Cattle Market Pulse

South Dakota Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

South Dakota · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, May 16, 2022

15,384 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 8-weight M&L 1 heifers $141.15/cwt -0.91 vs last sale · ≈ $1,164/hd at 825 lb · 1,364 head
light 9-weight M&L 1 steers $153.75/cwt +4.58 vs last sale · ≈ $1,410/hd at 917 lb · 1,331 head
light 8-weight M&L 1 steers $160.90/cwt +3.56 vs last sale · ≈ $1,339/hd at 832 lb · 1,312 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 15,384 18,667 22,602
Feeder cattle 14,564 17,657 21,189
Slaughter cattle 820 1,010 1,413

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Feeder steers steady to 5.00 higher, feeder heifers 1.00 to 4.00 lower. Very good demand again for light cattle for backgrounding, especially those that will run on grass as turnout time is here and the grass is green and growing. Good demand for finishing type steers, more moderate for heifers. Costs of gain is the largest obstacle cattle feeders have in front of them, because of this they need cattle to grow to heavy weights very efficiently, this is resulting in wide price spreads between steers and heifers. There have been spring rains across the state to get the grass green and starting to grow, but more is needed to ensure a full grazing season and a good hay crop. The fall months of the Feeder Cattle futures continues to offer encouragement to feeder cattle producers as those months are nearly 20.00 higher than the front month, but these levels are off well over 10.00 from their highs. Slaughter cows steady to 2.00 higher, bulls 4.00 higher.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
375 375 7 218.00 $218.00 $818 —
448 448 21 229.00 $229.00 $1,026 —
457–499 477 62 200.00–217.00 $209.66 $1,000 -13.00
501–545 530 88 182.50–216.00 $197.73 $1,048 -5.50
550–593 575 244 174.00–207.00 $196.45 $1,130 +6.07
602–646 620 299 168.00–192.00 $181.86 $1,128 -8.58
654–699 680 117 161.00–186.50 $175.07 $1,190 -3.74
706 thin fleshed 706 80 194.50 $194.50 $1,373 +5.50
702–745 727 463 159.00–187.00 $179.08 $1,302 -0.38
736 736 10 162.50 $162.50 $1,196 -16.96
756–784 766 20 148.00–150.00 $148.72 $1,139 -13.80
753–780 773 273 153.75–175.50 $169.12 $1,307 +6.60
779 thin fleshed 779 77 181.50 $181.50 $1,414 +1.50
818–848 832 1,307 149.50–163.50 $160.96 $1,339 +3.62
834 834 5 146.50 $146.50 $1,222 -10.84
857–898 877 1,133 142.00–158.75 $152.80 $1,340 -2.37
895 895 7 142.00 $142.00 $1,271 -13.17
900–946 917 1,331 143.50–164.75 $153.75 $1,410 +4.58
952–987 967 864 140.00–146.40 $144.55 $1,398 +0.60
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1010–1047 1035 215 140.00–141.50 $140.24 $1,451 -4.43
1058–1086 1064 135 137.00–139.00 $138.26 $1,471 -4.78
1101–1143 1125 226 136.35–140.10 $138.90 $1,563 -0.11
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1181 1181 8 120.50 $120.50 $1,423 —
1321 1321 4 147.00 $147.00 $1,942 +15.76
1363 1363 8 136.00 $136.00 $1,854 -8.00
1363–1452 1433 23 135.00–138.50 $137.78 $1,974 -9.60
1405–1486 1434 22 138.00–140.00 $139.25 $1,997 -8.13
1410–1464 1453 19 145.00–145.50 $145.40 $2,113 +0.40
1448–1489 1460 83 140.00–144.00 $142.14 $2,075 -2.86
1534 1534 40 142.00 $142.00 $2,178 +2.00
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
482–490 487 12 160.00–170.00 $164.13 $799 -42.87
574 574 4 151.00 $151.00 $867 -23.38
633 633 12 163.00 $163.00 $1,032 +4.25
660 660 14 148.50 $148.50 $980 -12.69
774 774 12 130.00 $130.00 $1,006 —
813–846 838 29 142.75–147.50 $143.86 $1,206 -2.01
892 892 4 129.50 $129.50 $1,155 -11.86
949 949 43 138.50 $138.50 $1,314 —
Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1002 1002 23 137.75 $137.75 $1,380 +7.60
1171 1171 4 128.50 $128.50 $1,505 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
348 348 4 190.00 $190.00 $661 -1.00
394 394 11 189.00 $189.00 $745 -21.00
406–440 420 12 169.00–192.00 $179.04 $752 -5.30
451–495 474 41 170.00–175.00 $173.22 $821 -19.55
510–542 523 112 162.00–182.00 $173.04 $905 +1.21
553 553 15 143.00 $143.00 $791 -22.45
565 thin fleshed 565 36 180.00 $180.00 $1,017 —
552–597 576 282 155.00–176.50 $167.41 $964 +1.96
618 618 5 146.00 $146.00 $902 -16.91
621–643 635 240 155.00–173.00 $168.11 $1,067 +16.61
664–693 681 571 148.50–165.00 $159.08 $1,083 -2.92
704 thin fleshed 704 83 162.25 $162.25 $1,142 —
705–746 727 401 139.00–163.50 $151.99 $1,105 -1.07
736 736 77 163.00 $163.00 $1,200 +9.94
751–778 766 250 151.00–176.00 $160.91 $1,233 +22.41
750–792 768 685 132.00–151.00 $146.26 $1,123 +7.76
801–845 824 1,294 132.50–146.00 $140.75 $1,160 -0.42
841 841 70 148.50 $148.50 $1,249 +7.33
857–899 878 802 128.00–139.00 $132.91 $1,167 -6.97
907–936 924 885 130.25–137.00 $132.84 $1,227 -3.85
950–992 969 191 123.50–131.50 $129.48 $1,255 -4.50
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
377 377 7 181.00 $181.00 $682 —
424 424 5 177.00 $177.00 $750 -1.67
455–482 461 26 166.00–180.00 $173.20 $798 -5.30
562 562 8 125.00 $125.00 $702 -30.13
556–599 575 76 146.00–163.00 $154.34 $887 -0.79
616–642 634 29 146.00–151.00 $148.88 $944 +0.43
671–679 674 18 142.00–145.00 $143.99 $970 —
744–748 747 19 132.50–142.00 $134.99 $1,008 -8.01
846 846 18 127.25 $127.25 $1,077 -8.50
884 884 30 128.35 $128.35 $1,135 —
906–927 914 65 126.00–128.50 $127.49 $1,165 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1265 1265 9 136.00 $136.00 $1,720 -3.30
1211–1397 1310 173 140.00–142.00 $141.89 $1,859 -1.03
1399 1399 7 139.50 $139.50 $1,952 —
1321–1453 1400 15 144.50–146.00 $145.07 $2,031 —
Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
685 685 8 143.00 $143.00 $980 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
522 522 14 186.00 $186.00 $971 —
653 653 42 173.00 $173.00 $1,130 —
737 737 6 147.00 $147.00 $1,083 —
766 766 17 145.50 $145.50 $1,115 —
906 906 13 136.00 $136.00 $1,232 —

