South Dakota Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

South Dakota · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, March 15, 2021

10,328 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest South Dakota Weekly Cattle Auction Summary report →

heavy 8-weight M&L 1 steers $133.92/cwt +2.99 vs last sale · ≈ $1,176/hd at 878 lb · 863 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 heifers $143.87/cwt +0.02 vs last sale · ≈ $905/hd at 629 lb · 821 head

light 8-weight M&L 1 steers $137.53/cwt +3.70 vs last sale · ≈ $1,130/hd at 822 lb · 773 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	10,328	32,856	6,827
Feeder cattle	9,676	31,010	5,274
Slaughter cattle	652	1,846	1,553

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: A much lighter offering of feeder cattle, receipts were reduced in East River, SD due to an early week large snowfall, feeder steers and heifers under 600 lbs too lightly tested for comparison, over 600 lbs steady to 3.00 higher. Good demand remains for light cattle to background, more moderate for heavier weight cattle suitable only for finishing. Cattle feeders have been unable to push the cash fed cattle market as high as they need it to be, although they did manage to sell some fats up to 116.00 this week. Profitability eludes most cattle feeders as their breakevens are closer to 120.00. Feedyard conditions are very muddy, as rain fell before the snow, the snow has now melted and is affecting dressing percents of outgoing fed cattle. Projected costs of gains are much higher for incoming cattle but the back months of the futures are much more attractive at 122.00 plus, giving a signal to the feeder that better markets lie ahead. April Live Cattle is currently lower than June and Aug which is hard to understand as that time of the summer fed cattle are much more plentiful. Cattle on Feed Report released Friday showed On Feed numbers at 102% of last year, but placements at only 98%. Marketings also came in at 98%, as the Feb winter storm that struck the southern plains caused packing houses to shut down during the power outages. Slaughter cows 3.00 to 4.00 higher, bulls 2.00 lower.

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
391	391	4	208.00	$208.00	$813	+17.75
407–448	429	25	181.00–190.00	$186.47	$800	-3.04
456–486	465	37	180.00–184.00	$182.59	$849	+14.54
500–546	534	153	170.00–188.00	$184.18	$984	+31.68
574 thin fleshed	574	100	182.00	$182.00	$1,045	—
550–597	575	133	163.00–176.00	$167.71	$964	-6.11
606 thin fleshed	606	22	174.00	$174.00	$1,054	—
606–645	624	238	147.50–168.25	$161.27	$1,006	+3.49
631	631	13	150.50	$150.50	$950	-7.28
661	661	14	144.50	$144.50	$955	-8.50
651–689	680	231	147.00–160.75	$153.35	$1,043	+0.35
702–749	726	387	136.75–153.00	$143.78	$1,044	-3.21
737	737	20	136.00	$136.00	$1,002	+3.00
751–799	772	731	131.50–147.00	$138.31	$1,068	+8.91
801–846	822	773	130.00–139.35	$137.53	$1,130	+4.17
852–899	878	863	124.00–138.00	$133.92	$1,176	+2.93
905–947	927	492	123.00–133.75	$131.25	$1,217	-0.25
953–998	971	396	124.00–133.60	$128.10	$1,244	+2.97

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1022–1039	1030	108	127.00–127.35	$127.17	$1,310	+3.56
1052–1078	1061	216	123.75–130.50	$127.38	$1,352	+7.56
1110	1110	11	119.50	$119.50	$1,326	+1.25

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1144–1370	1262	23	111.25–114.50	$112.66	$1,422	—
1377–1489	1443	17	114.00–115.00	$114.39	$1,651	—
1553	1553	6	111.00	$111.00	$1,724	—
1581–1602	1600	34	118.00–119.00	$118.12	$1,890	—
1615–1656	1634	137	113.50–117.00	$115.37	$1,885	+5.49

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
516–542	528	49	163.50–175.00	$167.70	$885	+4.27
586	586	7	155.00	$155.00	$908	-4.64
627–642	634	78	147.00–152.00	$150.30	$953	+11.52
838	838	3	126.50	$126.50	$1,060	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
420–424	423	18	150.00–175.00	$160.52	$679	-4.79
457–498	484	101	148.00–157.00	$152.80	$740	-6.48
504–548	532	182	141.00–155.50	$147.15	$783	-11.37
551–598	576	284	134.50–151.50	$144.40	$832	-4.67
618–646	626	21	130.00–134.50	$131.33	$822	-11.46
600–648	629	800	137.75–149.50	$144.20	$907	-10.16
651–695	674	489	130.00–140.75	$137.69	$928	+0.64
677	677	18	140.25	$140.25	$949	-12.79
705–719	712	160	135.00–142.00	$140.29	$999	+18.03
707–749	728	554	121.75–136.00	$131.99	$961	-16.21
755–798	783	309	126.00–140.00	$129.23	$1,012	-12.80
761–798	783	133	131.00–140.50	$135.05	$1,057	-6.98
803–835	823	203	124.00–128.50	$126.30	$1,039	-7.70
825	825	14	129.50	$129.50	$1,068	-4.50
854	854	15	131.50	$131.50	$1,123	+9.50
859–885	877	63	122.75–127.50	$124.85	$1,095	+1.55
900–937	928	119	124.25–125.25	$124.29	$1,153	+19.04
997	997	59	120.25	$120.25	$1,199	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1180	1180	23	113.00	$113.00	$1,333	—
1275–1526	1403	113	110.00–116.50	$113.92	$1,598	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
478	478	6	153.00	$153.00	$731	-1.52
542–549	544	18	134.00–141.00	$138.65	$754	-7.09
595	595	5	133.00	$133.00	$791	-5.23
700–711	703	51	121.50–123.00	$121.92	$857	+0.45
773–782	780	15	113.50–124.50	$122.32	$954	+5.32

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
799	799	64	1,030.00	$1,030.00	-47.79
822	822	27	1,310.00	$1,310.00	+225.00

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1033	1033	3	115.25	$115.25	$1,191	+6.81

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
799	799	85-90%	5	23.00	$23.00	$184	—
945–1260	1103	85-90%	2	59.00–60.00	$59.43	$656	+35.97
940–1530	1143	85-90%	18	50.00–58.50	$55.64	$636	+32.18
930–1635	1194	85-90%	8	33.00–48.00	$42.30	$505	+4.32

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1130–1855	1372	75-80%	3	61.00	$61.00	$837	—
1347–1545	1432	75-80%	20	63.00–69.00	$65.73	$941	—
1500	1500	75-80%	1	72.00	$72.00	$1,080	—

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1380	1380	80-85%	1	57.00	$57.00	$787	—
1213–1608	1462	80-85%	11	60.50–63.00	$60.97	$891	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1250	1250	1	63.00	$63.00	$788	—
1645–1930	1749	4	81.00–86.00	$82.68	$1,446	—
1985	1985	1	101.00	$101.00	$2,005	—

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Dairy Steers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1422	1422	7	90.00	$90.00	$1,280	±0.00
1460–1561	1538	82	93.00–97.75	$95.56	$1,470	+2.17

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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.