Name: Billings Livestock Commission livestock auction prices — 2021-10-07
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2021-10-07

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last week: All feeder cattle were scarcely tested last sale as it featured bred cows, thus comparisons are not available. Todays sale was comprised mostly of spring born calves. Quality this sale was average to very attractive. Many sets of reputation cattle were seen this sale. Demand for calves was slightly uneven, but most offerings sold with moderate to good demand. Transportation was the biggest factor limiting demand this sale, as trucks are unprecedently tight. Drought conditions and early marketing's coupled with heavy cow movement has truck availability very tight. This led to large and often overlapping price spreads at times. Many feeders in the state have opted to sell their feed and yard space to ranchers for cows instead of feeding calves this year. This has also put some pressure on the market as many offerings that normally sell to local feeders have no place available to feed. Vaccinations were also vital as buyers offered strong premiums for calves with both spring and fall shots. Several sets of weaned calves were seen this week. Many sets of calves have been weaned since the beginning of August due to extremely dry conditions. CME positions saw strong positive movement today as triple digit gains were seen. The October and November feeder cattle contracts closed 3.55 and 3.475 higher respectively. Market activity was mostly active with many buyers ringside actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly light demand for moderate offerings. Packers showed very light to light demand for cows for immediate harvest. Heavy supplies of cows have been seen over the last few weeks and packers have started to pack up prices. Slaughter cows sold mostly 5.00-8.00 lower on boning and lean cows. Breaking cows were not tested. Most cows were extremely thin and very full this sale. Feeding cows sold mostly 3.00-5.00 lower, again comparisons were difficult due to poor weigh up conditions. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady. Cows suitable to rebreed sold on mostly good demand. Quality this week was mostly attractive with many one iron home-raised offerings. Offerings sold mostly 5.00 higher.

Weight class

Steers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb steers averaged $177.30/cwt on 2,442 head.

Average price

$177.30

2,442 head · 497 lb average

Value per head Derived

$881

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

−$383

per head · Medium 1 over Large 1-2

$43.87/cwt at this weight

vs the market

+0.01

vs MT average

What quality paid 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium 1	393	179.37	705	27
Medium and Large 1	506	178.94	906	1,960
Medium and Large 1-2	442	174.94	773	289
Medium 1-2	363	170.00	617	14thin
Large 1	490	169.88	833	70
Medium and Large 2	444	159.00	706	62
Large 1-2	804	135.50	1,089	20

One grade step is worth $43.87/cwt here — about −$383 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 sale2,442 hd

177.30

—

MT average5 barns · 5,260 hd

177.28

+0.01

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	1,784	77.57	1,384	9thin
Cows	Boner 80-85%	High	1,483	53.14	788	111
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Very Low	1,224	43.60	534	160

