South Dakota Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

South Dakota · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, May 31, 2021

17,805 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $152.46/cwt +5.57 vs last sale · ≈ $1,166/hd at 765 lb · 1,906 head

light 7-weight M&L 1 heifers $140.74/cwt +5.39 vs last sale · ≈ $1,015/hd at 721 lb · 1,386 head

heavy 9-weight M&L 1 steers $131.40/cwt +2.95 vs last sale · ≈ $1,266/hd at 964 lb · 1,220 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	17,805	17,212	17,855
Feeder cattle	17,136	16,006	16,748
Slaughter cattle	669	1,206	1,107

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers under 900 lbs 4.00 to 8.00 higher, over 900 lbs steady to 1.00 higher except 950-1000 lbs 3.00 higher. Feeder heifers under 750 lbs 2.00 to 6.00 higher, over 750 lbs steady to 1.00 higher. Very good demand for all weights and classes, however the best demand is centered on cattle that will finish in the 4th quarter of this year and the 1st quarter of next year. Lots of yearlings offered this week, the market was most active on those that came off grass from drought regions as the flesh is very light and attractive. The ongoing drought is forcing cattle producers in those worst affected regions to sell yearlings early. The cash fed cattle market remains stuck at 120.00 while boxed beef prices are at 338.00 for Choice boxes. Consumer demand for beef, both domestically and internationally is very high, as the price of beef is very high in comparison to the other proteins, this was exacerbated again this week with the JBS computer hack that saw cattle slaughter drop by a quarter on Tuesday. Packers are firm in their resolve to keep their large margins in place while they suck all of the profit out of the industry. Yet cattle feeders are eternal optimists and are enticed to buy some green yearlings that will fit the Dec Live Cattle board as it sat at 129.00 on Friday. Corn prices are worrisome as costs of gain are sitting above the price of the cattle. Slaughter cows and bulls steady to 1.00 higher.

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
402–434	421	23	183.00–196.00	$191.15	$805	+13.54
453–495	467	98	178.50–196.00	$187.02	$873	+6.62
517–549	532	327	171.00–193.00	$185.16	$985	+7.68
553–597	571	454	159.50–186.00	$176.28	$1,007	+6.62
587–596	592	80	166.00–166.50	$166.30	$984	-3.36
605–648	632	734	154.00–176.50	$168.57	$1,065	+3.47
633	633	9	146.50	$146.50	$927	-18.60
651–696	672	911	148.00–170.50	$162.12	$1,089	+8.30
680–682	682	56	142.50–149.50	$148.75	$1,014	-5.07
694 thin fleshed	694	219	168.00	$168.00	$1,166	—
730	730	5	132.50	$132.50	$967	-14.05
710–747	731	482	136.50–158.00	$151.87	$1,110	+5.32
754–796	765	1,906	139.00–161.50	$152.46	$1,166	+18.77
810 thin fleshed	810	65	145.75	$145.75	$1,181	—
814–835	822	36	123.00–130.00	$127.24	$1,046	-13.59
811–846	828	712	133.00–154.00	$148.61	$1,230	+7.78
846	846	58	140.00	$140.00	$1,184	-0.83
872	872	11	115.00	$115.00	$1,003	-20.99
857–897	876	618	130.50–146.00	$139.75	$1,224	+3.76
906–930	914	626	128.25–136.75	$132.99	$1,216	+1.07
951–993	962	1,165	118.50–135.25	$131.77	$1,268	+3.04
998	998	55	123.50	$123.50	$1,233	+5.75

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1001–1046	1016	274	118.00–127.00	$124.37	$1,264	-0.26
1051–1095	1068	512	117.50–126.75	$123.86	$1,323	+1.01
1139	1139	7	115.00	$115.00	$1,310	-4.95
1168	1168	4	118.00	$118.00	$1,378	-2.51
1275	1275	19	114.50–115.00	$114.87	$1,465	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1383–1441	1409	9	122.00–125.00	$123.64	$1,742	—
1453	1453	10	126.00	$126.00	$1,831	+9.23
1494	1494	6	122.00	$122.00	$1,823	-3.19
1512	1512	10	128.00	$128.00	$1,935	+7.98
1568	1568	43	122.50	$122.50	$1,921	-4.07
1796	1796	5	117.00	$117.00	$2,101	—
1922	1922	13	99.00	$99.00	$1,903	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
365–373	369	11	185.00–186.00	$185.46	$684	—
418	418	13	187.00	$187.00	$782	—
484	484	5	166.00	$166.00	$803	-7.56
558	558	3	146.00	$146.00	$815	-10.71
614	614	11	151.50	$151.50	$930	+8.02
656–676	666	21	145.00–148.00	$146.55	$976	+0.80
727–741	733	10	137.50–138.00	$137.80	$1,010	+4.72
754–790	773	13	123.50–140.00	$130.92	$1,012	-1.57

