Sale reports / Montana / Billings Livestock Commission / 2021-11-01

Billings Livestock Commission

Feeder Cattle · Slaughter Cattle · Replacement Cattle · Billings, Montana · Mon, Nov 1
● Final29 lots reportedUSDA AMS · slug 1775
Feeder Cattle receipts
295 head
256 vs last sale 551 222 vs year ago 517 · 42.9%
Slaughter Cattle receipts
1,828 head
497 vs last sale 1,331 1,006 vs year ago 822 · +122.4%
Replacement Cattle receipts
711 head
302 vs last sale 409 456 vs year ago 255 · +178.8%
Also sold hereRegular saleThu Aug 13, 2026
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Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last Mondays sale: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Weigh up cows sold on light to moderate demand for heavy offerings. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady to 2.00 lower on boning and lean cows, breaking cows were not well tested. Packer buyers opted to send only poor quality or lame cows to immediate harvest this week as they purchased the majority of the cow offering to feed. Feeding cows sold on a two tier market. Boning flesh cows, which are usually purchased to feed to premium white, sold mostly 2.00-4.00 lower. Lean feeding cows sold steady to weak as more feeding buyers were on hand looking for this type of cow. Many thin cows are being turned out on corn stalks or put on a holding ration until packers can catch up on seasonally large harvest numbers. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average today. Cows with favorable weigh up conditions sold with the best demand. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady on a much more attractive offering. Young age cows suitable to rebreed were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, higher to sharply higher undertones were noticed. Quality this week was attractive to very attractive as many sets of one iron home raised young cows sold.

Weight class

Heifers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot
0–100 lb heifers averaged $147.36/cwt on 14 head.
Average price
$147.36
14 head · 734 lb average
Value per head Derived
$1,081
Price × average weight ÷ 100
Grade differential Derived
$58
per head · Medium and Large 1 over Medium and Large 1-2
$11.50/cwt at this weight
vs the market
2.99
vs MT average

What quality paid 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade
Frame / muscleAvg wt$/cwt$/headHead
Medium and Large 1731149.001,08912thin
Medium and Large 1-2750137.501,0312thin
One grade step is worth $11.50/cwt here — about $58 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 sale14 hd
147.36
MT average5 barns · 3,844 hd
150.35
−2.99
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 · $/cwt
Cull cows and bulls are graded, not weight-classed — grade is what moves the money here.
ClassGradeDressingAvg wt$/cwt$/headHead
BullsLow1,75881.321,43013
CowsBreaker 75-80%Low1,70453.009034thin
CowsBoner 80-85%Low1,38651.23710199
CowsLean 85-90%Average1,16245.21525646

Every lot, as filed

29 lots · USDA AMS · Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction - Billings, MT (Mon)
Nothing removed and nothing rounded — the same lots as the USDA report, with per-head values added.
ClassGrade / descriptionWeightAvg wtPriceRangePer headHead
HeifersMedium and Large 1731149.00/cwt149.00–149.001,08912
HeifersMedium and Large 1-2750137.50/cwt137.50–137.501,0312
Stock CowsLarge 188478.27/cwt65.00–94.0069212
Stock CowsMedium and Large 1862114.74/cwt78.00–120.25989227
Stock CowsLarge 11,09054.00/cwt54.00–54.005895
Stock CowsMedium and Large 11,03850.00/cwt50.00–50.005192
Stock CowsMedium and Large 1Thin Fleshed78082.50/cwt82.50–82.506443
Stock CowsMedium and Large 1Thin Fleshed1,15049.00/cwt49.00–49.005643
Stock CowsMedium and Large 11,03671.59/cwt51.00–96.50742116
BullsReturn to Feed1,26561.00/cwt61.00–61.007721
BullsReturn to Feed1,63080.50/cwt80.50–80.501,3122
Bulls1,89882.77/cwt81.00–85.501,5716
Bulls1,75289.50/cwt89.50–89.501,5683
Bulls1,68570.00/cwt70.00–70.001,1801
CowsBreaker 75-80%Return to Feed1,70453.00/cwt53.00–53.009034
CowsLean 85-90%1,21447.62/cwt47.00–48.005783
CowsLean 85-90%1,11038.30/cwt37.00–38.504257
CowsBoner 80-85%Return to Feed1,37348.68/cwt39.00–51.50668125
CowsBoner 80-85%Return to Feed1,37755.03/cwt52.00–63.0075846
CowsBoner 80-85%Return to Feed1,47864.05/cwt64.00–65.0094718
CowsBoner 80-85%1,42242.48/cwt35.00–46.0060410
CowsLean 85-90%Return to Feed1,20348.12/cwt45.50–55.00579236
CowsLean 85-90%Light Weight93033.00/cwt33.00–33.003071
CowsLean 85-90%Return to Feed1,17262.23/cwt60.00–66.007296
CowsLean 85-90%Return to Feed1,13444.01/cwt37.50–46.00499323
CowsLean 85-90%Return to Feed1,18736.89/cwt35.00–37.5043817
CowsLean 85-90%Light Weight94740.71/cwt34.00–44.003863
CowsLean 85-90%Light Weight99545.00/cwt45.00–45.004481
CowsLean 85-90%1,16441.29/cwt38.00–44.0048149

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.