Cattle Market Pulse

Volunteer Stockyards Market Report

Greeneville, Tennessee · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Saturday, December 17, 2022

360 head sold ·Official USDA report

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

light 4-weight M&L 1-2 heifers $142.65/cwt +0.32 vs last sale · ≈ $613/hd at 430 lb · 10 head

Receipts

HeadThis saleLast saleLast year
Total receipts 360 483 400
Feeder cattle 242 380 246
Slaughter cattle 107 98 145
Replacement cattle 11 5 9

Market comments — USDA reporter

Compared to last week, slaughter cows and bulls gauging 1.00 to 3.00 higher overall, with no comparisons available for feeder classes due to limited comparable receipts, but a higher undertone noted for feeder heifers.

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
355–385 375 3 177.50–180.00 $179.21 $672 +8.25
430 430 1 190.00 $190.00 $817 +10.00
455–480 468 2 165.00–169.00 $166.95 $781 -13.07
480 fancy 480 1 188.00 $188.00 $902 —
500–525 512 3 166.00–181.00 $175.87 $900 +12.87
570 570 1 140.00 $140.00 $798 -10.95
570 value added 570 2 174.50 $174.50 $995 —
600 fancy 600 1 163.00 $163.00 $978 —
600 600 2 142.00–157.00 $149.50 $897 +24.50
800 800 1 135.00 $135.00 $1,080 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
398 398 2 160.00 $160.00 $637 —
495 495 1 152.00 $152.00 $752 —
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
315 315 1 150.00 $150.00 $472 —

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
335 335 1 153.00 $153.00 $513 —
365 365 1 120.00 $120.00 $438 -12.63
360–395 376 5 139.00–157.00 $148.01 $557 +15.38
425 fancy 425 1 152.50 $152.50 $648 —
410–445 430 9 134.00–150.00 $141.56 $609 -0.77
450–495 476 8 136.00–150.00 $144.68 $689 +9.38
515 value added 515 1 148.00 $148.00 $762 —
505–530 517 3 129.00–135.00 $131.98 $682 +2.37
555 value added 555 2 149.00 $149.00 $827 —
560 560 1 140.00 $140.00 $784 +11.59
605 605 1 132.00 $132.00 $799 +11.20
650 value added 650 3 132.00–135.00 $134.00 $871 —
725 725 1 120.00 $120.00 $870 +11.00
785 785 1 112.00 $112.00 $879 +2.00
835 835 1 103.00 $103.00 $860 —
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
305–340 330 4 122.50–132.50 $126.23 $417 —
415–440 425 3 120.00–125.00 $122.62 $521 -4.38
457–492 470 8 132.00–133.00 $132.39 $622 +11.39
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
325 325 1 130.00 $130.00 $422 +14.00
360–380 370 2 120.00–130.00 $124.86 $462 —

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
365 365 2 172.50–177.50 $175.00 $639 -5.38
415–440 428 4 175.00–182.50 $178.89 $766 +13.24
430 fancy 430 1 194.00 $194.00 $834 —
450–485 468 3 163.00–175.00 $169.26 $792 -6.19
470–475 fancy 473 2 190.00 $190.00 $899 —
490 490 1 137.50 $137.50 $674 -37.95
515–548 541 5 155.00–165.00 $163.10 $882 +5.13
560–580 570 2 160.00–170.00 $165.09 $941 +21.09
645 645 4 138.00–145.00 $141.25 $911 +7.13
655–695 677 5 127.00–139.00 $134.70 $912 +3.18
730 730 1 121.00 $121.00 $883 +4.61
Medium and Large 2-3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
355 355 1 162.50 $162.50 $577 +19.50
450–485 468 2 142.50–152.50 $147.31 $689 —
508–510 509 4 139.00–140.00 $139.25 $709 -0.75
Small 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
335 335 1 150.00 $150.00 $502 —
355–360 358 2 147.50–150.00 $148.74 $532 +1.24
480 480 1 137.50 $137.50 $660 -16.04
595 595 1 120.00 $120.00 $714 -2.93
615 615 1 120.00 $120.00 $738 —

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Slaughter Cows

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1195–1520 1343 75-80% 4 62.00–66.00 $64.57 $867 —
1360 1360 75-80% 1 81.00 $81.00 $1,102 —
1105–2015 1543 75-80% 20 69.00–79.00 $73.39 $1,132 —
Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1105–1485 1284 80-85% 17 65.00–75.00 $69.61 $894 —
1040–1590 1327 80-85% 3 79.00–81.00 $80.06 $1,062 —
Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Dressing Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
970–1265 1131 85-90% 7 57.00–69.00 $62.04 $702 —

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
1375–2090 1604 11 91.00–102.00 $96.08 $1,541 —
1630–2080 1855 2 105.00–108.00 $106.32 $1,972 —

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
850 850 Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 800.00 $800.00
950 950 Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 1,000.00 $1,000.00
950 950 Aged (>8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 700.00 $700.00
1200 1200 Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo) 1 900.00 $900.00

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Bred Heifers

Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $
700 700 (<2 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo) 1 800.00 $800.00

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Cow-Calf Pairs

Small 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb) Avg wt AgeStage Head Price range Avg $ Δ last sale
— — Young (2-4 yrs)Open 1 950.00 $950.00 —

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Dairy Steers

Large 3 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
518 518 3 109.00 $109.00 $565 —
590 590 2 110.00 $110.00 $649 —
900 900 1 90.00 $90.00 $810 —
Large 4 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb) Avg wt Head Price range Avg $ ≈ $/hdΔ last sale
475 475 1 88.00 $88.00 $418 —
730 730 1 82.00 $82.00 $599 —
890 890 1 85.00 $85.00 $756 —

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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.