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

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, May 15, 2024

1,953 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 $273.82/cwt ≈ $1,807/hd at 660 lb · 304 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $299.98/cwt ≈ $1,743/hd at 581 lb · 281 head

light 6-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $270.64/cwt ≈ $1,735/hd at 641 lb · 66 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,953	646	2,886
Feeder cattle	1,673	12	2,547
Slaughter cattle	222	233	140
Replacement cattle	58	401	199

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle offerings were too lightly tested the last two sales to develop any market trend. Demand was mostly good to very good for today sale. Most feeders were offered on moderate sized packages with several load lots and partial load lots seen. Quality this sale was mostly plain to average with a few attractive quality consignments seen. Most cattle were backgrounded cattle that were purchased earlier in the year or last fall. Most of these offerings were specifically developed for grass. A large crowd was on hand for todays sale and a good mix of order buyers and ranchers were on hand actively bidding on offerings. Market activity was mostly active. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for light offerings. Packers showed very good demand for cows for immediate harvest with cows going to slaughter in several different states. Several packers were present this week with some buying over the internet. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady on breaking cows, boing and lean cows sold steady to 2.00 higher. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 2.00 higher, in a narrow comparison. Cow quality was average to attractive today. Weigh up conditions were mostly average. Slaughter bulls sold steady to firm in a narrow comparison. Several very high yielding bulls were seen this sale and these offerings were met with very good demand. Young age cows sold generally steady. Cows which lost calves sold with the best demand again this week. Feeding quality cows sold at a discount to cows suitable to rebreed. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive.

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
460–480	464	55	365.00–370.00	$367.26	$1,704	—
532–540	537	56	334.00–340.00	$335.36	$1,801	—
557–565	557	39	325.00–336.00	$335.71	$1,870	—
606–628	614	33	309.00–321.00	$316.06	$1,941	—
655–695	681	9	277.00–292.50	$278.77	$1,898	—
705	705	2	272.00	$272.00	$1,918	—
777	777	5	253.00	$253.00	$1,966	—
824	824	10	239.00	$239.00	$1,969	—
922	922	10	226.00	$226.00	$2,084	—
925	925	5	234.00	$234.00	$2,164	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
453–497	482	16	335.00–355.00	$341.18	$1,644	—
548	548	5	325.00	$325.00	$1,781	—
573–598	588	12	302.50–310.00	$304.33	$1,789	—
649	649	4	286.00	$286.00	$1,856	—
650–683	671	12	270.00–277.00	$275.02	$1,845	—
700–735	727	16	249.00–263.00	$251.09	$1,825	—
780	780	1	249.00	$249.00	$1,942	—
820	820	12	244.00	$244.00	$2,001	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
413	413	6	269.00	$269.00	$1,111	—
501–509	508	35	242.50–255.00	$243.91	$1,239	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
437	437	8	300.00	$300.00	$1,311	—
548	548	5	305.00	$305.00	$1,671	—
567	567	13	280.00	$280.00	$1,588	—
778	778	5	238.00	$238.00	$1,852	—
910	910	4	212.00	$212.00	$1,929	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
515	515	10	277.50	$277.50	$1,429	—
585	585	7	250.00	$250.00	$1,462	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
692	692	3	229.00	$229.00	$1,585	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
474	474	4	320.00	$320.00	$1,517	—
519–537	520	38	309.00–311.00	$310.84	$1,616	—
558–594	581	281	293.00–309.00	$299.98	$1,743	—
602–643	617	64	280.00–300.00	$292.39	$1,804	—
655–694	660	304	261.00–279.00	$273.82	$1,807	—
709–730	727	64	249.00–255.00	$250.82	$1,823	—
750–769	767	9	241.00–242.00	$241.89	$1,855	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
360	360	6	317.00	$317.00	$1,141	—
558–575	569	12	272.00–288.00	$278.65	$1,586	—
617–645	641	66	251.00–274.00	$270.64	$1,735	—
662–667	664	11	247.50–250.00	$248.86	$1,652	—
783	783	2	239.00	$239.00	$1,871	+6.00
850	850	4	223.00	$223.00	$1,896	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
468–494	480	17	265.00–270.00	$267.58	$1,284	—
607–627	608	48	231.00–245.00	$231.90	$1,410	—
685	685	13	236.00	$236.00	$1,617	—

Medium 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
310	310	12	305.00	$305.00	$946	—
361	361	15	290.00	$290.00	$1,047	—
518	518	43	229.00	$229.00	$1,186	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
363	363	5	312.50	$312.50	$1,134	—
500–535	512	49	280.00–299.00	$289.97	$1,485	—

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
439–443	441	17	225.00–230.00	$227.34	$1,003	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
598	598	3	230.00	$230.00	$1,375	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
748	748	4	240.00	$240.00	$1,795	—
913–940	931	6	210.00–222.50	$214.09	$1,993	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1240–1514	1363	80-85%	28	131.00–136.00	$135.20	$1,843	+0.51
1250–1523	1378	80-85%	37	130.00–138.00	$134.79	$1,857	+0.10
1413	1413	80-85%	3	142.50	$142.50	$2,014	+9.63
1320–1518	1441	80-85%	5	122.00–125.00	$124.45	$1,793	-15.55
1410–1610	1570	80-85%	5	124.00–126.00	$125.64	$1,973	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
995–1005	1002	85-90%	3	75.00–100.00	$83.28	$834	—
995–1230	1118	85-90%	14	114.00–124.00	$118.53	$1,325	—
1000–1255	1152	85-90%	7	100.00–117.00	$110.51	$1,273	—
1165	1165	85-90%	1	135.00	$135.00	$1,573	—
1130–1210	1173	85-90%	12	133.00–135.00	$133.75	$1,569	—
1117–1235	1185	85-90%	34	124.00–132.00	$128.70	$1,525	—
1200	1200	85-90%	1	125.00	$125.00	$1,500	-0.80

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1548	1548	75-80%	2	132.50	$132.50	$2,051	—
1585	1585	75-80%	1	144.50	$144.50	$2,290	+9.00
1565–1655	1610	75-80%	2	132.00–133.00	$132.49	$2,133	+0.51
1555–1690	1623	75-80%	2	137.00–139.00	$138.04	$2,240	-6.04
1735	1735	75-80%	1	138.50	$138.50	$2,403	+11.04

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1245–1350	1313	3	120.00–133.00	$125.47	$1,647	—
1355	1355	1	132.00	$132.00	$1,789	—
1305–1555	1434	4	133.00–136.00	$134.55	$1,929	—
1585–1950	1718	9	140.00–153.00	$143.86	$2,472	—
1820–2368	2102	9	161.00–170.00	$165.41	$3,477	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
865–1310	1010	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	11	141.00–187.00	$170.53	$1,722
850–1385	1067	(<2 yrs)	Open	26	158.00–210.00	$184.08	$1,964
1320	1320	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	150.00	$150.00	$1,980
1630	1630	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	134.00	$134.00	$2,184

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
880 thin fleshed	880	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	130.00	$130.00	$1,144
1040	1040	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	117.50	$117.50	$1,222
1165	1165	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	157.00	$157.00	$1,829

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1123	1123	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	2,300.00	$2,300.00

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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.