Sterling Livestock Commission Market Report

Sterling, Colorado · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, December 20, 2023

1,376 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Sterling Livestock Commission report →

light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $255.50/cwt -14.50 vs last sale · ≈ $1,653/hd at 647 lb · 28 head

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 heifers $247.50/cwt +15.90 vs last sale · ≈ $1,408/hd at 569 lb · 27 head

light 7-weight M&L 1 steers $234.74/cwt +5.19 vs last sale · ≈ $1,688/hd at 719 lb · 20 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,376	1,554	1,307
Feeder cattle	267	1,405	642
Slaughter cattle	338	149	0
Replacement cattle	771	—	665

Market comments — USDA reporter

Today's sale was a bred cow sale. Today's trade activity and demand on bred replacement cattle was moderate to good. Very light feeder cattle offering today, so no trend is provided. Slaughter cattle trade activity and demand was also moderate to good. Average dress slaughter breaker cows were 5.00 lower while average dress boner and lean cattle traded 1.00 to 2.00 higher. Average dress slaughter bulls traded 2.00 lower. Next available report will be as receipts warrant. No sale next week due to the holidays.

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
383	383	4	280.00	$280.00	$1,072	—
503	503	3	298.00	$298.00	$1,499	-1.60
506 unweaned	506	7	280.00	$280.00	$1,417	—
556–569	561	17	277.50	$277.50	$1,557	-4.68
647	647	28	255.50	$255.50	$1,653	-14.50
717–732	719	20	225.00–236.50	$234.74	$1,688	+5.19
813	813	4	227.00	$227.00	$1,846	+11.00
863	863	3	207.50	$207.50	$1,791	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
508	508	3	282.50	$282.50	$1,435	+15.71

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
400	400	3	270.00	$270.00	$1,080	-2.38
442 unweaned	442	5	268.00	$268.00	$1,185	—
480	480	14	248.00	$248.00	$1,190	-28.09
569	569	27	247.50	$247.50	$1,408	+15.90
654	654	17	236.00	$236.00	$1,543	+25.01
804	804	8	211.00	$211.00	$1,696	—
861	861	6	205.00	$205.00	$1,765	—
900–910	903	3	181.00–202.00	$194.95	$1,760	—
992	992	7	190.00	$190.00	$1,885	—
1056	1056	6	162.50	$162.50	$1,716	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
514	514	6	240.00	$240.00	$1,234	-1.14

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
930–1125	1038	80-85%	6	123.00–170.00	$133.80	$1,389	—
848–1291	1179	80-85%	33	88.00–129.00	$94.46	$1,114	—
1160–1399	1307	80-85%	27	93.00–96.00	$94.22	$1,231	+43.22
980–1655	1333	80-85%	106	82.00–92.00	$88.10	$1,174	-9.11
1033–1575	1342	80-85%	19	72.00–81.00	$76.92	$1,032	-20.29

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
745–930	833	85-90%	4	57.00–59.00	$58.01	$483	—
995–1190	1063	85-90%	4	80.00–86.00	$82.15	$873	+14.77
970–1305	1064	85-90%	6	62.00–70.00	$65.82	$700	-1.56
930–1260	1093	85-90%	3	83.00–90.00	$86.86	$949	+19.48
880–1470	1147	85-90%	64	74.00–85.00	$80.12	$919	—

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1430–1665	1489	75-80%	4	81.00–85.00	$83.88	$1,249	—
1385–1794	1616	75-80%	34	88.00–98.50	$92.19	$1,490	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1730	1730	65-75%	1	98.00	$98.00	$1,695	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1185–1980	1522	5	76.00–95.00	$82.59	$1,257	—
1690–2120	1896	8	96.00–105.50	$100.58	$1,907	—
1775–2030	1918	8	107.00–113.50	$110.30	$2,116	—

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1064–1397	1235	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	47	2,450.00–2,700.00	$2,596.54
1175–1369	1246	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	59	2,750.00–2,950.00	$2,874.77
1282–1318	1303	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	32	3,200.00–3,225.00	$3,209.99
1293–1475	1383	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	20	1,625.00–2,000.00	$1,788.11
1281–1604	1412	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	45	2,425.00–2,900.00	$2,653.96
1332–1439	1420	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	17	1,650.00–2,100.00	$2,025.52
1486–1652	1526	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	72	2,750.00–2,950.00	$2,820.42

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1022	1022	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	10	2,400.00	$2,400.00
1092	1092	Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	3	2,100.00	$2,100.00
1141–1498	1313	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	25	1,750.00–2,200.00	$1,931.98
1297–1378	1329	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	35	1,400.00–1,750.00	$1,485.31
1393–1407	1402	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	22	1,350.00–1,585.00	$1,507.98
1416	1416	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	9	1,400.00	$1,400.00
1469	1469	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	9	2,200.00	$2,200.00
1474	1474	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	5	1,535.00	$1,535.00
1486	1486	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	1,550.00	$1,550.00
1613	1613	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	4	2,050.00	$2,050.00

Medium 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1132–1385	1334	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	15	1,275.00–1,350.00	$1,287.72

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
839–939	909	(<2 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	28	1,425.00–1,900.00	$1,797.81
962–1093	1048	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	80	2,250.00–2,600.00	$2,451.21
1081	1081	(<2 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	11	2,300.00	$2,300.00
1093	1093	(<2 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	6	2,300.00	$2,300.00

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1066–1230	1136	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	77	2,725.00–3,050.00	$2,861.58
1036–1236	1183	(<2 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	27	2,400.00–2,750.00	$2,619.96

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1613	1613	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	6	2,000.00	$2,000.00	—

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Dairy Heifers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1160	1160	2	150.00	$150.00	$1,740	—
1296	1296	4	148.00	$148.00	$1,918	—

Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1222	1222	3	154.00	$154.00	$1,882	—
1310	1310	2	156.00	$156.00	$2,044	—

Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1205	1205	1	165.00	$165.00	$1,988	—
1285	1285	1	154.00	$154.00	$1,979	—

Small 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
845	845	2	85.00	$85.00	$718	—

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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.