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
790–1160 966 85-90% 5 30.00–47.00 $41.79 $404 —
1050–1364 1207 85-90% 14 54.00–69.00 $62.98 $760 —
1010–1890 1470 85-90% 53 62.00–75.00 $72.10 $1,060 —
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1193–1795 1438 75-80% 37 79.00–86.00 $81.79 $1,176 —
1393–1860 1576 75-80% 17 85.50–89.50 $88.13 $1,389 +0.43
1640–1740 1690 75-80% 2 74.00–78.00 $75.94 $1,283 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
960–1775 1326 80-85% 30 74.00–79.00 $76.45 $1,014 +0.60
1344 1344 80-85% 4 80.00 $80.00 $1,075 +4.15
1190–2065 1443 80-85% 8 70.00–75.00 $73.03 $1,054 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1420–2012 1719 65-75% 11 91.00–98.00 $93.71 $1,611 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1170–1755 1472 3 101.00–110.00 $105.59 $1,554 -0.41
1155–1945 1526 10 51.00–98.00 $82.02 $1,252 —

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Dairy Steers

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1312 1312 5 129.00 $129.00 $1,692 +23.00
1461–1490 1485 27 120.00–126.00 $121.09 $1,798 —
1469–1573 1513 21 129.50–131.00 $130.48 $1,974 —

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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.