Sterling Livestock Commission Market Report

Sterling, Colorado · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Wednesday, May 8, 2024

1,016 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 7-weight M&L 1 steers $264.00/cwt +19.00 vs last sale · ≈ $2,004/hd at 759 lb · 55 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $289.33/cwt -15.67 vs last sale · ≈ $1,331/hd at 460 lb · 41 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $310.04/cwt +6.04 vs last sale · ≈ $1,925/hd at 621 lb · 40 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	1,016	1,200	952
Feeder cattle	806	942	849
Slaughter cattle	134	258	0
Replacement cattle	76	—	103

Market comments — USDA reporter

Trade activity and demand was moderate to good. No trends available on feeder cattle, slaughter cattle, or replacement cattle as the last reported sale was 04/10/24. There were upward tones on average dress slaughter cows and bulls. Next available report will be as receipts warrant.

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
408–413	410	18	385.00–397.50	$391.91	$1,607	+32.73
473–480	479	35	356.00–362.00	$357.19	$1,711	+8.08
507	507	8	348.00	$348.00	$1,764	+21.45
560–563	562	19	325.00–330.00	$328.69	$1,847	+3.74
611–626	621	40	308.00–311.00	$310.04	$1,925	+6.04
660–692	684	8	286.00–287.50	$287.14	$1,964	—
759	759	55	264.00	$264.00	$2,004	+19.00
869	869	21	232.50	$232.50	$2,020	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
330	330	4	365.00	$365.00	$1,204	—
455–494	478	37	335.00–347.50	$338.00	$1,616	—
509	509	5	327.50	$327.50	$1,667	—
572–582	576	10	307.50–309.00	$308.39	$1,776	—
632	632	3	275.00	$275.00	$1,738	+49.50
661–690	666	16	257.50–267.50	$259.44	$1,728	+23.44
790	790	1	242.00	$242.00	$1,912	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
443–445	444	14	322.50–325.00	$323.57	$1,437	+3.57
450	450	3	315.00	$315.00	$1,418	—
602	602	3	254.00	$254.00	$1,529	—
780	780	1	220.00	$220.00	$1,716	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
367–369	368	13	375.00–377.50	$375.77	$1,383	—
400	400	7	380.00	$380.00	$1,520	+32.18

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
207	207	3	925.00	$925.00	—
250	250	7	1,000.00	$1,000.00	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1347	1347	3	169.00	$169.00	$2,276	—

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335	335	4	350.00	$350.00	$1,172	+6.80
374	374	10	342.50	$342.50	$1,281	+8.60
430–448	439	33	297.50–330.00	$318.69	$1,399	-8.79
452	452	29	312.00	$312.00	$1,410	-10.42
530–545	533	9	276.00–287.50	$284.89	$1,518	-32.18
553–595	559	30	271.00–282.50	$273.91	$1,531	-8.02
600–644	630	25	268.00–279.00	$271.71	$1,712	-7.28
657–681	675	12	230.00–240.00	$236.98	$1,600	—
739–743	742	30	236.00–237.00	$236.23	$1,753	—
792	792	7	214.00	$214.00	$1,695	—
818–846	840	31	209.00–221.00	$211.64	$1,778	+13.81

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
320	320	3	330.00	$330.00	$1,056	—
415	415	1	307.50	$307.50	$1,276	-6.50
452–488	460	41	285.00–295.00	$289.33	$1,331	-15.67
520–529	528	7	265.00–274.00	$272.73	$1,440	-10.52
673	673	2	230.00	$230.00	$1,548	-4.42
700	700	3	220.00	$220.00	$1,540	—
922	922	7	184.00	$184.00	$1,696	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
470	470	1	272.50	$272.50	$1,281	—
538	538	3	242.50	$242.50	$1,305	—
598	598	11	241.00	$241.00	$1,441	—
628	628	2	237.50	$237.50	$1,492	—

Medium 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
468–477	473	6	252.50–262.50	$257.55	$1,218	-25.35

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
80–95	88	3	500.00–525.00	$508.96	—
105–115	110	2	575.00–650.00	$614.20	—

N/N/A ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1178	1178	2	172.00	$172.00	$2,026	—

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
70–95	83	—	—	2	475.00–650.00	$575.76	—
100–120	110	—	—	2	650.00–675.00	$663.64	—
1160	1160	(<2 yrs)	N/A	1	2,650.00	$2,650.00	—

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Slaughter Cows

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1123	1123	80-85%	3	151.00	$151.00	$1,696	—
1050–1570	1324	80-85%	53	129.00–140.00	$136.23	$1,804	+3.64
1210–1535	1338	80-85%	5	120.00–125.00	$123.33	$1,650	-9.26
1045–1493	1383	80-85%	10	141.00–144.50	$141.92	$1,963	+21.92

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
950	950	85-90%	1	99.00	$99.00	$940	—
870–1190	997	85-90%	6	131.00–135.50	$131.89	$1,315	—
960–1165	1033	85-90%	3	114.00–114.50	$114.19	$1,180	-13.32
1065–1165	1125	85-90%	5	119.00–126.00	$123.38	$1,388	+13.04

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1440–1920	1608	75-80%	9	134.00–144.00	$139.32	$2,240	—

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1125–1315	1246	5	137.00–148.00	$144.12	$1,796	—
1045–1805	1503	3	123.00–153.00	$140.05	$2,105	—
1605–2465	1996	7	155.00–167.00	$161.83	$3,230	—
1815–2385	2073	5	168.00–180.00	$174.52	$3,618	—

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1135	1135	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	2,900.00	$2,900.00
1525	1525	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,725.00	$1,725.00
1565	1565	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	2,125.00	$2,125.00
1580	1580	Aged (>8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	2,150.00	$2,150.00
1525–1675	1600	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	2,250.00–2,300.00	$2,276.17
1695	1695	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	2,250.00	$2,250.00

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Bred Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
1323	1323	Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	2	2,700.00	$2,700.00

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
995	995	(<2 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	1	2,150.00	$2,150.00

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Beef Dairy Heifers

Medium 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
657	657	2	140.00	$140.00	$920	—

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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
1333	1333	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	3	2,600.00	$2,600.00	—
1405	1405	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	2	2,600.00	$2,600.00	—
1332–1596	1472	Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	13	1,750.00–2,100.00	$1,943.47	—
1349–1715	1551	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	12	3,250.00–3,550.00	$3,435.37	—
1574	1574	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	10	3,900.00	$3,900.00	—
1505–1800	1726	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	4	2,900.00–3,200.00	$3,134.61	—

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Dairy Heifers

Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1015	1015	5	174.00	$174.00	$1,766	—
1086	1086	15	173.50	$173.50	$1,884	—
1226	1226	11	171.50	$171.50	$2,103	—

Large 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
753	753	4	155.00	$155.00	$1,167	—
1015	1015	1	144.00	$144.00	$1,462	—
1115	1115	1	145.00	$145.00	$1,617	—

Small 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
692	692	3	57.00	$57.00	$394	—

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
685	685	1	163.00	$163.00	$1,117	—
1095	1095	1	169.00	$169.00	$1,851	—

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Heifer Pairs

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1100	1100	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	2,600.00	$2,600.00	—
1690	1690	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	2,900.00	$2,900.00	—

Medium and Large 2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	Δ last sale
1113	1113	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	2	2,300.00	$2,300.00	—

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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.