaughter bulls and cows steady in a light test. Cows returning to feed sold unevenly steady. Young age cows 5.00 higher in a light test.

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
375	375	3	377.50	$377.50	$1,416	-2.50
410 fancy	410	9	397.50	$397.50	$1,630	—
453–485	480	31	355.00–375.00	$363.47	$1,745	+3.47
503–545	507	30	325.00–342.50	$339.69	$1,722	—
553–568 fancy	564	58	348.00	$348.00	$1,963	—
550–599	574	147	321.00–341.00	$332.62	$1,909	—
605–616 fancy	616	105	330.00	$330.00	$2,033	—
603–648	621	65	295.00–325.00	$306.32	$1,902	+13.82
655–692	683	135	275.50–293.00	$281.85	$1,925	±0.00
707 fancy	707	16	284.00	$284.00	$2,008	—
700–748	721	154	262.50–280.00	$267.70	$1,930	—
756–787	768	52	246.00–262.50	$254.82	$1,957	—
805–845	815	22	232.00–258.00	$246.75	$2,011	—
850–873	862	88	233.00–244.00	$239.26	$2,062	+2.26
906–938	918	78	220.00–230.50	$226.71	$2,081	—
958–990	962	50	219.50–229.00	$221.73	$2,133	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
225	225	1	300.00	$300.00	$675	—
345	345	2	365.00–367.50	$366.25	$1,264	—
415–443	438	15	335.00–365.00	$347.46	$1,522	—
453–493	474	11	325.00–340.00	$331.43	$1,571	—
510	510	6	320.00	$320.00	$1,632	—
550–596	582	23	303.00–320.00	$306.99	$1,787	—
625–648	645	15	275.00–289.00	$287.10	$1,852	—
672–695	676	11	267.00–272.00	$267.93	$1,811	—
708–735	716	7	251.00–256.00	$254.41	$1,822	—
750–785	762	9	250.00–255.00	$254.43	$1,939	—
838–843	841	4	215.00–223.00	$219.01	$1,842	—
853–873	857	26	225.00–234.00	$226.18	$1,938	—
945	945	1	217.00	$217.00	$2,051	—
983	983	2	203.00	$203.00	$1,995	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
483	483	6	317.00	$317.00	$1,531	—
538	538	2	257.50	$257.50	$1,385	—
569	569	9	279.00	$279.00	$1,588	—
620–641	637	15	241.00–255.00	$248.58	$1,583	—
680	680	1	247.50	$247.50	$1,683	—
732	732	6	246.00	$246.00	$1,801	—
765–799	793	6	239.00–240.00	$239.16	$1,897	—
863	863	2	209.00	$209.00	$1,804	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
361–396	383	19	320.00–325.00	$323.36	$1,238	+0.86
407–445	436	14	290.00–310.00	$296.80	$1,294	—
451–499	481	21	305.00–320.00	$310.00	$1,491	+4.61
502–545	517	260	285.00–310.00	$294.66	$1,523	-5.18
545–547 fancy	546	55	314.00–315.00	$314.62	$1,718	—
551–575 fancy	568	54	307.00–315.25	$309.37	$1,757	—
553–598	579	112	278.50–298.50	$290.92	$1,684	+8.92
600–649	631	408	265.00–288.00	$279.13	$1,761	+0.44
651–695	677	457	264.00–275.50	$272.35	$1,844	+8.37
707 fancy	707	29	264.00	$264.00	$1,866	—
700–744	735	131	240.00–257.00	$252.06	$1,853	—
750–798	783	211	229.00–246.00	$235.98	$1,848	-3.02
800–848	831	34	220.00–239.00	$223.38	$1,856	—
865–875	868	12	217.00–222.00	$220.50	$1,914	+22.50
938–945	938	90	204.00–214.00	$213.17	$2,000	—
950–970	965	4	210.00–213.00	$212.26	$2,048	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
737	737	13	2,000.00	$2,000.00	—
779–794	785	153	1,875.00–2,000.00	$1,922.60	—
802	802	62	1,910.00	$1,910.00	—
878	878	54	1,950.00	$1,950.00	—
903	903	57	2,275.00	$2,275.00	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
313	313	2	300.00	$300.00	$939	—
438–443	440	5	280.00–282.00	$281.19	$1,237	—
473–499	485	25	285.00–298.00	$292.71	$1,420	—
508–545	536	30	267.00–282.50	$272.47	$1,460	-12.53
567–595	575	32	252.00–271.00	$260.77	$1,499	+9.15
625–644	641	15	242.50–259.00	$256.52	$1,644	—
653–695	674	62	240.00–265.00	$250.85	$1,691	+20.85
705–722	718	4	236.00–237.50	$236.37	$1,697	—
750–793	774	9	220.00–238.00	$229.46	$1,776	—
811	811	1	211.00	$211.00	$1,711	—
928	928	3	190.00	$190.00	$1,763	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
312	312	1	250.00	$250.00	$780	—
480–486	485	5	235.00–265.00	$240.94	$1,169	—
509–545	523	9	225.00–255.00	$244.66	$1,280	—
568–592	583	8	227.50–242.50	$234.31	$1,366	—
632–648	639	16	229.00–233.00	$230.68	$1,474	—
658–675	667	4	225.00–233.00	$229.05	$1,528	—
703–708	706	4	205.00–212.50	$208.76	$1,474	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
500	500	2	322.50	$322.50	$1,612	—
601	601	4	298.00	$298.00	$1,791	—
688	688	4	255.00	$255.00	$1,754	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	1	330.00	$330.00	$1,106	—
393	393	3	330.00	$330.00	$1,297	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1140–1460	1237	80-85%	8	127.00–131.00	$127.77	$1,581	—
1215–1505	1357	80-85%	14	126.00–131.00	$129.21	$1,753	+6.65

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1355–1765	1521	75-80%	8	135.00–142.00	$138.84	$2,112	+18.37
1430–1615	1523	75-80%	12	137.00–140.00	$139.73	$2,128	+19.26

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1030–1145	1077	85-90%	3	112.00–119.00	$116.11	$1,251	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1685–1750	1718	2	128.00–134.00	$131.06	$2,252	—
1740–2640	2071	6	142.00–153.00	$147.27	$3,050	—

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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.