Name: Billings Livestock Commission livestock auction prices — 2024-10-14
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2024-10-14

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

This is the first Monday sale of the fall. All feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Quality today was mostly average. Demand was mostly moderate for light offerings. CME positions traded mixed today with weak prices seen on the nearby contracts and firm prices noticed on differed. Market activity was mostly moderate today. Weigh up cows comprised most of the market today. Demand for cows was mostly moderate to good for mostly moderate to heavy offerings. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher on all classes. Feeding cows sold mostly 2.00-5.00 higher. Good demand was seen for exposed cows as several order buyers showed interest in these offerings. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 3.00-5.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to attractive to buyers. Younge cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold on mostly good demand. Quality was mostly average to attractive. Young age offerings sold mostly 10.00 higher.

Weight class

Steers · summary 500–600 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

500–600 lb steers averaged $282.22/cwt on 90 head.

Average price

$282.22

90 head · 553 lb average

Value per head Derived

$1,561

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

$85

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

$41.15/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−14.71

vs MT average

−17.11 vs national

What quality paid 500–600 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	538	291.15	1,567	48
Medium 1	520	285.96	1,487	4thin
Medium and Large 1-2	566	275.53	1,560	24
Large 1	592	264.00	1,563	12thin
Medium and Large 2	593	250.00	1,483	2thin

One grade step is worth $41.15/cwt here — about $85 a head. Across this sale the premium is widest at 300–400 lb. USDA reports each grade on its own line and never publishes the spread.

How it compared 500–600 lb

Same class and week · spot auction only

This sale90 hd

282.22

—

MT average5 barns · 1,233 hd

296.93

−14.71

National average188 barns · 32,793 hd

299.33

−17.11

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	—	Average	1,723	147.74	2,545	36
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	High	1,572	132.57	2,083	36
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Very Low	1,413	128.08	1,810	334
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Very Low	1,193	112.31	1,340	211
Dairy Cows	Lean 85-90%	Average	995	107.50	1,070	1thin

Replacement cattle Per head

By class, stage and age

Bred stock and pairs are reported per head, not per hundredweight — these prices are never mixed with the $/cwt figures above.

Class	Stage	Age	Avg wt	$/head	Head
Bred Cows	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	Young (2-4 yrs)	1,187	$2,282	8
Bred Cows	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	Young (2-4 yrs)	1,164	$2,061	19
Bred Cows	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1,222	$1,911	9
Bred Cows	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1,315	$1,750	1thin
Bred Cows	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1,296	$1,725	28

Every lot, as filed

78 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.

