Name: Miles City Livestock Commission livestock auction prices — 2019-11-05
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2019-11-05

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Steer calves 350-699 lbs sold mostly steady to 5.00 higher. Steer calves over 700 lbs were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Heifer calves 400-599 lbs sold mostly 3.00-6.00 higher. Heifer calves over 600 lbs sold mostly steady to 2.00 lower. Demand was mostly moderate to good this week on heavy offerings. Demand for grass cattle continues to improve. Sharp divides can be seen between cattle destined for grass and cattle destined for a feed lot of backgrounding operations. Quality this week was mixed from plain to very attractive. Several sets of 3rd party verified, all natural calves were seen this week. These offerings sold on very good demand. No premium was given for all natural calves with only one round or no shots. Calves with 2 rounds of preconditioning shots continue to sell with the best demand. Market activity this week was mostly active. Weigh up cows sold on light to moderate demand for heavy offerings. Packers purchased a larger portion of the offering to send to immediate harvest this week. All packer buyers showed stronger demand for slaughter cows this week. Slaughter cows sold mostly 3.00-5.00 higher on boning and lean cows. Breaking cows were scarcely tested this week. Feeding cows sold mostly 2.00-4.00 higher. Packer and feeding cow buyers both showed good demand for all ages of feeding cows this week. With stronger demand seen for slaughter cows, thin cows were significantly higher this week. Many buyers continue to look for thin cows to put out on corn stalks or to feed silage to. Thin fleshed cows of all ages sold 5.00-8.00 higher this week. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 1.00-2.00 higher in a narrow comparison. Young age cows sold mostly 8.00-10.00 higher. Demand was good to very good for all offerings.

Weight class

Steers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb steers averaged $158.39/cwt on 1,633 head.

Average price

$158.39

1,633 head · 570 lb average

Value per head Derived

$902

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

$101

per head · Medium and Large 1 over Medium 1

$10.83/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−0.98

vs MT average

What quality paid 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	568	158.78	902	1,451
Medium and Large 1-2	585	156.05	913	165
Medium 1	541	147.94	801	17thin

One grade step is worth $10.83/cwt here — about $101 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 sale1,633 hd

158.39

—

MT average5 barns · 5,282 hd

159.36

−0.98

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	1,961	68.69	1,347	14
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Low	1,426	60.81	867	29
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Low	1,128	43.32	489	36

Every lot, as filed

69 lots · USDA AMS · Miles City Livestock Commission Auction - Miles City, MT

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 1Unweaned	—	622	147.58/cwt	144.00–151.50	918	209
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	585	154.27/cwt	149.50–162.00	902	480
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	876	139.54/cwt	139.00–140.50	1,222	19
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	816	134.82/cwt	134.50–136.00	1,100	28
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	—	1,306	58.50/cwt	58.50–58.50	764	5
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,260	53.11/cwt	47.50–66.00	669	193
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	426	159.61/cwt	155.50–164.50	680	97
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	1,325	46.50/cwt	46.50–46.50	616	1
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	955	57.77/cwt	57.00–59.00	552	3
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	1,228	55.50/cwt	55.50–55.50	682	9
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	973	80.96/cwt	75.75–98.00	788	59
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,132	71.48/cwt	60.00–82.00	809	29
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,229	61.96/cwt	52.50–66.00	761	18
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,362	65.00/cwt	65.00–65.00	885	3
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	1,115	46.56/cwt	39.00–49.50	519	55
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	622	131.01/cwt	128.00–134.00	815	50
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	378	165.71/cwt	160.00–167.00	626	72
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	830	139.58/cwt	137.50–141.25	1,159	25
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	522	144.38/cwt	139.00–153.50	754	99
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	571	138.23/cwt	132.00–141.50	789	151
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	482	137.29/cwt	137.00–138.00	662	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	406	144.00/cwt	144.00–144.00	585	13
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	532	135.69/cwt	132.00–138.50	722	44
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,308	833.35/cwt	760.00–900.00	10,900	16
Bulls	—	—	1,809	65.04/cwt	63.00–66.00	1,177	4
Bulls	—	—	2,022	70.15/cwt	66.50–75.00	1,418	10
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,523	45.73/cwt	45.00–46.50	696	2
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,343	51.14/cwt	49.50–53.00	687	3
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,170	44.88/cwt	40.50–48.00	525	17
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	960	41.39/cwt	37.50–45.00	397	2
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	942	36.08/cwt	32.50–38.00	340	3
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,045	37.40/cwt	33.00–39.00	391	7
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,239	49.08/cwt	47.00–53.50	608	7
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,428	63.27/cwt	61.50–64.50	903	24
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	486	168.42/cwt	164.00–175.00	819	180
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	663	131.50/cwt	131.50–131.50	872	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	703	130.50/cwt	130.50–130.50	917	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Natural	—	571	142.16/cwt	140.00–144.00	812	64
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Natural	—	484	158.39/cwt	157.50–169.00	767	61
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Natural	—	506	153.50/cwt	153.50–153.50	777	31
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Natural	—	644	138.00/cwt	138.00–138.00	889	26
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	918	134.72/cwt	134.00–136.00	1,237	40
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,285	56.82/cwt	50.50–70.50	730	69
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	679	146.40/cwt	141.00–151.50	994	164
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	428	183.12/cwt	175.00–193.00	784	123
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	372	204.10/cwt	192.00–215.00	759	24
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	728	136.43/cwt	133.50–141.00	993	18
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	773	132.00/cwt	132.00–132.00	1,020	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	923	141.05/cwt	137.00–143.00	1,302	15
Steers	Medium and Large 1Fancy	—	532	170.50/cwt	170.50–170.50	907	65
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	472	154.90/cwt	150.50–160.00	731	44
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,144	1,110.00/cwt	1,110.00–1,110.00	12,698	4
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	536	153.90/cwt	151.00–156.00	825	44
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	443	170.06/cwt	166.00–173.00	753	23
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	368	187.76/cwt	184.00–188.50	691	20
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	481	162.50/cwt	162.50–162.50	782	16
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	582	145.21/cwt	144.00–148.00	845	13
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	348	198.00/cwt	198.00–198.00	689	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	526	162.71/cwt	157.00–168.50	856	171
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	881	135.51/cwt	134.00–136.00	1,194	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	978	132.00/cwt	132.00–132.00	1,291	2
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fancy	—	474	164.50/cwt	164.50–164.50	780	24
Heifers	Medium 1-2	—	602	138.00/cwt	138.00–138.00	831	11
Heifers	Medium 1	—	694	144.00/cwt	144.00–144.00	999	65
Heifers	Large 1	—	1,078	132.50/cwt	132.50–132.50	1,428	2
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	605	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	817	2
Steers	Medium 1Unweaned	—	591	143.00/cwt	143.00–143.00	845	10
Steers	Medium 1Unweaned	—	470	155.00/cwt	155.00–155.00	729	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	575	129.94/cwt	128.00–131.00	747	57

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 →