Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction Market Report

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, June 12, 2024

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

heavy 8-weight M&L 1 bulls $231.12/cwt ≈ $1,997/hd at 864 lb · 10 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	860	918	581
Feeder cattle	77	75	94
Slaughter cattle	583	578	349
Replacement cattle	200	265	138

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle offerings were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Todays sale offered mostly weigh up cows, bred cows and cow-calf pairs. Demand for feeder cattle was good for very light offerings. Most feeders were offered in small groups or as singles. Market activity was mostly moderate to active. Weigh up cows sold on good to very good demand for moderate offerings. Packers showed very good demand for cows both for immediate harvest and to feed. Packers opted to send most sound cows to feed this week, as they purchased thin cows to feed for the upcoming 4th of July holiday and high quality cows to feed to premium white. Slaughter cows sold steady to 1.00 higher on all classes of slaughter cows. High quality feeding cows, suitable to feed to premium white, sold mostly steady to 2.00 higher. Thin, short term feeding cows sold mostly 2.00-3.00 higher. Cow quality was mostly attractive to attractive today, however quality was not as attractive overall as it was last week. Many sets of cows showed thinner body condition scores this week. Weigh up conditions were mostly average this week. Temperatures warmed into the upper 80s for todays sale and many cows sold somewhat full as a result. Slaughter bulls sold 3.00-5.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Bulls, like todays cow offering, showed some fill come sale time. Packers opted to feed several sets of light to middle weight bulls as they purchased bulls to feed for the upcoming 4th of July holiday. Demand for bulls suitable to feed was very good. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold 5.00-10.00 higher. Additional buyers were in the market this week searching for high quality cows suitable to rebreed. Demand for high quality offerings was very good. Quality was mostly average to attractive and similar to last week.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
602	602	3	302.50	$302.50	$1,821	—
670–698	681	7	275.00–280.00	$276.70	$1,884	-15.80
808	808	3	205.00	$205.00	$1,656	—

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
703–713	707	8	278.00–279.00	$278.38	$1,968	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
770	770	2	242.00	$242.00	$1,863	—

↑ Back to top

Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
475	475	1	335.00	$335.00	$1,591	—
676	676	4	260.00	$260.00	$1,758	—
748	748	3	249.00	$249.00	$1,863	—
760–773	769	3	241.00–248.00	$243.31	$1,871	-4.19

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
615–640	628	2	251.00–255.00	$252.96	$1,589	-18.29
710	710	1	246.00	$246.00	$1,747	—

Small 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
575	575	3	165.00	$165.00	$949	—

↑ Back to top

Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
851–895	864	—	—	10	222.50–235.00	$231.12	$1,997	—
1445	1445	(<2 yrs)	N/A	1	156.00	$156.00	$2,254	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1190–1195	1193	2	166.00–175.00	$170.49	$2,034	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1105	1105	1	207.50	$207.50	$2,293	+7.50

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
400	400	1	320.00	$320.00	$1,280	—

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1320	1320	80-85%	1	116.00	$116.00	$1,531	—
1230–1448	1375	80-85%	3	141.50–142.00	$141.65	$1,948	+3.88
1200–1625	1376	80-85%	205	130.00–141.50	$139.21	$1,916	+1.44
1250–1580	1416	80-85%	44	141.00–148.50	$143.89	$2,037	+7.29
1272–1655	1442	80-85%	46	130.50–140.00	$136.67	$1,971	+6.56
1320–1565	1443	80-85%	2	123.00	$123.00	$1,775	-7.11

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
670–800	732	85-90%	10	77.50–91.00	$88.45	$647	—
815–935	880	85-90%	11	98.00–115.00	$106.82	$940	+5.23
1065	1065	85-90%	1	101.00	$101.00	$1,076	—
915–1177	1068	85-90%	10	120.00–125.00	$122.30	$1,306	—
1095	1095	85-90%	1	90.00	$90.00	$986	—
1105–1175	1140	85-90%	2	132.00–134.00	$132.97	$1,516	—
963–1308	1152	85-90%	40	127.50–137.00	$134.22	$1,546	+12.81
1080–1310	1160	85-90%	4	110.00–119.00	$114.33	$1,326	-7.08
1081–1245	1184	85-90%	31	138.00–142.50	$139.40	$1,650	+9.35
1210–1275	1259	85-90%	4	137.00–146.00	$139.92	$1,762	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1555–1565	1558	75-80%	3	145.50–147.00	$146.50	$2,282	+1.00
1438–1729	1632	75-80%	6	142.00	$142.00	$2,317	—
1610–1770	1694	75-80%	7	137.50–140.00	$139.22	$2,358	-5.43
1625–1730	1694	75-80%	8	130.00–135.00	$133.75	$2,266	-10.90
1620–1775	1698	75-80%	2	143.50–149.00	$146.38	$2,486	+1.73

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1450	1450	1	142.00	$142.00	$2,059	—
1310–1820	1609	18	152.00–164.00	$159.03	$2,559	—
1680–1870	1774	4	132.00–147.00	$142.20	$2,523	-6.80
1520–2255	1891	13	152.00–165.00	$158.35	$2,994	—
1650–2305	1985	42	166.00–188.00	$175.18	$3,477	—
2540	2540	1	178.00	$178.00	$4,521	—

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1805–2405	2105	2	165.00	$165.00	$3,473	—

↑ Back to top

Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
780–1385	1059	(<2 yrs)	Open	70	155.00–230.00	$193.43	$2,048
912–1360	1162	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	74	134.00–203.00	$162.85	$1,892
1220	1220	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	8	139.50	$139.50	$1,702
1240	1240	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	157.00	$157.00	$1,947

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
905–1065	1011	(<2 yrs)	Open	6	142.50–195.00	$160.55	$1,623
1055–1125	1078	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	144.00–150.00	$146.09	$1,575

↑ Back to top

Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1143	1143	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	2,050.00	$2,050.00

↑ Back to top

Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1491	1491	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	4	2,500.00	$2,500.00	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1635	1635	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	1	2,500.00	$2,500.00	—

↑ Back to top

Dairy Cows

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1285	1285	85-90%	1	114.00	$114.00	$1,465	—

↑ Back to top

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.