Name: Tama Livestock Auction livestock auction prices — 2025-12-17
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2025-12-17

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Slaughter cattle sale today: Compared to last week. Choice steers and heifers were 4.75-5.00 higher, Dairy steers no comparison due to no receipts last week, slaughter cows were 1.00-3.00 lower. Trade active. Demand good.

Slaughter cattle

By class and quality grade · $/cwt

Cull cows and bulls are graded, not weight-classed — grade is what moves the money here.

Class	Grade	Dressing	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Bulls	—	Low	1,862	170.58	3,177	19
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	Average	1,534	155.65	2,387	24
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Average	1,251	152.70	1,911	31
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Average	1,137	108.71	1,236	25
Dairy Steers	Choice	Average	1,614	210.41	3,396	37
Dairy Steers	Select and Choice	Average	1,400	202.51	2,835	2thin
Heifers	Choice	Average	1,411	231.99	3,273	171
Heifers	Select and Choice	Average	1,309	222.85	2,917	20
Heifers	Select	Average	1,073	215.37	2,311	13
Steers	Choice	Average	1,505	229.80	3,459	207
Steers	Select and Choice	Average	1,394	222.58	3,102	17
Steers	Select	Average	1,048	218.58	2,291	28

Every lot, as filed

23 lots · USDA AMS · Tama Livestock Slaughter Cattle - Tama, IA

Nothing removed and nothing rounded — the same lots as the USDA report, with per-head values added.

Class	Grade / description	Weight	Avg wt	Price	Range	Per head	Head
Heifers	Select and ChoiceReturn to Feed	—	1,264	224.50/cwt	224.50–224.50	2,838	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,213	126.37/cwt	118.00–138.00	1,533	8
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	—	1,374	167.12/cwt	158.00–175.00	2,296	8
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,188	166.09/cwt	147.00–197.50	1,973	14
Cows	Boner 80-85%Light Weight	—	985	180.00/cwt	180.00–180.00	1,773	1
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,062	88.49/cwt	70.00–105.00	940	12
Steers	ChoiceHeavy Weight	—	1,823	208.19/cwt	195.00–210.00	3,795	13
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,197	129.00/cwt	110.00–136.00	1,544	5
Steers	Select and ChoiceReturn to Feed	—	1,285	216.30/cwt	215.00–217.50	2,779	2
Steers	SelectReturn to Feed	—	1,048	218.58/cwt	207.50–222.00	2,291	28
Heifers	Choice	—	1,411	231.99/cwt	227.00–234.00	3,273	171
Heifers	Select and Choice	—	1,320	222.44/cwt	215.00–227.50	2,936	16
Heifers	SelectReturn to Feed	—	1,073	215.37/cwt	203.00–221.00	2,311	13
Dairy Steers	Choice	—	1,614	210.41/cwt	210.00–213.00	3,396	37
Dairy Steers	Select and Choice	—	1,400	202.51/cwt	200.00–205.00	2,835	2
Steers	Choice	—	1,484	231.25/cwt	226.00–233.50	3,432	194
Steers	Select and Choice	—	1,408	223.42/cwt	210.00–226.50	3,146	15
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,603	138.60/cwt	135.00–146.00	2,222	6
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,620	156.71/cwt	151.00–164.00	2,539	10
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,309	129.95/cwt	115.00–135.00	1,701	7
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,335	146.53/cwt	143.00–152.00	1,956	9
Bulls	—	—	1,483	141.11/cwt	140.00–142.00	2,093	2
Bulls	—	—	1,907	174.05/cwt	154.00–195.00	3,319	17

How this sale compares

Iowa weighted averages

One sale is one barn on one day. The state ladder is every Iowa auction USDA reported that week, weighted by head — the fairer test of whether a lot sold well.

Iowa feeder prices, every weight →Every state and region →

Tama Livestock Slaughter Cattle - Tama, IA

Wed Dec 17, 2025

USDA Livestock, Poultry & Grain Market News · Federal-State Market News Service, Des Moines, IA (LS-NW)

Receipts 630Last week 505Year ago 619

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Select and Choice · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	1,264	224.50	224.50
Heifers — Choice$ per cwt · actual wt
171	—	1,411	227.00–234.00	231.99
Heifers — Select and Choice$ per cwt · actual wt
16	—	1,320	215.00–227.50	222.44
Heifers — Select · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
13	—	1,073	203.00–221.00	215.37
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	1,213	118.00–138.00	126.37
12	—	1,062	70.00–105.00	88.49
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	1,374	158.00–175.00	167.12
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
14	—	1,188	147.00–197.50	166.09
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	985	180.00	180.00
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	1,197	110.00–136.00	129.00
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	1,603	135.00–146.00	138.60
10	—	1,620	151.00–164.00	156.71
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	1,309	115.00–135.00	129.95
9	—	1,335	143.00–152.00	146.53
Steers — Choice · Heavy Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
13	—	1,823	195.00–210.00	208.19
Steers — Select and Choice · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,285	215.00–217.50	216.30
Steers — Select · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
28	—	1,048	207.50–222.00	218.58
Steers — Choice$ per cwt · actual wt
194	—	1,484	226.00–233.50	231.25
Steers — Select and Choice$ per cwt · actual wt
15	—	1,408	210.00–226.50	223.42
Dairy Steers — Choice$ per cwt · actual wt
37	—	1,614	210.00–213.00	210.41
Dairy Steers — Select and Choice$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,400	200.00–205.00	202.51
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,483	140.00–142.00	141.11
17	—	1,907	154.00–195.00	174.05

Head, weight ranges, average weights and price ranges are exactly as USDA AMS filed them — nothing recomputed, nothing rounded — in USDA's own reporting structure. This is RaisedBeef's rendering of that data, not a copy of USDA's document.

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