Cattle Market Pulse

South Dakota Weekly Cattle Auction Summary

South Dakota · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Monday, November 20, 2023

1,865 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 9-weight M&L 1 steers $216.56/cwt -4.71 vs last sale · ≈ $2,001/hd at 924 lb · 130 head
heavy 9-weight M&L 1 heifers $195.50/cwt -9.96 vs last sale · ≈ $1,918/hd at 981 lb · 124 head
heavy 8-weight M&L 1 steers $223.21/cwt -3.95 vs last sale · ≈ $1,962/hd at 879 lb · 104 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 1,865 44,154 2,017
Feeder cattle 1,738 42,474 1,927
Slaughter cattle 127 1,680 90

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week: Only 1 reported auction as other locations did not host a feeder cattle sale due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Moderate to good demand for the limited offering. The extreme weakness in the cattle futures is causing much uncertainty for cattle producers as their hopes for selling fat cattle at or near 200.00 this winter and spring is vanishing. Cash fed cattle topped 177.00, 7.00 premium to the Dec Live Cattle contract, as packers are able to buy cattle cheaper as the futures collapse. Large feeder cattle auctions will be the norm east of the Missouri now, as is normal for this time of the year, as producers there like to wean their calves and get them started and growing. Slaughter cows steady to 2.00 higher, bulls steady.

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
383 383 6 347.50 $347.50 $1,331 +6.50
428–431 429 13 317.50–330.00 $322.33 $1,383 -15.89
470–480 477 13 290.00–311.00 $304.63 $1,453 -10.46
500–537 516 7 270.00–292.50 $280.04 $1,445 -15.93
563–589 571 45 270.00–297.00 $289.23 $1,652 +6.43
611–643 621 41 240.00–261.00 $250.85 $1,558 +1.63
711–734 727 61 223.00–244.00 $230.35 $1,675 -17.42
758–769 766 92 223.00–231.00 $228.16 $1,748 +3.27
805–828 818 48 216.00–230.00 $224.64 $1,838 -17.72
862–881 879 104 217.00–224.00 $223.21 $1,962 -3.95
914–938 924 130 213.00–218.00 $216.56 $2,001 -5.37
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1006–1046 1037 295 204.00–207.00 $205.32 $2,129 -4.36
1050 1050 55 207.10 $207.10 $2,175 -5.97
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
327 327 5 300.00 $300.00 $981 -16.97
494 494 6 270.00 $270.00 $1,334 -10.30
501–513 506 18 255.00–265.00 $259.76 $1,314 -1.48
600–639 624 30 220.00–225.00 $222.56 $1,389 -19.57
675–693 683 19 210.00–226.00 $219.16 $1,497 -7.34
728 728 6 212.00 $212.00 $1,543 -12.96
779 779 19 207.00 $207.00 $1,613 —

↑ Back to top

Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
309–327 318 13 285.00–310.00 $296.38 $942 +4.58
443 443 9 290.00 $290.00 $1,285 +19.01
452–488 467 22 257.50–282.50 $265.39 $1,239 +20.43
510–518 512 21 251.00–255.00 $253.26 $1,297 -8.17
550–579 563 24 222.50–235.00 $228.14 $1,284 -5.43
601–608 606 21 224.00–245.00 $238.50 $1,445 -37.50
658–685 663 27 212.00–236.00 $216.71 $1,437 -13.45
728–745 735 31 203.00–211.00 $207.86 $1,528 -9.67
766–790 779 26 201.00–211.00 $206.46 $1,608 -10.79
820 820 37 212.00 $212.00 $1,738 +7.20
909 909 17 204.00 $204.00 $1,854 -8.11
981 981 124 195.50 $195.50 $1,918 -11.39
Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
459–496 475 9 247.00–250.00 $248.61 $1,181 +6.43
613–646 633 13 206.00–210.00 $208.51 $1,320 -9.53
665–683 674 18 206.00–207.50 $206.74 $1,393 -16.54
858 858 4 195.00 $195.00 $1,673 +3.91
Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1001–1015 1009 21 192.00–196.00 $194.30 $1,960 -8.53

↑ Back to top

Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
409 409 4 285.00 $285.00 $1,166 —
536 536 7 247.50 $247.50 $1,327 —
652 652 3 205.00 $205.00 $1,337 —

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
805–1320 930 85-90% 8 28.00–38.00 $32.05 $298 —
1020–1330 1166 85-90% 8 52.50–67.00 $62.04 $723 —
905–1488 1254 85-90% 40 68.00–82.50 $76.52 $960 +0.38
Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1035–1560 1394 75-80% 37 93.00–108.50 $102.12 $1,424 -9.51
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1115–1583 1377 80-85% 20 84.00–94.00 $86.93 $1,197 —
N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1645–1693 1670 65-75% 7 106.00–113.00 $108.03 $1,804 —

↑ Back to top

Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1625–2205 1878 3 104.00–110.00 $107.95 $2,027 —
1878 1878 2 86.00 $86.00 $1,615 —

↑ 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.