Name: Billings Livestock Commission livestock auction prices — 2021-05-27
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2021-05-27

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last week: Feeder steers were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed. Feeder heifers under 600 lbs sold mostly 10.00 higher, while heifers over 600 lbs sold steady to weak in a narrow comparison. Quality was mostly average this week. Demand was mostly moderate to good. Several ranchers were in the stands buying grass cattle this week and provided strong competition for order buyers. More buyers were active in the market this week than in the past few sales. Market activity was moderate to active. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand this week. Packers opted to feed most of the offering this week. Packers competed with feeder buyers over market share this week and pushed cows higher on a lighter offering than was seen last week. Both slaughter and feeding cows sold steady to 1.00 higher. Weigh up conditions were average to above average as most cows were emptied out and coming off grass. Weigh up conditions were better overall compared to last week. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold generally steady. Demand for high quality cow calf pairs was very good this sale as spotty rain showers have fallen across parts of the state. Limited demand was seen for average quality pairs.

Weight class

Heifers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb heifers averaged $151.13/cwt on 716 head.

Average price

$151.13

716 head · 586 lb average

Value per head Derived

$885

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

$400

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

$52.05/cwt at this weight

vs the market

+2.10

vs MT average

What quality paid 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	593	154.55	916	632
Medium and Large 2	457	134.00	612	6thin
Medium and Large 1-2	569	131.10	746	50
Medium 1-2	445	130.00	579	11thin
Small and Medium 2	504	102.50	517	17thin

One grade step is worth $52.05/cwt here — about $400 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 sale716 hd

151.13

—

MT average3 barns · 852 hd

149.03

+2.10

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	1,776	87.23	1,549	80
Cows	Premium White 65-75%	High	1,653	78.00	1,289	2thin
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	High	1,682	68.63	1,154	11
Cows	Boner 80-85%	High	1,377	66.08	910	83
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Low	1,175	61.00	717	110

