Name: Billings Livestock Commission livestock auction prices — 2021-07-22
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2021-07-22

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to two weeks ago(7-8-21): The best test for yearling steers was for 700-749 lbs which sold unevenly steady, all other weights of steers were too lightly tested either this week or last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Yearling heifers sold mostly 5.00 higher. All calves were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend. Demand was mostly good for all yearlings on offer, while calves sold with mostly light demand. Not enough calves were on offer to put together a load so demand was limited. All yearling cattle were in very light to light flesh and most are being marketed early due to drought conditions. All yearlings were pushing moderate to heavy amounts of fill today as hot weather and fresh feed caused offerings to fill up. Quality this week was mostly average to very attractive. Several sets of replacement heifers sold today and most had been turned out with a bull. Consigners offered to abort the heifers at their cost if the buyer wished to feed them. Several sets of heifers were purchased to keep as replacements this sale, however most were purchased to feed. Market activity was mostly active this week. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand this week. Packers continue to push to purchase cows both for slaughter and to feed. Slaughter cows sold with good demand. Slaughter cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 higher on all classes. Feeding cows sold steady to firm. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average and although prices were near steady, cows were higher on a carcass basis. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold generally steady. Most of these offerings sold to packers and feeding buyers. Demand for rebreeding cows has lightened as it is getting too late in the season to breed for spring calves.

Weight class

Heifers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb heifers averaged $144.64/cwt on 1,393 head.

Average price

$144.64

1,393 head · 805 lb average

Value per head Derived

$1,164

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

−$385

per head · Medium 1 over Large 1

$25.01/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 1	614	150.78	926	40
Medium and Large 1	803	145.75	1,170	1,231
Medium and Large 1-2	742	136.48	1,013	64
Large 1	1,043	125.77	1,311	58

One grade step is worth $25.01/cwt here — about −$385 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 sale1,393 hd

144.64

—

MT average1 barns · 1,393 hd

144.64

+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	—	High	1,693	87.54	1,482	69
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	Low	1,588	77.30	1,228	28
Cows	Boner 80-85%	High	1,458	68.40	998	150
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Low	1,152	61.75	712	69

