Cattle Market Pulse

Volunteer Stockyards Market Report

Greeneville, Tennessee · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Saturday, October 16, 2021

655 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 bulls $144.70/cwt +2.98 vs last sale · ≈ $678/hd at 469 lb · 38 head
heavy 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $122.24/cwt +2.00 vs last sale · ≈ $577/hd at 472 lb · 30 head
light 5-weight M&L 1-2 bulls $131.53/cwt -1.96 vs last sale · ≈ $694/hd at 528 lb · 27 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 655 601 1,074
Feeder cattle 520 462 892
Slaughter cattle 118 110 134
Replacement cattle 17 29 48

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, feeder heifers and bulls measuring 1.00 to 2.00 lower overall, with no comparisons available for feeder steers due to limited comparable receipts. Slaughter cows gauging 1.00 to 4.00 higher with slaughter bulls 4.00 to 6.00 higher, and increased demand was noted for slaughter classes.

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
300 300 1 162.50 $162.50 $488 —
400–410 405 3 149.00–154.00 $151.33 $613 —
493 value added 493 2 147.00 $147.00 $725 —
505–510 506 4 138.00–149.00 $142.02 $719 +6.59
560 560 2 134.00 $134.00 $750 -3.00
602–605 603 4 130.00–138.50 $136.37 $822 +7.37
675 675 1 128.00 $128.00 $864 -0.50
705 705 1 125.00 $125.00 $881 -2.00
715 value added 715 1 121.00 $121.00 $865 —
825 825 1 119.00 $119.00 $982 ±0.00
935 935 1 114.00 $114.00 $1,066 +4.50
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
412–445 420 5 134.00–144.00 $141.15 $593 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
320–335 326 4 125.00–139.00 $130.27 $425 -6.03
355–390 374 5 120.00–130.00 $123.59 $462 -8.94
398 fancy 398 2 143.00 $143.00 $569 —
400–445 425 15 114.00–132.00 $120.88 $514 -7.63
458 fancy 458 4 140.00 $140.00 $641 —
450–495 474 26 115.00–125.00 $119.51 $566 -0.73
500–547 526 24 112.00–127.00 $117.34 $617 -5.83
550–595 570 11 107.00–127.00 $116.66 $665 -1.08
605 605 1 106.00 $106.00 $641 -11.23
610–645 624 12 110.00–121.00 $116.43 $727 -0.80
635 635 1 102.00 $102.00 $648 -15.23
654–675 661 12 109.00–116.00 $112.60 $744 -3.64
700–715 708 4 97.00–115.00 $108.28 $767 -0.14
755–790 773 3 99.00–109.00 $103.71 $802 -4.83
885 885 1 94.00 $94.00 $832 -8.00
920 920 2 96.00 $96.00 $883 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
500–520 510 2 109.00 $109.00 $556 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
455 455 1 112.50 $112.50 $512 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
295 295 1 160.00 $160.00 $472 +6.10
315 fancy 315 1 170.00 $170.00 $536 —
310–345 334 7 150.00–160.00 $153.06 $511 -16.33
350–395 378 6 143.00–155.00 $148.52 $561 -9.33
415–448 435 15 138.00–152.00 $143.86 $626 -5.60
455 455 1 131.00 $131.00 $596 -6.48
450–468 fancy 464 5 159.00–160.00 $159.81 $742 +2.51
450–495 470 32 131.00–154.00 $142.77 $671 +5.29
500–549 528 27 124.00–136.00 $131.53 $694 -1.96
560–585 570 4 126.00–135.00 $129.50 $738 +2.78
615–646 627 17 121.00–125.50 $124.61 $781 +1.21
655–695 678 9 116.00–122.00 $119.77 $812 +1.46
700–735 719 8 112.00–120.00 $117.38 $844 +9.58
755–795 773 8 100.00–115.00 $110.48 $854 -5.01
815 815 1 110.00 $110.00 $896 —
895 895 1 101.00 $101.00 $904 —
905 905 1 92.00 $92.00 $833 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
340 340 1 132.50 $132.50 $450 —
360 360 1 130.00 $130.00 $468 —
445 445 1 128.00 $128.00 $570 +0.50
460 460 1 141.00 $141.00 $649 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
510 510 1 120.00 $120.00 $612 —
715 715 2 108.00 $108.00 $772 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1215 1215 75-80% 1 78.00 $78.00 $948 —
1240–1400 1320 75-80% 2 55.00–57.00 $55.94 $738 -1.17
1130–1725 1388 75-80% 23 57.00–66.00 $60.86 $845 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1120–1160 1140 80-85% 2 66.00–70.00 $67.96 $775 —
1010–1350 1201 80-85% 11 60.00–66.00 $62.09 $746 —
1210 1210 80-85% 1 71.00 $71.00 $859 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
815–975 895 85-90% 2 62.00–66.00 $63.82 $571 —
910–1160 1037 85-90% 10 51.00–60.00 $55.13 $572 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1320–2075 1731 11 80.00–90.00 $84.59 $1,464 —
1810 1810 1 75.00 $75.00 $1,358 —
1800–1910 1853 3 93.00–97.00 $94.98 $1,760 —
2470 2470 1 78.00 $78.00 $1,927 —

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
1400–1600 1500 Aged (>8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 2 760.00–775.00 $767.50

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Bred Heifers

Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
800 800 (<2 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 700.00 $700.00

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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
— — Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open 2 1,100.00–1,210.00 $1,155.00 —

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Dairy Heifers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
870 870 2 75.00 $75.00 $652 —

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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.