Name: Public Auction Yards livestock auction prices — 2022-05-18
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2022-05-18

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested last week to develop any market trend. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Quality overall this week was much higher than last weeks light offering. Demand for feeders was moderate to good for cattle suitable to run on grass and light to moderate for cattle destined for the feedlot. Cattle were mostly in light to moderate flesh with many sets of cattle backgrounded specially for the grass cattle market. Several ranchers were on hand today bidding on grass offerings. Recent rains have helped green grass and buyers came to the sale ready to buy cattle to fill summer pastures. Turbulent markets were seen today as outside equities pressured all commodity prices lower. While this had little affect on grass cattle demand, cattle destined for the feedlot saw some market pressure. Market activity was mostly moderate to active today. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand today. Packers showed stronger demand for slaughter cows this week as supplies of cows have started to see seasonably lighter numbers. Slaughter cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 higher on boning and lean cows. Breaking cows were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeding cow demand was good to very good this week. Packers and independent buyers both showed good demand for high quality cows suitable to feed. Feeding cows sold mostly 1.00-3.00 higher. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average today. Slaughter bulls sold steady to 3.00 higher. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold on good to very good demand. These offerings sold mostly 3.00 higher.

Weight class

Steers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb steers averaged $179.03/cwt on 811 head.

Average price

$179.03

811 head · 655 lb average

Value per head Derived

$1,173

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

$512

per head · Medium and Large 1 over Medium 2

$60.44/cwt at this weight

vs the market

+0.81

vs MT average

What quality paid 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	683	181.44	1,239	598
Medium and Large 1-2	585	177.22	1,037	144
Medium 1	477	175.00	835	5thin
Medium and Large 2	569	165.75	943	57
Medium 2	601	121.00	727	7thin

One grade step is worth $60.44/cwt here — about $512 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 sale811 hd

179.03

—

MT average3 barns · 1,031 hd

178.21

+0.81

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	1,872	97.93	1,833	36
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	Average	1,578	80.20	1,266	23
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Low	1,399	77.48	1,084	80
Cows	Lean 85-90%	High	1,227	74.21	910	108

Every lot, as filed

96 lots · USDA AMS · Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction - Billings, MT (Wed)

