Name: Miles City Livestock Commission livestock auction prices — 2022-12-13
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2022-12-13

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last week: Feeder steer and heifer calves were too lightly tested this week or last to develop a full market trend, however weak undertones were noticed on weaned calves and lower to sharply lower undertones were noticed on unweaned calves. A huge winter storm is dumping heavy amounts of snow over Eastern Montana, the Northern plains, and the corn belt over the next 48 hours. This put a huge damper on demand as most buyers were unwilling to bid on cattle no matter the cost. The best demand was for long weaned calves. Buyers showed mostly very light demand for unweaned calves ahead of the storm. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Market activity was mostly slow with a light buyer pool on hand for todays sale. Weigh up cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand and offerings. Slaughter cows sold generally steady to 2.00 higher on boning and lean cows. Breaking cows were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeding cows sold generally steady in a very narrow comparison. Slaughter bulls sold generally steady in a narrow comparison. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average this sale as most offerings were tanked up due to the snow storm. Cow and bull quality was mostly plain to average this week. Most offerings were purchased to send directly to slaughter this sale. Young age sold on mostly moderate demand this week. Quality was mostly average this week. Young age cows sold steady to weak on a poorer quality offering.

Weight class

Heifers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb heifers averaged $173.30/cwt on 604 head.

Average price

$173.30

604 head · 548 lb average

Value per head Derived

$950

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

−$173

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

$10.80/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−6.06

vs MT average

What quality paid 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium 1	377	181.03	683	36
Medium and Large 1	573	173.47	994	452
Medium and Large 1-2	503	170.23	857	116

One grade step is worth $10.80/cwt here — about −$173 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 sale604 hd

173.30

—

MT average3 barns · 2,625 hd

179.36

−6.06

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	1,709	87.53	1,496	39
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Very Low	1,314	61.65	810	72
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Low	1,153	54.57	629	195

Every lot, as filed

67 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
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	—	1,282	59.50/cwt	59.50–59.50	763	6
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	458	192.00/cwt	192.00–192.00	879	4
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	522	166.00/cwt	166.00–166.00	867	3
Bulls	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	382	192.50/cwt	192.50–192.50	735	3
Heifers	Medium 1	—	358	188.50/cwt	188.50–188.50	675	20
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	918	151.00/cwt	151.00–151.00	1,386	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	419	180.25/cwt	180.00–181.00	755	12
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	666	171.50/cwt	165.00–177.50	1,142	25
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	536	187.20/cwt	184.00–193.00	1,003	31
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	569	194.40/cwt	184.00–200.00	1,106	39
Steers	Medium 1	—	410	211.44/cwt	205.00–215.00	867	14
Steers	Medium 1Unweaned	—	349	207.50/cwt	207.50–207.50	724	4
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	560	195.56/cwt	183.00–198.00	1,095	23
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	416	206.73/cwt	190.00–211.00	860	24
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	469	200.72/cwt	196.00–207.50	941	30
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	524	178.50/cwt	178.50–178.50	935	6
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	475	200.68/cwt	192.50–205.00	953	16
Steers	Medium 1	—	357	220.00/cwt	220.00–220.00	785	5
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	827	163.00/cwt	163.00–163.00	1,348	6
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	416	215.37/cwt	215.00–216.00	896	13
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	616	191.94/cwt	184.00–193.00	1,182	92
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	593	137.50/cwt	137.50–137.50	815	4
Steers	Medium 1	—	346	215.00/cwt	215.00–215.00	744	4
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	446	220.16/cwt	219.50–220.50	982	52
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	453	220.00/cwt	220.00–220.00	997	27
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	632	183.46/cwt	183.00–183.50	1,159	48
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	568	178.88/cwt	171.00–180.00	1,016	24
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	363	169.16/cwt	160.00–174.00	614	12
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	744	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	1,004	9
Heifers	Medium 1Unweaned	—	419	171.00/cwt	171.00–171.00	716	5
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	342	170.00/cwt	170.00–170.00	581	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	611	166.27/cwt	159.00–168.00	1,016	52
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	540	189.58/cwt	188.50–190.00	1,024	47
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	882	154.50/cwt	154.50–154.50	1,363	21
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,124	53.11/cwt	46.50–57.00	597	88
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,078	44.00/cwt	44.00–44.00	474	10
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,359	57.28/cwt	50.50–61.50	778	13
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,159	53.68/cwt	49.00–55.50	622	43
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,341	68.17/cwt	64.50–74.00	914	37
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,378	60.96/cwt	59.50–63.50	840	12
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,198	57.96/cwt	56.50–60.00	694	30
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,152	41.56/cwt	30.00–46.00	479	6
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,238	62.42/cwt	57.00–65.00	773	23
Bulls	—	—	1,798	80.30/cwt	75.00–86.50	1,444	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	968	46.89/cwt	39.00–52.00	454	5
Bulls	—	—	2,048	89.50/cwt	89.00–90.00	1,833	4
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,621	90.14/cwt	88.00–93.50	1,461	14
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,681	86.62/cwt	80.50–89.00	1,456	17
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	951	99.53/cwt	75.50–107.50	947	93
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,109	67.97/cwt	61.00–75.00	754	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	470	168.99/cwt	161.00–170.00	794	18
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	823	152.89/cwt	150.00–154.50	1,258	17
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	429	188.50/cwt	184.50–190.00	809	48
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	494	180.00/cwt	180.00–180.00	889	17
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	396	184.00/cwt	184.00–184.00	729	21
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	455	187.27/cwt	181.00–189.50	852	35
Heifers	Medium 1Unweaned	—	394	172.00/cwt	172.00–172.00	678	11
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	477	183.11/cwt	175.00–188.50	873	63
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	918	149.00/cwt	149.00–149.00	1,368	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	522	173.34/cwt	172.00–180.00	905	12
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	563	175.12/cwt	174.00–178.00	986	18
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	962	152.50/cwt	152.50–152.50	1,467	23
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	394	217.50/cwt	217.50–217.50	857	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	595	166.17/cwt	163.50–168.00	989	61
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	541	176.60/cwt	173.00–180.50	955	91
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	404	176.00/cwt	176.00–176.00	711	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	406	176.75/cwt	176.00–177.00	718	8

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 →