Name: Billings Livestock Commission livestock auction prices — 2020-05-28
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2020-05-28

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher to sharply higher undertones were noticed. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Calves were mostly offered in small to moderate size packages this sale. Demand was mostly good to very good on all weights of feeders. Active to very active market activity was seen this week with many bidders and buyers actively bidding on offerings. Many buyers showed good to very good demand for middle weight calves suitable to turn out on grass. Many lightweight sets of calves are destined for export this week. Corporate packers showed good demand for heavyweight calves as they pushed high quality feeding steers and heifers sharply higher. CME positions finished the day sharply higher with triple digit gains seen in both the August and September contract. From last Thursday through today's close the August contract has gained 6.625. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Feeding buyers and packer buyers both showed good demand for cows this week. Cow quality was mostly average to attractive with many high quality cows suitable to feed in the offering this week. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 higher on lean and boning cows. Breaking cows were too lightly tested to trend as most of these offerings are destined to feed, however higher undertones were noticed on this class of cows. Feeding cows sold mostly 3.00 higher. Slaughter bulls sold steady to firm. Weigh up conditions were mostly average this week and overall better than last week. Young age cows suitable to feed or re-breed sold generally steady. Quality this week was mostly average.

Weight class

Heifers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb heifers averaged $135.44/cwt on 794 head.

Average price

$135.44

794 head · 674 lb average

Value per head Derived

$913

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

$105

per head · Medium and Large 1-2 over Medium and Large 2

$13.71/cwt at this weight

vs the market

+0.00

vs MT average

What quality paid 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1-2	585	140.71	823	153
Medium and Large 1	716	135.01	967	566
Medium 1	530	128.15	679	64
Medium and Large 2	566	127.00	718	11thin

One grade step is worth $13.71/cwt here — about $105 a head. Across this sale the premium is widest at 0–100 lb. USDA reports each grade on its own line and never publishes the spread.

How it compared 0–100 lb

Same class and week · spot auction only

This sale794 hd

135.44

—

MT average1 barns · 794 hd

135.44

+0.00

A barn can sit above the state average at one weight and below it at another — check the class you actually sell.

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	1,751	86.05	1,506	53
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Average	1,455	58.30	848	43
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Very Low	1,217	57.36	698	79
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	Low	1,495	56.00	837	2thin

Every lot, as filed

101 lots · USDA AMS · Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction - Billings, MT (Thu)