Every lot, as filed

99 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
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	575	155.40/cwt	155.00–156.00	894	15
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	665	161.80/cwt	157.00–163.00	1,076	19
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	385	190.39/cwt	189.00–194.00	733	61
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	408	209.50/cwt	202.00–217.00	855	72
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	899	147.50/cwt	147.50–147.50	1,326	32
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	523	172.00/cwt	172.00–172.00	900	6
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	376	209.15/cwt	197.00–218.00	786	67
Steers	Large 1Unweaned	—	493	169.54/cwt	168.50–170.00	836	58
Steers	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	—	377	160.00/cwt	160.00–160.00	603	6
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	438	179.00/cwt	179.00–179.00	784	28
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	479	170.00/cwt	170.00–170.00	814	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	378	172.76/cwt	167.00–177.00	653	213
Steers	Medium 1	—	413	179.00/cwt	179.00–179.00	739	16
Steers	Large 1-2	—	796	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	1,075	10
Steers	Large 1-2	—	811	136.00/cwt	136.00–136.00	1,103	10
Heifers	Medium 1Unweaned	—	428	153.06/cwt	149.00–156.00	655	56
Steers	Medium 1	—	328	184.00/cwt	184.00–184.00	604	6
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	417	153.12/cwt	152.50–155.00	639	67
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	836	148.59/cwt	146.50–150.00	1,242	10
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	629	162.00/cwt	162.00–162.00	1,019	14
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	340	207.50/cwt	207.50–207.50	706	6
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	321	181.19/cwt	174.00–185.00	582	43
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	424	165.81/cwt	157.00–172.00	703	210
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	373	165.18/cwt	162.00–166.00	616	24
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	564	167.00/cwt	167.00–167.00	942	4
Steers	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	—	523	140.00/cwt	140.00–140.00	732	5
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	427	174.80/cwt	164.00–180.00	746	103
Steers	Medium 1Unweaned	—	408	175.00/cwt	175.00–175.00	714	5
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	527	171.22/cwt	166.00–177.00	902	362
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	299	213.00/cwt	213.00–213.00	637	7
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	946	142.50/cwt	142.50–142.50	1,348	15
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	484	169.26/cwt	167.00–171.00	819	36
Steers	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	—	444	160.75/cwt	160.75–160.75	714	51
Steers	Large 1Unweaned	—	421	184.00/cwt	184.00–184.00	775	7
Steers	Large 1Unweaned	—	553	154.00/cwt	154.00–154.00	852	5
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	562	163.81/cwt	158.00–168.00	921	152
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	505	156.27/cwt	148.50–161.00	789	33
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	471	179.88/cwt	174.00–187.50	847	536
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	420	193.20/cwt	184.00–203.00	811	356
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	338	220.80/cwt	202.50–223.50	746	44
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	631	161.66/cwt	155.00–168.00	1,020	258
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	268	197.50/cwt	197.50–197.50	529	5
Steers	Medium 1-2Unweaned	—	363	170.00/cwt	170.00–170.00	617	14
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	522	151.44/cwt	146.00–155.50	791	32
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	346	202.00/cwt	202.00–202.00	699	9
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	637	140.00/cwt	140.00–140.00	892	8
Bulls	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	440	164.00/cwt	164.00–164.00	722	4
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	476	162.00/cwt	162.00–162.00	771	4
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	587	142.28/cwt	137.00–144.50	835	16
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,178	37.85/cwt	31.00–42.00	446	70
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,435	70.00/cwt	70.00–70.00	1,005	1
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,125	38.50/cwt	38.50–38.50	433	8
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,290	52.00/cwt	52.00–52.00	671	52
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,345	51.50/cwt	51.50–51.50	693	3
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,232	42.99/cwt	41.00–46.00	530	27
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,495	57.00/cwt	57.00–57.00	852	1
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,420	41.00/cwt	41.00–41.00	582	4
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,388	46.24/cwt	44.00–47.50	642	5
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,534	57.04/cwt	56.50–64.00	875	40
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,462	51.58/cwt	44.00–57.00	754	60
Bulls	—	—	1,753	67.12/cwt	63.00–74.00	1,177	3
Bulls	—	—	1,785	82.56/cwt	80.00–85.00	1,474	5
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,870	84.00/cwt	84.00–84.00	1,571	1
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,213	1,210.00/cwt	1,210.00–1,210.00	14,677	15
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	933	68.60/cwt	62.50–75.00	640	2
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	891	104.69/cwt	84.00–115.75	933	255
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	863	63.00/cwt	63.00–63.00	544	6
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,114	72.38/cwt	59.00–80.00	806	49
Bred Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	824	142.50/cwt	142.50–142.50	1,174	11
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,163	1,050.00/cwt	1,050.00–1,050.00	12,212	5
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	933	125.50/cwt	125.50–125.50	1,171	10
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	403	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	584	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Full	—	489	144.00/cwt	144.00–144.00	704	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fancy	—	454	168.00/cwt	168.00–168.00	763	101
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	512	159.00/cwt	159.00–159.00	814	25
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	408	185.00/cwt	185.00–185.00	755	6
Heifers	Large 1	—	1,030	130.00/cwt	130.00–130.00	1,339	11
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Full	—	396	163.00/cwt	163.00–163.00	645	39
Heifers	Medium 1	—	744	144.00/cwt	144.00–144.00	1,071	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	871	140.26/cwt	139.50–142.75	1,222	45
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	927	139.25/cwt	139.25–139.25	1,291	6
Heifers	Large 1-2	—	831	114.00/cwt	114.00–114.00	947	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	551	148.00/cwt	148.00–148.00	815	15
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	878	135.50/cwt	135.50–135.50	1,190	6
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	489	144.89/cwt	142.00–146.00	709	35
Heifers	Medium 1-2Unweaned	—	307	160.00/cwt	160.00–160.00	491	8
Heifers	Small and Medium 2-3Unweaned	—	370	110.00/cwt	110.00–110.00	407	8
Heifers	Large 1	—	1,087	125.49/cwt	122.50–127.50	1,364	10
Heifers	Medium 2-3Unweaned	—	410	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	513	8
Heifers	Medium 1-2Unweaned	—	391	146.00/cwt	146.00–146.00	571	15
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	478	154.81/cwt	150.50–160.00	740	322
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	558	137.10/cwt	136.00–138.00	765	18
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	333	167.00/cwt	167.00–167.00	556	6
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	998	132.09/cwt	129.00–132.25	1,318	20
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	572	148.28/cwt	141.00–153.50	848	95
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	287	189.29/cwt	189.00–190.00	543	27
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	641	147.84/cwt	145.00–148.50	948	32
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	513	154.31/cwt	145.00–159.50	792	335
Heifers	Medium 1Unweaned	—	499	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	724	24

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 →