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 2	—	713	139.00/cwt	139.00–139.00	991	3
Steers	Medium and Large 2	—	558	171.00/cwt	171.00–171.00	954	21
Steers	Medium and Large 2	—	414	176.00/cwt	176.00–176.00	729	10
Steers	Medium and Large 2	—	628	160.00/cwt	160.00–160.00	1,005	23
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Replacement	—	811	1,255.01/cwt	1,250.00–1,260.00	10,178	111
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Replacement	—	777	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	1,127	9
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	762	137.20/cwt	134.00–138.50	1,045	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	586	152.83/cwt	148.00–153.50	896	31
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	733	150.05/cwt	150.00–151.00	1,100	89
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	673	151.64/cwt	146.00–155.50	1,021	67
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	533	181.21/cwt	175.00–185.00	966	143
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	578	161.00/cwt	159.00–163.00	931	18
Steers	Medium and Large 1Full	—	698	158.00/cwt	158.00–158.00	1,103	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Replacement	—	808	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	1,172	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Replacement	—	728	153.50/cwt	153.50–153.50	1,117	17
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	419	149.00/cwt	149.00–149.00	624	11
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	503	169.50/cwt	169.50–169.50	853	29
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	898	130.00/cwt	130.00–130.00	1,167	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	620	198.59/cwt	191.00–203.00	1,231	103
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	827	149.58/cwt	148.00–152.00	1,237	97
Steers	Medium 2	—	601	121.00/cwt	121.00–121.00	727	7
Steers	Medium 1	—	477	175.00/cwt	175.00–175.00	835	5
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	626	178.57/cwt	171.00–184.00	1,118	26
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	507	188.45/cwt	187.00–189.00	955	30
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	393	187.85/cwt	187.00–190.00	738	12
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	782	144.79/cwt	143.00–146.00	1,132	10
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	569	201.44/cwt	189.00–205.00	1,146	23
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	781	156.41/cwt	151.00–163.00	1,222	39
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	927	141.00/cwt	141.00–141.00	1,307	14
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	689	166.78/cwt	154.00–167.50	1,149	18
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	451	187.00/cwt	187.00–187.00	843	13
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	727	154.77/cwt	151.50–159.00	1,125	9
Steers	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	562	212.50/cwt	212.50–212.50	1,194	87
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	491	200.61/cwt	200.00–202.50	985	8
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	985	141.00/cwt	141.00–141.00	1,389	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	592	180.58/cwt	180.00–181.00	1,069	26
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	737	161.68/cwt	161.00–164.00	1,192	13
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	860	147.00/cwt	147.00–147.00	1,264	5
Steers	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	759	169.00/cwt	169.00–169.00	1,283	60
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	478	185.00/cwt	185.00–185.00	884	5
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	691	182.34/cwt	172.50–188.00	1,260	95
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	528	199.98/cwt	198.00–203.00	1,056	43
Bulls	Medium and Large 1-2	—	824	120.00/cwt	120.00–120.00	989	12
Bulls	Medium and Large 1-2	—	775	137.00/cwt	137.00–137.00	1,062	2
Bulls	Large 1	—	1,010	112.00/cwt	112.00–112.00	1,131	11
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	800	137.00/cwt	137.00–137.00	1,096	7
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	918	134.00/cwt	134.00–134.00	1,230	9
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	540	167.50/cwt	167.50–167.50	905	53
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,158	81.13/cwt	81.00–81.50	939	8
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,214	76.30/cwt	74.00–79.00	926	31
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,276	77.68/cwt	75.00–78.50	991	34
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	—	1,536	84.19/cwt	83.00–84.50	1,293	5
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	—	1,590	79.09/cwt	79.00–79.50	1,258	18
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,495	73.00/cwt	73.00–73.00	1,091	1
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,377	71.37/cwt	64.00–76.00	983	32
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,533	85.99/cwt	85.00–87.00	1,318	2
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,434	78.66/cwt	76.00–83.00	1,128	10
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,230	56.04/cwt	51.00–59.00	689	6
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,219	69.89/cwt	65.00–73.50	852	27
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	965	67.95/cwt	65.00–71.00	656	2
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,390	84.33/cwt	84.00–85.00	1,172	15
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,406	80.90/cwt	79.00–83.00	1,137	20
Bulls	—	—	1,858	98.77/cwt	96.00–105.00	1,835	15
Bulls	—	—	1,788	92.21/cwt	82.00–96.50	1,649	15
Bulls	—	—	2,038	109.15/cwt	106.50–116.00	2,224	5
Bulls	—Heavy Weight	—	2,520	115.00/cwt	115.00–115.00	2,898	1
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,308	1,210.00/cwt	1,210.00–1,210.00	15,827	29
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,264	1,342.18/cwt	1,235.00–1,375.00	16,965	16
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,374	1,075.00/cwt	1,075.00–1,075.00	14,771	15
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,436	1,480.79/cwt	1,410.00–1,560.00	21,264	23
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,580	1,426.52/cwt	1,350.00–1,485.00	22,539	63
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,634	1,400.00/cwt	1,400.00–1,400.00	22,876	5
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,171	85.09/cwt	77.00–102.50	996	38
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	988	112.56/cwt	97.00–123.50	1,112	60
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1	—	1,299	1,886.05/cwt	1,860.00–1,900.00	24,500	36
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	—	1,477	1,110.00/cwt	1,110.00–1,110.00	16,395	10
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	—	1,492	1,254.51/cwt	1,250.00–1,260.00	18,717	81
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Non-Legible BANGS	—	1,342	975.00/cwt	975.00–975.00	13,085	9
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	1,332	1,055.95/cwt	1,050.00–1,060.00	14,065	10
Cow-Calf Pairs	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	1,252	1,150.00/cwt	1,150.00–1,150.00	14,398	14
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	471	182.00/cwt	182.00–182.00	857	21
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Full	—	728	140.63/cwt	138.00–143.00	1,024	21
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Full	—	761	134.00/cwt	134.00–134.00	1,020	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Full	—	810	133.00/cwt	133.00–133.00	1,077	2
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	—	879	126.91/cwt	124.00–131.00	1,116	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	—	820	128.00/cwt	128.00–128.00	1,050	6
Heifers	Medium and Large 2	—	357	150.00/cwt	150.00–150.00	536	3
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	390	176.00/cwt	176.00–176.00	686	6
Heifers	Medium and Large 2	—	486	149.34/cwt	139.00–157.00	726	21
Heifers	Medium and Large 2	—	438	160.00/cwt	160.00–160.00	701	9
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	433	184.00/cwt	184.00–184.00	797	41
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	632	156.92/cwt	152.50–164.50	992	21
Heifers	Medium 1-2	—	511	140.00/cwt	140.00–140.00	715	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	631	140.14/cwt	138.50–144.00	884	45
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	510	162.20/cwt	157.00–167.50	827	36
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	756	139.00/cwt	139.00–139.00	1,051	12

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 →