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

Billings, Montana · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, October 30, 2024

2,088 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 steers $261.48/cwt ≈ $1,783/hd at 682 lb · 49 head

heavy 8-weight M&L 1 heifers $233.00/cwt +5.00 vs last sale · ≈ $1,999/hd at 858 lb · 36 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 steers $271.98/cwt ≈ $1,594/hd at 586 lb · 31 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	2,088	1,415	1,644
Feeder cattle	542	446	595
Slaughter cattle	1,088	692	787
Replacement cattle	458	277	262

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: All feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Quality was mostly plain to average today. Most feeders were offered in small packages or as singles. Demand was mostly light to moderate for light offerings. Fewer takers were seen for feeder cattle this sale as todays sale featured cows. Market activity was mostly moderate. Weigh up cows comprised most of todays sale. Demand for slaughter cows was light to moderate and slightly stronger than last week. Quality this week was mostly mixed from plain to very attractive. Many lame, low yielding cows were seen again this sale. Feeding buyers were more active this week with 12 slaughter and feeding cow buyers in the stands or online bidding on cows. Most cows were purchased to feed this week as buyers took more lame and blemished cows this week. Demand for slaughter cows was mostly light. Slaughter cows sold steady to weak on breaking and boning cows; lean cows sold mostly 1.00-2.00 higher. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 2.00 higher. Weigh conditions were mostly average to below average today, however weigh conditions were better this week compared to last week. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 2.00 lower. Feeding bull sold generally steady. Quality today was mostly average for bulls. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly 3.00-6.00 higher. Demand from rebreed buyers was mostly good. Quality was mostly average to attractive this week and more attractive than last weeks offering.

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
300 unweaned	300	1	430.00	$430.00	$1,290	+5.00
360 unweaned	360	1	385.00	$385.00	$1,386	+3.37
505–545 unweaned	516	23	289.00–305.00	$299.57	$1,546	-6.76
592 unweaned	592	3	276.00	$276.00	$1,634	-15.24
629 unweaned	629	12	276.00	$276.00	$1,736	+2.51
664–689 unweaned	682	49	259.00–263.00	$261.48	$1,783	—
980	980	1	250.00	$250.00	$2,450	—
1098	1098	5	223.00	$223.00	$2,449	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
288 unweaned	288	5	450.00	$450.00	$1,296	—
354–370 unweaned	357	6	367.50–372.50	$371.64	$1,327	+11.10
402–441 unweaned	417	18	330.00–342.50	$337.36	$1,407	—
450	450	4	297.50	$297.50	$1,339	—
472 unweaned	472	3	315.00	$315.00	$1,487	+5.00
517–540 unweaned	530	12	261.00–283.00	$269.93	$1,431	-25.07
573–596 unweaned	586	31	269.00–273.00	$271.98	$1,594	—
628–642 unweaned	634	11	254.00–255.00	$254.46	$1,613	—
675 unweaned	675	2	243.00	$243.00	$1,640	+2.00

Medium 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
245 unweaned	245	10	395.00	$395.00	$968	—
260 unweaned	260	6	335.00	$335.00	$871	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
603 unweaned	603	2	262.00	$262.00	$1,580	—
1115–1135	1125	2	221.00–231.00	$225.96	$2,542	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
581–593 unweaned	586	24	241.00–254.00	$249.06	$1,459	-20.44
609	609	8	239.00	$239.00	$1,456	—
672–688 unweaned	678	11	236.00	$236.00	$1,600	—
690	690	3	234.00	$234.00	$1,615	—
718	718	2	219.00	$219.00	$1,572	—
780	780	2	222.50	$222.50	$1,736	—
858	858	36	233.00	$233.00	$1,999	+5.00
954	954	5	217.00	$217.00	$2,070	-3.17