Every lot, as filed

98 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 1-2	—	613	128.58/cwt	121.00–134.00	788	14
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	519	166.12/cwt	160.00–168.00	862	198
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	728	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	910	6
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	564	171.35/cwt	170.00–177.00	966	34
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	662	141.36/cwt	139.00–145.00	936	5
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	541	143.00/cwt	143.00–143.00	774	6
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	973	106.00/cwt	102.00–110.00	1,031	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	569	160.48/cwt	155.00–163.50	913	181
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	874	130.72/cwt	128.50–134.50	1,142	28
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	499	184.00/cwt	184.00–184.00	918	23
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	460	140.00/cwt	140.00–140.00	644	23
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	829	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	1,119	10
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	857	117.00/cwt	117.00–117.00	1,003	25
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	507	151.00/cwt	151.00–151.00	766	16
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	475	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	689	15
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	771	121.00/cwt	121.00–121.00	933	6
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	645	126.00/cwt	126.00–126.00	813	14
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	702	118.00/cwt	118.00–118.00	828	3
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	788	142.91/cwt	142.75–145.00	1,126	67
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	724	147.51/cwt	145.00–148.00	1,068	26
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	—	692	124.21/cwt	123.00–127.00	860	13
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	627	148.83/cwt	141.00–156.00	933	72
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	671	138.87/cwt	138.00–140.00	932	9
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	729	144.00/cwt	144.00–144.00	1,050	71
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	905	128.00/cwt	128.00–128.00	1,158	4
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,111	1,460.00/cwt	1,460.00–1,460.00	16,221	4
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,219	1,442.23/cwt	1,435.00–1,450.00	17,581	22
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	627	178.17/cwt	173.50–179.50	1,117	100
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	486	166.00/cwt	166.00–166.00	807	11
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,427	1,407.11/cwt	1,375.00–1,460.00	20,079	27
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	661	166.18/cwt	160.00–167.50	1,098	27
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	—	1,390	1,222.85/cwt	1,200.00–1,250.00	16,998	27
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,528	1,343.93/cwt	1,275.00–1,400.00	20,535	37
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	—	758	118.00/cwt	118.00–118.00	894	3
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	481	157.50/cwt	157.50–157.50	758	7
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,251	925.00/cwt	925.00–925.00	11,572	9
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Full	—	630	127.00/cwt	127.00–127.00	800	6
Heifers	Small and Medium 2	—	504	102.50/cwt	102.50–102.50	517	17
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Fancy	—	1,531	1,382.42/cwt	1,375.00–1,400.00	21,165	103
Heifer Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	913	1,400.00/cwt	1,400.00–1,400.00	12,782	13
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,510	1,210.00/cwt	1,210.00–1,210.00	18,271	6
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Fancy	—	1,566	1,500.00/cwt	1,500.00–1,500.00	23,490	25
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,025	89.87/cwt	80.00–97.00	921	49
Bulls	—	—	1,652	78.05/cwt	73.00–82.00	1,289	12
Bulls	—	—	2,084	97.24/cwt	94.00–103.00	2,026	23
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,334	71.47/cwt	67.00–75.00	953	7
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,280	59.00/cwt	59.00–59.00	755	3
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,366	78.76/cwt	78.00–81.00	1,076	4
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,341	90.94/cwt	85.00–94.00	1,220	4
Bulls	—Heavy Weight	—	2,605	86.00/cwt	86.00–86.00	2,240	2
Bulls	—	—	2,114	87.65/cwt	86.00–88.00	1,853	6
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	936	52.89/cwt	47.00–56.00	495	7
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	965	39.00/cwt	39.00–39.00	376	1
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,376	70.99/cwt	69.00–74.50	977	7
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,418	62.53/cwt	61.00–64.00	887	17
Bulls	—Light Weight	—	1,141	66.55/cwt	61.00–74.50	759	5
Bulls	—	—	1,662	87.34/cwt	84.00–90.50	1,452	24
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,773	73.39/cwt	71.50–76.00	1,301	4
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,315	65.00/cwt	65.00–65.00	855	1
Cows	Premium White 65-75%	—	1,653	78.00/cwt	78.00–78.00	1,289	2
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,084	57.37/cwt	56.00–58.50	622	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,202	69.08/cwt	67.00–71.50	830	3
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,226	63.75/cwt	60.00–68.00	782	34
Steers	Large 1	—	593	152.00/cwt	152.00–152.00	901	4
Steers	Large 1	—	615	157.50/cwt	157.50–157.50	969	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,197	68.16/cwt	66.00–70.00	816	3
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,210	61.89/cwt	59.00–65.00	749	41
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,570	67.68/cwt	66.00–70.00	1,063	5
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,375	66.27/cwt	64.00–68.50	911	49
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	973	56.58/cwt	55.00–58.00	551	2
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	958	70.39/cwt	70.00–74.00	674	10
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,115	56.18/cwt	49.50–59.00	626	17
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Heavy Weight	—	2,245	58.00/cwt	58.00–58.00	1,302	1
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	799	113.00/cwt	113.00–113.00	903	4
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	584	162.99/cwt	161.00–165.00	952	12
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	506	172.27/cwt	164.00–178.00	872	26
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	533	183.25/cwt	178.00–186.00	977	60
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	793	115.71/cwt	112.00–118.50	918	23
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	639	159.31/cwt	157.00–163.00	1,018	9
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	480	177.00/cwt	177.00–177.00	850	2
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,391	1,024.06/cwt	1,000.00–1,050.00	14,245	6
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	1,269	750.00/cwt	750.00–750.00	9,518	5
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Fleshy	—	795	108.00/cwt	108.00–108.00	859	6
Heifers	Medium and Large 2	—	457	134.00/cwt	134.00–134.00	612	6
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	710	136.22/cwt	131.00–138.00	967	9
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	440	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	638	3
Steers	Medium 1	—	500	178.00/cwt	178.00–178.00	890	4
Heifers	Medium 1-2	—	445	130.00/cwt	130.00–130.00	579	11
Steers	Medium and Large 2	—	675	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	844	2
Steers	Medium and Large 2	—	409	150.00/cwt	150.00–150.00	614	7
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,290	1,032.76/cwt	1,025.00–1,035.00	13,323	22
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,077	73.78/cwt	62.00–85.00	795	40
Cow-Calf Pairs	Large 1Registered	—	1,736	1,385.00/cwt	1,385.00–1,385.00	24,044	7
Bulls	Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	1,053	110.00/cwt	110.00–110.00	1,158	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	845	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	1,056	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	443	160.00/cwt	160.00–160.00	709	3
Bulls	Large 1	—	1,040	104.00/cwt	104.00–104.00	1,082	1
Bulls	Large 1	—	1,178	95.00/cwt	95.00–95.00	1,119	3

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 →