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	Medium and Large 1	—	503	150.32/cwt	150.00–151.00	756	16
Heifers	Medium 1Fleshy	—	575	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	719	18
Heifers	Medium 1Fleshy	—	649	105.00/cwt	105.00–105.00	681	11
Heifers	Medium 1Fleshy	—	483	130.00/cwt	130.00–130.00	628	10
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	90	300.00/cwt	300.00–300.00	270	3
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	577	146.50/cwt	146.50–146.50	845	39
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	492	152.50/cwt	152.50–152.50	750	20
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	414	160.00/cwt	160.00–160.00	662	8
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	756	128.00/cwt	128.00–128.00	968	4
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	738	138.66/cwt	136.00–140.00	1,023	6
Heifers	Medium 1	—	463	139.87/cwt	139.00–142.00	648	25
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	487	169.49/cwt	169.00–170.00	825	6
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	617	160.68/cwt	159.00–162.00	991	63
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	579	170.00/cwt	164.00–171.00	984	46
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	764	141.46/cwt	137.00–144.00	1,081	41
Bulls	Medium and Large 2	—	433	127.50/cwt	127.50–127.50	552	4
Bulls	Medium and Large 2	—	386	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	483	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	624	146.07/cwt	143.00–149.00	911	100
Heifers	Medium and Large 2	—	609	124.00/cwt	124.00–124.00	755	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 2	—	450	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	608	3
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	564	144.40/cwt	142.00–145.00	814	57
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	539	144.50/cwt	140.00–146.00	779	32
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	631	133.05/cwt	132.00–139.00	840	21
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	495	148.50/cwt	148.50–148.50	735	16
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	669	135.97/cwt	132.00–137.50	910	15
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	725	132.55/cwt	129.00–136.00	961	8
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	112	316.25/cwt	300.00–335.00	354	10
Bulls	Medium and Large 1-2	—	478	151.00/cwt	151.00–151.00	722	3
Steers	Medium 1	—	613	154.00/cwt	154.00–154.00	944	16
Steers	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	—	893	120.00/cwt	120.00–120.00	1,072	19
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	494	178.00/cwt	178.00–178.00	879	4
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	887	127.84/cwt	127.50–128.00	1,134	12
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	511	180.09/cwt	177.00–183.00	920	25
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,175	1,425.00/cwt	1,425.00–1,425.00	16,744	10
Heifer Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,158	1,848.53/cwt	1,675.00–1,900.00	21,406	25
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,408	1,225.00/cwt	1,225.00–1,225.00	17,248	5
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	649	139.00/cwt	139.00–139.00	902	8
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	679	138.72/cwt	130.00–142.00	942	8
Steers	Medium and Large 2	—	496	134.00/cwt	134.00–134.00	665	5
Steers	Medium and Large 2	—	563	139.00/cwt	139.00–139.00	783	22
Cow-Calf Pairs	Large 1-2	—	1,284	950.00/cwt	950.00–950.00	12,198	5
Steers	Medium 1	—	668	143.50/cwt	143.50–143.50	959	11
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	814	117.61/cwt	117.00–118.75	957	20
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	481	152.11/cwt	150.00–153.00	732	27
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Replacement	—	886	120.00/cwt	120.00–120.00	1,063	10
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Fleshy	—	780	101.00/cwt	101.00–101.00	788	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,205	45.00/cwt	45.00–45.00	542	1
Bulls	—	—	1,801	79.39/cwt	79.00–80.00	1,430	8
Bulls	—	—	2,217	95.30/cwt	92.50–100.50	2,113	3
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	860	65.00/cwt	65.00–65.00	559	2
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	860	68.26/cwt	67.50–69.00	587	2
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,206	67.30/cwt	59.00–80.00	812	93
Bulls	Large 1-2	—	1,065	76.00/cwt	76.00–76.00	809	1
Bulls	Large 1	—	1,033	88.50/cwt	88.50–88.50	914	2
Heifer Pairs	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	948	1,325.00/cwt	1,325.00–1,325.00	12,561	19
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,495	56.00/cwt	56.00–56.00	837	2
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,528	59.14/cwt	57.50–62.50	904	18
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,377	54.77/cwt	54.00–56.00	754	17
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,454	63.92/cwt	63.00–67.00	929	8
Bulls	—Natural	—	1,837	97.50/cwt	97.50–97.50	1,791	11
Bulls	Medium and Large 1-2	—	85	275.00/cwt	275.00–275.00	234	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	715	147.37/cwt	146.00–148.00	1,054	41
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	836	131.79/cwt	127.50–136.50	1,102	36
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,328	62.14/cwt	56.00–62.50	825	28
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1-2Broken Mouth	—	1,240	760.00/cwt	760.00–760.00	9,424	5
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,153	1,150.91/cwt	1,100.00–1,200.00	13,270	34
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,314	1,075.00/cwt	1,075.00–1,075.00	14,126	5
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,383	1,050.00/cwt	1,050.00–1,050.00	14,522	2
Bulls	—	—	1,875	87.40/cwt	84.00–91.00	1,639	10
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	746	140.05/cwt	138.00–140.50	1,045	11
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	—	808	114.02/cwt	109.00–116.00	921	45
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	—	688	133.06/cwt	132.00–135.00	915	23
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	—	963	95.00/cwt	95.00–95.00	915	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	—	936	104.99/cwt	103.50–106.50	983	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	—	706	124.00/cwt	124.00–124.00	875	4
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,533	1,750.69/cwt	1,700.00–1,810.00	26,838	14
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,355	1,591.68/cwt	1,550.00–1,725.00	21,567	17
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	214	325.00/cwt	325.00–325.00	696	6
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	775	135.93/cwt	130.00–140.00	1,053	88
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	680	145.49/cwt	142.00–146.50	989	82
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	580	150.19/cwt	146.00–154.50	871	52
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	910	112.50/cwt	112.50–112.50	1,024	42
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	869	116.24/cwt	115.00–119.00	1,010	30
Bulls	—Natural	—	1,670	87.07/cwt	84.00–96.00	1,454	10
Bulls	—Natural	—	1,461	74.76/cwt	70.00–81.00	1,092	11
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	500	161.00/cwt	161.00–161.00	805	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	550	159.00/cwt	159.00–159.00	875	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	419	162.50/cwt	162.50–162.50	681	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,257	63.60/cwt	63.50–64.00	799	5
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,209	54.67/cwt	48.00–56.50	661	32
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,583	1,487.73/cwt	1,360.00–1,575.00	23,551	33
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,404	64.58/cwt	58.00–69.50	907	64
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,003	87.36/cwt	67.00–97.00	876	212
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,363	1,762.11/cwt	1,585.00–1,825.00	24,018	23
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,298	1,800.00/cwt	1,800.00–1,800.00	23,364	10
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	—	1,442	1,034.31/cwt	1,025.00–1,050.00	14,915	8
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	—	1,513	1,110.00/cwt	1,110.00–1,110.00	16,794	10
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,360	1,035.00/cwt	1,035.00–1,035.00	14,076	5
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,239	59.83/cwt	57.50–62.50	741	38
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	945	37.50/cwt	37.50–37.50	354	1
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	965	54.00/cwt	53.00–55.00	521	2

How this sale compares

Montana weighted averages

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

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