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
290 unweaned	290	4	380.00	$380.00	$1,102	—
355 unweaned	355	2	315.00	$315.00	$1,118	—
428 unweaned	428	16	267.50	$267.50	$1,145	-32.32
487 unweaned	487	5	283.00	$283.00	$1,378	+3.00
575 unweaned	575	2	242.00	$242.00	$1,392	-13.00
602 unweaned	602	3	240.00	$240.00	$1,445	—
1049	1049	4	208.00	$208.00	$2,182	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
520 unweaned	520	3	261.00	$261.00	$1,357	—
1085	1085	15	213.00	$213.00	$2,311	+3.24

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Feeder Bulls

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1130	1130	1	210.00	$210.00	$2,373	+7.50
1180	1180	1	200.00	$200.00	$2,360	—
1220	1220	1	160.00	$160.00	$1,952	-20.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1058	1058	2	215.00	$215.00	$2,275	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1160	1160	1	172.50	$172.50	$2,001	-5.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1090	1090	1	200.00	$200.00	$2,180	-5.00

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1103–1520	1343	80-85%	13	91.00–103.00	$98.10	$1,317	—
1005–1655	1371	80-85%	231	117.00–131.50	$124.49	$1,707	—
1145–1620	1380	80-85%	67	103.00–117.50	$111.43	$1,538	—
1075–1538	1382	80-85%	80	130.00–140.00	$132.20	$1,827	—
1115–1660	1418	80-85%	34	104.00–112.00	$106.94	$1,516	-4.01
1465	1465	80-85%	1	113.00	$113.00	$1,655	—
1478	1478	80-85%	2	86.00	$86.00	$1,271	—

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
790–960	902	85-90%	3	80.00–82.50	$81.08	$731	-26.08
925	925	85-90%	1	77.50	$77.50	$717	-29.66
985–1290	1130	85-90%	43	90.00–99.00	$96.24	$1,088	—
1045–1295	1132	85-90%	10	72.50–89.00	$83.59	$946	—
1089–1300	1191	85-90%	30	122.00–131.00	$125.73	$1,497	+41.23
885–1371	1210	85-90%	145	98.50–111.50	$107.03	$1,295	-21.95
1030–1394	1215	85-90%	121	111.00–121.00	$118.14	$1,435	-10.84
1045–1383	1220	85-90%	33	99.00–114.00	$102.62	$1,252	-26.36

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1542–1725	1580	75-80%	6	125.00–129.50	$128.02	$2,023	+0.79
1555–1725	1662	75-80%	3	130.50–131.50	$130.84	$2,175	+3.22
1615–1895	1755	75-80%	2	123.50–124.00	$123.77	$2,172	—
1785	1785	75-80%	1	121.00	$121.00	$2,160	—
1695–1985	1801	75-80%	5	112.00–123.50	$118.00	$2,125	—
2010	2010	75-80%	1	113.00	$113.00	$2,271	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1245–1835	1621	9	145.00–152.00	$146.39	$2,373	—
1293–2050	1694	7	138.00–145.50	$143.14	$2,425	—
1430–2180	1835	15	127.50–144.00	$139.43	$2,559	—
1465–2100	1857	12	144.00–156.00	$147.57	$2,740	-2.75
1880–2375	2142	3	158.00–160.00	$158.68	$3,399	—

YG2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1485	1485	1	140.00	$140.00	$2,079	—

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
730–1760	944	(<2 yrs)	Open	216	160.00–215.00	$192.88	$1,821
841–1325	1050	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	104	131.00–197.50	$163.82	$1,720

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
723–1155	990	(<2 yrs)	Open	20	142.50–178.00	$168.60	$1,669
930–1160	1059	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	6	125.00–170.00	$155.54	$1,647

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
955–1189	1121	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	21	2,200.00–2,400.00	$2,341.18
1052–1265	1126	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	22	2,100.00–2,300.00	$2,224.91
1250	1250	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	1	2,075.00	$2,075.00
1478	1478	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	1,975.00	$1,975.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1065	1065	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	2,100.00	$2,100.00

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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.