Winter Livestock (Tuesday) Market Report

La Junta, Colorado · USDA-reported Auction Livestock

Sale of Tuesday, December 3, 2024

4,791 head sold ·Official USDA report

This is an archived report. See the latest Winter Livestock (Tuesday) report →

heavy 5-weight M&L 1 steers $307.87/cwt +9.21 vs last sale · ≈ $1,764/hd at 573 lb · 329 head

light 6-weight M&L 1 steers $291.67/cwt +13.73 vs last sale · ≈ $1,826/hd at 626 lb · 298 head

heavy 4-weight M&L 1 steers $360.89/cwt +23.96 vs last sale · ≈ $1,726/hd at 478 lb · 292 head

Receipts

Head	This sale	Last sale	Last year
Total receipts	4,791	1,820	5,188
Feeder cattle	4,050	1,091	4,676
Slaughter cattle	480	504	316
Replacement cattle	261	225	196

Market comments — USDA reporter

Trade activity and demand was good. Feeder steers sold 5.00 to 9.00 higher with instances of sharply higher across all weight classes. Feeder heifers sold mostly sharply higher across all weight classes. Breaker slaughter cows of average dressing sold 6.00 higher. Boner cows of average dressing sold 3.00 higher and lean cows sold 1.00 higher. Slaughter bulls of average dressing sold 2.00 lower. The next feeder calf and slaughter cow sale will be next Tuesday December 10, 2024.

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
270–290	274	10	425.00–435.00	$427.12	$1,170	—
329 fancy	329	7	462.50	$462.50	$1,522	—
340–345	343	6	410.00–420.00	$413.30	$1,418	—
370 fancy	370	6	443.00	$443.00	$1,639	—
355–399	382	75	405.00–437.50	$414.17	$1,582	+12.40
402–424	418	34	389.00–402.50	$391.60	$1,637	+10.60
457–482 fancy	468	62	381.00–393.50	$387.69	$1,814	—
453–498	481	230	331.00–372.50	$353.67	$1,701	+16.74
504–522 fancy	513	60	351.00–365.00	$357.65	$1,835	—
500–548	531	224	300.00–345.00	$329.56	$1,750	+4.84
552–597	573	329	284.00–322.00	$307.87	$1,764	+9.21
605–649	626	298	274.00–302.00	$291.67	$1,826	+13.73
655–697	669	117	261.00–279.50	$272.23	$1,821	—
700–749	721	254	250.00–273.00	$264.79	$1,909	+13.79
753–782	763	12	246.00–251.00	$248.76	$1,898	+15.76
788 thin fleshed	788	8	266.00	$266.00	$2,096	—
823–838	827	80	237.00–256.00	$254.07	$2,101	+13.87
905	905	50	242.00	$242.00	$2,190	—
955	955	2	212.00	$212.00	$2,025	+2.00
1016	1016	7	204.00	$204.00	$2,073	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
402–410	408	17	395.00–396.00	$395.77	$1,615	—
455	455	6	331.00	$331.00	$1,506	—
510–535	513	44	292.50–308.00	$306.16	$1,571	-1.34
562–596	585	56	290.50–305.00	$295.95	$1,731	+13.45
605–623	622	61	281.00–294.00	$293.59	$1,826	—
661–686	678	56	250.00–271.00	$267.39	$1,813	+13.47

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
265	265	2	392.50	$392.50	$1,040	-18.50
305–338	319	6	367.50–406.00	$384.20	$1,226	-18.98
377	377	3	382.50	$382.50	$1,442	-1.54
412–443	431	93	365.00–388.00	$381.74	$1,645	+15.12
479–499	493	27	304.00–317.00	$307.09	$1,514	-10.41
508–530	523	6	244.00–288.00	$273.74	$1,432	-23.90
557–570	567	14	237.50–275.00	$267.11	$1,515	-5.63
641–648	644	5	260.00–267.00	$262.82	$1,693	-2.44
660–696	691	59	243.00–258.00	$248.96	$1,720	+5.10
705–722	714	6	221.00–240.00	$230.61	$1,647	-12.91

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Feeder Heifers

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
335–345	338	8	374.00–382.50	$376.17	$1,271	—
350–377 fancy	359	21	395.00–405.00	$398.58	$1,431	—
351–397	372	86	345.00–389.00	$368.99	$1,373	—
406–424 fancy	416	38	357.50–365.00	$361.89	$1,505	—
403–446	427	119	300.00–354.00	$340.11	$1,452	+33.39
450–498	478	186	305.00–337.50	$320.30	$1,531	+29.23
501–549	528	214	279.00–307.50	$293.79	$1,551	+27.87
553–573 fancy	568	63	280.00–289.00	$282.09	$1,602	—
553–599	580	194	254.00–275.00	$269.21	$1,561	+18.67
620 fancy	620	19	277.50	$277.50	$1,720	—
600–627	621	68	241.00–252.50	$244.05	$1,516	-1.29
651–679	668	132	228.00–248.00	$240.37	$1,606	—
713–717	716	7	230.00–233.00	$230.85	$1,653	-4.15
761–796	786	83	225.50–238.75	$235.20	$1,849	—

Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
436	436	11	313.00	$313.00	$1,365	—
450–486	474	26	282.50–294.00	$292.63	$1,387	—
563–594	591	66	231.00–280.00	$276.48	$1,634	+31.48
645	645	2	237.50	$237.50	$1,532	-0.50
657	657	5	237.00	$237.00	$1,557	—

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
258–280	267	5	342.50–351.00	$347.43	$928	+17.43
301–344	330	20	342.50–365.00	$357.28	$1,179	+37.19
443	443	3	285.00	$285.00	$1,263	-6.65
468–496	485	47	280.00–289.00	$287.73	$1,395	+9.66
515–548	527	8	257.50–260.00	$258.47	$1,362	—
607–643	634	24	236.00–238.00	$237.52	$1,506	+0.66
683	683	3	215.00	$215.00	$1,468	—

Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
424	424	4	272.50	$272.50	$1,155	—
492–495	494	7	236.00–255.00	$249.59	$1,233	—
539	539	20	261.00	$261.00	$1,407	+14.00

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Feeder Bulls

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
297	297	3	402.50	$402.50	$1,195	—
373–380	377	5	400.00–430.00	$418.13	$1,576	—
428	428	5	370.00	$370.00	$1,584	—
475	475	2	337.50	$337.50	$1,603	+4.70
532–540	535	5	284.00–292.50	$287.43	$1,538	—
573	573	2	282.50	$282.50	$1,619	-6.50
705–728	714	8	221.00–232.50	$228.10	$1,629	+8.10

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
483	483	2	283.00	$283.00	$1,367	—

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Slaughter Cows

Lean ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
715–1230	938	85-90%	14	52.00–89.00	$81.85	$768	—
1005	1005	85-90%	1	107.00	$107.00	$1,075	—
730–1335	1051	85-90%	92	90.00–109.00	$104.28	$1,096	+2.93
989–1263	1065	85-90%	27	120.00–125.00	$122.05	$1,300	+20.70
1077–1192	1130	85-90%	75	112.00–117.75	$115.40	$1,304	+0.87
826–1298	1145	85-90%	182	110.00–119.00	$115.23	$1,319	+0.70

Boner ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1315–1460	1365	80-85%	12	95.00–109.00	$103.53	$1,413	-18.47
1345–1385	1365	80-85%	2	50.00–88.00	$68.72	$938	-53.28
1300–1485	1374	80-85%	43	112.00–119.00	$117.17	$1,610	+45.17

Breaker ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Dressing	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1500	1500	75-80%	1	106.00	$106.00	$1,590	—
1510–1560	1548	75-80%	4	115.00–117.50	$116.89	$1,809	+13.16
1560	1560	75-80%	1	122.00	$122.00	$1,903	+10.48

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Slaughter Bulls

YG1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd	Δ last sale
1095–1720	1347	6	120.00–132.50	$126.60	$1,705	—
1420–1575	1498	2	117.00–118.00	$117.47	$1,760	—
945–2225	1666	14	137.00–152.50	$144.68	$2,410	+16.91

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Stock Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
645–685 thin fleshed	665	(<2 yrs)	Open	2	212.50–217.00	$214.82	$1,429
680	680	(<2 yrs)	Open	1	187.50	$187.50	$1,275
703–1088 thin fleshed	857	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	40	205.00–225.00	$213.01	$1,825
805–1025	889	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	53	170.00–192.50	$181.31	$1,612

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
785–953	918	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	15	160.00–163.00	$161.79	$1,485

Medium and Large 2 ($/cwt)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $	≈ $/hd
785–995	926	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	7	122.50–147.50	$139.24	$1,289

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Bred Cows

Medium and Large 1 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
995–1440	1158	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	2,150.00–2,275.00	$2,211.16
1180	1180	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	2,100.00	$2,100.00
1235	1235	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	1	2,050.00	$2,050.00
1252–1515	1260	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	32	1,725.00–1,800.00	$1,797.18
1140–1590	1281	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	6	1,925.00–2,150.00	$2,073.79
1223–1515	1384	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	30	1,875.00–2,100.00	$1,945.99
1460	1460	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	1	2,125.00	$2,125.00

Medium and Large 1-2 ($/head)
Weight (lb)	Avg wt	Age	Stage	Head	Price range	Avg $
925	925	Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,725.00	$1,725.00
1165	1165	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1	1,575.00	$1,575.00
1146–1405	1192	Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	35	1,475.00–1,675.00	$1,633.25
1207	1207	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	3	1,685.00	$1,685.00
1100–1492	1223	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	11	1,525.00–1,785.00	$1,623.79

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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
1306	1306	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	12	2,825.00	$2,825.00	—
1340	1340	Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	4	2,850.00	$2,850.00	—

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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.