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1072–1077	1073	16	106.00–117.50	$115.34	$1,238	-0.16

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
379–399	390	34	161.00–174.00	$170.83	$666	-8.67
415	415	21	165.00	$165.00	$685	+2.38
403–444	433	58	155.00–181.00	$169.43	$734	+6.81
459–499	488	249	153.00–169.00	$164.28	$802	+5.46
507–549	526	245	151.50–163.00	$159.51	$839	+2.11
552–599	576	649	133.00–160.00	$153.02	$881	+1.32
614	614	10	126.00	$126.00	$774	-18.59
600–644	624	805	134.50–160.50	$150.02	$936	+5.43
613–646	637	90	134.00–145.50	$139.10	$886	-5.49
661	661	16	130.00	$130.00	$859	-6.68
653–699	680	930	130.00–149.00	$141.33	$961	+4.65
684	684	79	149.00	$149.00	$1,019	+12.32
694	694	17	117.50	$117.50	$815	-10.50
711	711	77	150.00	$150.00	$1,066	+14.16
706–746	722	1,309	131.00–145.50	$140.20	$1,012	+4.36
767	767	43	151.00	$151.00	$1,158	+20.68
751–798	777	400	125.00–139.50	$131.34	$1,021	+1.02
804	804	8	119.00	$119.00	$957	-7.93
803–849	833	322	122.25–130.00	$126.87	$1,057	+5.82
850–898	875	553	118.25–128.00	$125.04	$1,094	+1.13
883	883	22	117.25	$117.25	$1,035	-6.66
915–937	927	325	113.50–122.85	$119.16	$1,105	-1.16
967–992	985	177	115.00–118.75	$117.22	$1,155	+9.72

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1000–1039	1030	221	115.25–118.50	$117.03	$1,205	-0.45
1064–1076	1075	46	112.00–113.00	$112.91	$1,214	-2.47
1135	1135	14	112.75	$112.75	$1,280	+0.24
1191	1191	35	117.25	$117.25	$1,396	+7.25

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1168	1168	4	115.00	$115.00	$1,343	—
1204	1204	5	110.50	$110.50	$1,330	—
1233–1406	1336	56	120.50–128.00	$122.02	$1,630	-0.23
1282–1404	1347	82	118.00–120.00	$118.88	$1,601	-3.37

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
376	376	18	161.00	$161.00	$605	—
450	450	7	162.00	$162.00	$729	+27.00
551–573	564	10	134.00–145.00	$140.70	$794	+0.04
608	608	6	132.00	$132.00	$803	—
731–744	739	27	122.00–133.25	$125.12	$925	+2.28
830–831	830	17	105.00–120.50	$114.11	$947	+5.08
899	899	6	117.25	$117.25	$1,054	-1.25

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1060–1675	1333	80-85%	62	60.00–68.00	$64.77	$863	+9.71
1510	1510	80-85%	1	40.00	$40.00	$604	—
1520	1520	80-85%	1	56.00	$56.00	$851	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1202–1945	1543	65-75%	47	76.00–85.00	$80.01	$1,235	—
1740	1740	65-75%	2	87.00	$87.00	$1,514	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1248–1695	1441	75-80%	34	65.00–74.00	$69.62	$1,003	—
1595	1595	75-80%	1	75.00	$75.00	$1,196	—
1515–1663	1614	75-80%	3	56.00–64.00	$61.50	$993	-12.12

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1070	1070	85-90%	2	62.00	$62.00	$663	—
855–1195	1082	85-90%	5	42.00–52.50	$45.67	$494	—
800–1495	1193	85-90%	26	53.00–61.50	$57.86	$690	—
1190–1245	1218	85-90%	2	37.00–40.00	$38.53	$469	-19.88

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1525–2195	1821	5	84.00–90.00	$86.78	$1,580	—
1740–2730	2059	5	90.00–99.50	$94.32	$1,942	—

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Dairy Heifers

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
739	739	4	103.50	$103.50	$765	—

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Dairy Steers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1387	1387	13	98.00	$98.00	$1,359	+19.00

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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.