Class	Grade / description	Weight	Avg wt	Price	Range	Per head	Head
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	850	72.50/cwt	72.50–72.50	616	1
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	—	1,609	135.33/cwt	135.00–136.00	2,177	6
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,184	108.63/cwt	107.00–113.00	1,286	8
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,580	126.00/cwt	126.00–126.00	1,991	2
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	—	1,560	123.00/cwt	123.00–123.00	1,919	1
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,490	96.00/cwt	96.00–96.00	1,430	1
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,325	87.90/cwt	80.00–90.00	1,165	5
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	—	1,560	132.95/cwt	126.00–134.00	2,074	26
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,158	99.29/cwt	90.00–108.00	1,150	47
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,640	129.00/cwt	129.00–129.00	2,116	1
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,401	129.72/cwt	119.00–134.00	1,817	252
Dairy Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	995	107.50/cwt	107.50–107.50	1,070	1
Steers	Medium 1Unweaned	650–700	652	257.00/cwt	257.00–257.00	1,676	5
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	850–900	875	220.00/cwt	220.00–220.00	1,925	1
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	950–1000	955	198.00/cwt	198.00–198.00	1,891	2
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	250–300	256	375.00/cwt	375.00–375.00	960	8
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,187	2,281.61/head	2,275.00–2,325.00	2,282	8
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,108	160.01/cwt	132.50–192.50	1,773	67
Steers	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	550–600	593	250.00/cwt	250.00–250.00	1,483	2
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,164	2,061.14/head	2,000.00–2,075.00	2,061	19
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	400–450	428	333.16/cwt	330.00–342.50	1,426	18
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	550–600	596	271.68/cwt	271.00–282.00	1,619	15
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	950–1000	968	215.29/cwt	215.00–216.00	2,084	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	400–450	406	328.35/cwt	312.50–335.00	1,333	7
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	500–550	512	300.00/cwt	300.00–300.00	1,536	33
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	350–400	369	331.41/cwt	327.00–344.00	1,223	11
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	650–700	682	252.00/cwt	252.00–252.00	1,719	9
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	450–500	462	297.43/cwt	293.00–300.00	1,374	26
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	500–550	525	281.18/cwt	276.00–285.00	1,476	14
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	300–350	325	341.00/cwt	337.50–355.00	1,108	5
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	600–650	611	258.75/cwt	254.00–267.00	1,581	9
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	450–500	488	309.00/cwt	309.00–309.00	1,508	19
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	300–350	315	405.00/cwt	405.00–405.00	1,276	4
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,222	1,910.87/head	1,850.00–1,950.00	1,911	9
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,315	1,750.00/head	1,750.00–1,750.00	1,750	1
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	350–400	364	385.00/cwt	385.00–385.00	1,401	4
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,296	1,725.42/head	1,700.00–1,750.00	1,725	28
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	250–300	288	435.00/cwt	435.00–435.00	1,253	5
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,277	120.45/cwt	119.00–121.00	1,538	89
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1-2Thin Fleshed	—	1,144	115.21/cwt	115.00–116.00	1,318	54
Bulls	Medium and Large 1-2	1050–1100	1,090	194.00/cwt	194.00–194.00	2,115	1
Bulls	Medium and Large 1-2	750–800	780	230.00/cwt	230.00–230.00	1,794	1
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,035	188.52/cwt	160.00–221.00	1,951	64
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	650–700	665	246.00/cwt	246.00–246.00	1,636	3
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	400–450	439	293.05/cwt	290.00–307.50	1,286	19
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	350–400	384	322.36/cwt	320.00–324.00	1,238	12
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	900–950	915	215.00/cwt	215.00–215.00	1,967	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	350–400	399	345.00/cwt	345.00–345.00	1,377	4
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,045	157.93/cwt	152.50–163.00	1,650	2
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,393	144.47/cwt	144.00–145.00	2,012	2
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,379	107.75/cwt	103.00–111.50	1,486	13
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,441	111.95/cwt	104.00–117.00	1,613	24
Bulls	—	—	2,330	162.00/cwt	162.00–162.00	3,775	1
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,396	138.79/cwt	135.00–143.00	1,938	9
Bulls	—	—	1,914	158.52/cwt	149.00–164.00	3,034	10
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	550–600	597	265.18/cwt	265.00–266.00	1,583	11
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	400–450	437	324.74/cwt	320.00–335.00	1,419	19
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	550–600	576	248.69/cwt	241.00–256.00	1,432	8
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	500–550	540	284.29/cwt	284.00–286.00	1,535	13
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	450–500	466	277.66/cwt	276.00–285.00	1,294	16
Heifers	Large 1	1100–1150	1,105	202.00/cwt	202.00–202.00	2,232	1
Heifers	Large 1Unweaned	550–600	565	231.00/cwt	231.00–231.00	1,305	2
Heifers	Large 1	1050–1100	1,070	203.91/cwt	202.00–204.50	2,182	11
Steers	Large 1Unweaned	550–600	592	264.00/cwt	264.00–264.00	1,563	12
Heifers	Large 1	1200–1250	1,205	191.00/cwt	191.00–191.00	2,302	1
Steers	Medium 1Unweaned	500–550	520	285.96/cwt	285.00–287.00	1,487	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,180	107.58/cwt	101.00–115.00	1,269	43
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,500	136.16/cwt	135.00–139.00	2,042	40
Cows	Boner 80-85%Light Weight	—	900	109.00/cwt	109.00–109.00	981	1
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,363	116.89/cwt	114.00–119.00	1,593	3
Bulls	Large 1-2	1100–1150	1,145	170.00/cwt	170.00–170.00	1,947	1
Stock Cows	Large 1	—	1,375	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	1,994	1
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	900	91.66/cwt	88.00–95.00	825	2
Bulls	—Light Weight	—	1,220	126.21/cwt	125.00–127.50	1,540	2
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,217	120.73/cwt	117.00–128.00	1,469	90
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,225	131.68/cwt	127.00–135.00	1,613	15
Bulls	—	—	1,879	145.92/cwt	143.00–150.00	2,742	11
Bulls	—	—	2,085	176.00/cwt	176.00–176.00	3,670	1

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 →