Cattle Market Pulse

Volunteer Stockyards Market Report

Greeneville, Tennessee · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Saturday, September 11, 2021

661 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Volunteer Stockyards report →

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $132.75/cwt +5.42 vs last sale · ≈ $625/hd at 471 lb · 32 head
light 5-weight M&L 1-2 bulls $136.54/cwt +4.13 vs last sale · ≈ $718/hd at 526 lb · 27 head
heavy 5-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $124.47/cwt +0.51 vs last sale · ≈ $712/hd at 572 lb · 27 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 661 557 864
Feeder cattle 520 405 722
Slaughter cattle 116 135 121
Replacement cattle 25 17 21

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, feeder heifers measuring 2.00 higher overall, with feeder bulls weighing up to 500 lbs. sharply higher and those weighing over 500 lbs. mostly steady, and no comparisons available for feeder steers due to limited comparable receipts from last week. Regarding slaughter classes- breaker and boning cows 1.00 to 2.00 lower overall with lean cows 2.00 to 5.00 lower, and slaughter bulls 1.00 higher.

New to these tables? Plain-English explainers ↓

Feeder Steers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
335 335 1 170.00 $170.00 $570 -0.84
400–435 415 10 145.00–157.00 $149.84 $622 +3.84
463–495 477 9 144.00–156.00 $150.01 $716 —
500–545 518 6 142.00–153.00 $149.14 $773 +5.41
565–590 580 8 140.00–153.00 $145.84 $846 -0.15
608–645 624 5 140.00–147.00 $143.01 $892 +5.01
650–680 665 2 141.00–143.00 $141.98 $944 +1.98
700 700 1 133.00 $133.00 $931 -2.00
763 value added 763 3 139.00 $139.00 $1,061 —
783 783 4 134.50 $134.50 $1,053 +15.56

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
280–290 287 3 130.00–145.00 $138.26 $397 -4.24
300–340 319 8 131.00–140.00 $136.81 $436 -0.20
355–395 379 12 129.00–143.00 $135.66 $514 -0.34
405–440 420 18 128.00–138.00 $133.38 $560 -1.30
465 fancy 465 1 139.00 $139.00 $646 +2.00
453–495 471 31 128.00–136.00 $132.55 $624 +5.61
500–545 525 18 119.00–132.00 $123.73 $650 -3.45
520–545 fancy 528 3 134.00–138.00 $135.38 $715 -0.62
555 555 1 115.00 $115.00 $638 -8.96
555–575 fancy 565 2 134.00–136.00 $135.02 $763 —
550–595 573 22 117.00–130.00 $125.03 $716 +1.07
560–585 573 2 111.00–114.00 $112.53 $645 -11.43
605–640 617 9 117.00–128.00 $121.35 $749 +3.68
620 fancy 620 2 132.00 $132.00 $818 —
640 value added 640 1 130.00 $130.00 $832 —
650–695 669 9 116.00–125.00 $121.10 $810 +0.10
677 value added 677 3 127.00 $127.00 $860 —
705–745 720 8 114.00–119.50 $117.16 $844 +5.39
788 788 2 118.50 $118.50 $934 +7.51
840 value added 840 1 119.00 $119.00 $1,000 —
860 860 1 118.00 $118.00 $1,015 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
320–347 334 9 172.50–179.00 $175.39 $586 —
350–390 371 4 157.00–177.50 $166.14 $616 +14.16
400–448 433 12 146.00–155.00 $151.20 $655 +10.74
465 fancy 465 1 161.00 $161.00 $749 +11.00
455–493 482 8 147.00–152.00 $150.18 $724 +13.10
500–545 525 25 130.00–142.00 $135.67 $712 +1.55
530–540 fancy 535 2 145.00–150.00 $147.48 $789 —
550–595 579 16 128.00–144.00 $133.77 $775 +3.80
600–645 618 11 120.00–130.00 $127.15 $786 +3.64
655–690 669 10 115.00–129.00 $122.96 $823 -0.44
705–740 718 6 112.00–124.00 $117.30 $842 +1.65
750 750 1 119.00 $119.00 $892 —
830 830 1 112.00 $112.00 $930 +5.36
880 880 1 104.00 $104.00 $915 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1175–1560 1373 75-80% 18 63.00–71.00 $66.87 $918 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
840–1300 1083 85-90% 16 58.00–68.00 $62.35 $675 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1000–1410 1155 80-85% 12 64.00–73.00 $69.48 $802 -0.56
1315–1325 1320 80-85% 2 75.00–77.50 $76.25 $1,006 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1095 1095 1 82.00 $82.00 $898 —
1600–2275 1864 10 86.00–97.00 $90.50 $1,687 —

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1000 1000 Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 530.00 $530.00

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1100–1400 1213 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 4 740.00–940.00 $847.50
1150–1500 1275 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 4 700.00–950.00 $785.00
1350 1350 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 830.00 $830.00
1400 1400 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 1,250.00 $1,250.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
— — Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 1,220.00 $1,220.00 —
— — Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 1 960.00 $960.00 —
— — Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 1,170.00 $1,170.00 —
— — Aged (>8 yrs)Open 1 890.00 $890.00 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
598 598 4 93.00 $93.00 $556 —
648 648 2 98.00 $98.00 $635 —
820 820 1 94.00 $94.00 $771 —
Large 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
520 520 1 84.00 $84.00 $437 —

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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.