Every lot, as filed

94 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	—	815	146.56/cwt	140.00–148.25	1,194	374
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	878	134.63/cwt	134.00–140.00	1,182	120
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	640	144.00/cwt	144.00–144.00	922	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	728	139.00/cwt	139.00–139.00	1,012	3
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	687	145.57/cwt	145.00–146.00	1,000	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	910	131.70/cwt	129.00–132.00	1,198	60
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	783	163.00/cwt	163.00–163.00	1,276	32
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	731	136.00/cwt	136.00–136.00	994	16
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Full	—	988	120.27/cwt	116.00–122.00	1,188	35
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	681	135.50/cwt	135.50–135.50	923	15
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	741	162.27/cwt	154.00–166.00	1,202	13
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	824	157.49/cwt	154.00–159.00	1,298	57
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	582	166.00/cwt	166.00–166.00	966	16
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	637	160.00/cwt	160.00–160.00	1,019	3
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	428	140.00/cwt	140.00–140.00	599	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,107	111.00/cwt	111.00–111.00	1,229	6
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	963	131.89/cwt	131.25–133.50	1,270	22
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	683	171.63/cwt	166.00–173.50	1,172	112
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Replacement	—	921	136.00/cwt	136.00–136.00	1,253	18
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	635	137.00/cwt	137.00–137.00	870	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	482	160.00/cwt	160.00–160.00	771	15
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	729	163.25/cwt	160.00–169.00	1,190	80
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	778	150.36/cwt	145.00–153.00	1,170	217
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Replacement	—	827	143.00/cwt	143.00–143.00	1,183	39
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Full	—	727	145.22/cwt	145.00–145.50	1,056	11
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	664	162.00/cwt	162.00–162.00	1,076	87
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Replacement	—	794	150.00/cwt	150.00–150.00	1,191	99
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	921	142.46/cwt	140.50–143.50	1,312	38
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	724	152.18/cwt	148.00–157.00	1,102	101
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,470	1,395.85/cwt	1,300.00–1,450.00	20,519	26
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,655	1,250.00/cwt	1,250.00–1,250.00	20,688	4
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,115	66.03/cwt	63.50–73.00	736	34
Heifer Pairs	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,220	1,325.00/cwt	1,325.00–1,325.00	16,165	3
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	880	150.78/cwt	150.50–151.00	1,327	20
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	622	180.56/cwt	175.00–182.50	1,123	44
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1-2Broken Mouth	—	1,291	950.00/cwt	950.00–950.00	12,265	5
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,615	1,425.00/cwt	1,425.00–1,425.00	23,014	15
Steers	Medium and Large 1Full	—	829	151.50/cwt	151.50–151.50	1,256	6
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	—	1,590	1,251.72/cwt	1,100.00–1,275.00	19,902	45
Heifer Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,206	1,525.00/cwt	1,525.00–1,525.00	18,392	8
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	942	78.33/cwt	70.00–101.00	738	48
Bulls	—Natural	—	2,045	94.50/cwt	94.50–94.50	1,933	2
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,447	69.00/cwt	69.00–69.00	998	3
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,617	81.62/cwt	79.00–84.50	1,320	13
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,312	76.75/cwt	74.00–79.00	1,007	11
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,323	93.00/cwt	93.00–93.00	1,230	2
Bulls	—	—	1,973	95.55/cwt	91.00–102.00	1,885	18
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,524	73.69/cwt	69.50–77.50	1,123	5
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,335	82.46/cwt	81.00–84.00	1,101	2
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,220	60.00/cwt	60.00–60.00	732	5
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,440	62.93/cwt	60.00–64.25	906	28
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,146	58.12/cwt	53.00–61.00	666	17
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,483	66.53/cwt	64.00–69.50	987	43
Bred Cows	Large 1	—	1,239	68.50/cwt	68.50–68.50	849	7
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	—	1,580	78.00/cwt	78.00–78.00	1,232	2
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	857	52.61/cwt	52.50–53.00	451	5
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,220	64.13/cwt	62.00–68.00	782	21
Bulls	—	—	1,441	81.96/cwt	81.00–83.00	1,181	5
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,386	68.03/cwt	66.50–72.00	943	38
Bulls	Large 1	—	1,021	118.00/cwt	118.00–118.00	1,205	7
Steers	Large 1Full	—	1,031	124.50/cwt	124.50–124.50	1,284	6
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,511	74.53/cwt	71.00–76.50	1,126	36
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,144	64.90/cwt	64.00–65.00	742	21
Bred Cows	Large 1Broken Mouth	—	1,300	65.11/cwt	64.50–65.75	846	202
Bred Cows	Large 1	—	1,172	1,110.00/cwt	1,110.00–1,110.00	13,009	30
Heifers	Large 1Fancy	—	1,006	130.50/cwt	130.50–130.50	1,313	22
Bulls	Large 1	—	1,245	102.00/cwt	102.00–102.00	1,270	1
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,595	74.04/cwt	71.00–77.00	1,181	10
Bulls	—	—	1,734	87.11/cwt	83.50–91.50	1,510	29
Steers	Large 1	—	1,343	114.50/cwt	114.50–114.50	1,538	32
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	590	161.00/cwt	161.00–161.00	950	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	844	133.68/cwt	124.00–139.50	1,128	8
Heifer Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,291	1,667.17/cwt	1,600.00–1,725.00	21,523	35
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,740	1,625.00/cwt	1,625.00–1,625.00	28,275	1
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Full	—	868	124.51/cwt	121.50–130.50	1,081	21
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	890	141.00/cwt	141.00–141.00	1,255	3
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,555	1,250.00/cwt	1,250.00–1,250.00	19,438	5
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	421	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	610	9
Steers	Large 1Full	—	876	137.00/cwt	137.00–137.00	1,200	4
Heifers	Large 1Full	—	1,144	106.00/cwt	106.00–106.00	1,213	5
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	769	136.38/cwt	135.00–143.00	1,049	27
Heifers	Medium 1	—	653	141.00/cwt	141.00–141.00	921	23
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,503	1,699.43/cwt	1,525.00–1,760.00	25,542	26
Heifers	Large 1	—	1,033	126.92/cwt	121.00–129.00	1,311	17
Bulls	Large 1	—	1,155	114.00/cwt	114.00–114.00	1,317	4
Steers	Large 1	—	1,056	123.00/cwt	123.00–123.00	1,299	8
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	—	1,488	1,100.00/cwt	1,100.00–1,100.00	16,368	8
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	893	68.69/cwt	62.00–70.00	613	7
Steers	Large 1	—	1,147	123.00/cwt	123.00–123.00	1,411	7
Steers	Large 1	—	1,224	121.00/cwt	121.00–121.00	1,481	13
Bred Cows	Large 1	—	1,240	1,046.25/cwt	1,000.00–1,075.00	12,974	61
Bred Cows	Large 1	—	1,206	66.50/cwt	66.50–66.50	802	8
Heifers	Large 1	—	1,076	123.99/cwt	122.50–125.50	1,334	14
Heifers	Medium 1	—	562	164.00/cwt	164.00–164.00	922	17

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 →