Name: Public Auction Yards livestock auction prices — 2024-11-27
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2024-11-27

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last week: All feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Quality was mostly plain to average today. Most feeders were offered in small packages or as singles. Demand for limited feeders was good to very good. Market activity was mostly moderate to active today. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand for light offerings. Buyers pushed to fill loads started earlier in the week. Cow quality this sale was mostly average. Slaughter cow demand was strong early in the sale but moderated slightly as buyers filled loads. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher on all classes. Feeding cow demand was very good as several buyers pushed to fill loads this sale. Feeding cows sold mostly 2.00-3.00 higher on high quality cows suitable to feed to premium white. Short term, thin feeding cows sold mostly 3.00-5.00 higher. Very good demand was seen for this class of cows this sale. Weigh conditions were mostly average to below average today. Slaughter bulls sold mostly steady. Demand for slaughter bulls was light to moderate. Several private buyers purchased bulls to feed this sale as several small packages of high quality bulls were seen. Quality today was mostly average to attractive for bulls. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher. Demand from rebreed buyers remains good to very good, especially for light weight offerings. Quality this week was average to attractive.

Weight class

Heifers · summary 500–600 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

500–600 lb heifers averaged $266.00/cwt on 17 head. That ranks 1 of 19 comparable sales and sits −155.54 against this barn's trailing median of $421.54.

Average price

$266.00

17 head · 572 lb average

Value per head Derived

$1,522

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

$128

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

$2.00/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−21.30

vs MT average

−14.90 vs national

What quality paid 500–600 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	589	267.00	1,573	7thin
Medium and Large 1-2	576	265.61	1,530	5thin
Medium and Large 2	545	265.00	1,444	5thin

One grade step is worth $2.00/cwt here — about $128 a head. Across this sale the premium is widest at 400–500 lb. USDA reports each grade on its own line and never publishes the spread.

This barn's trailing prices 500–600 lb

19 sales

Heifers 500–600 lb: high $464.07, low $350.88, median $421.54 across 19 sales. Sales under 10 head in this class are excluded, so a thin day cannot swing the median or the ranking.

How it compared 500–600 lb

Same class and week · spot auction only

This sale17 hd

266.00

—

MT average4 barns · 824 hd

287.30

−21.30

National average40 barns · 6,153 hd

280.90

−14.90

This barn, trailing median19 sales

421.54

−155.54

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	1,643	134.64	2,212	26
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	Average	1,630	118.66	1,934	26
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Low	1,399	115.79	1,620	106
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Average	1,168	105.64	1,234	100

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	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1,205	$2,275	2thin
Bred Cows	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	Young (2-4 yrs)	1,192	$2,254	7
Bred Cows	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	Young (2-4 yrs)	1,096	$2,167	6
Bred Cows	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1,330	$2,000	2thin
Bred Cows	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1,415	$2,000	1thin
Bred Cows	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1,478	$1,850	5
Bred Cows	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	Young (2-4 yrs)	978	$1,825	2thin

Every lot, as filed

76 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
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	800–850	849	233.00/cwt	233.00–233.00	1,978	4
Steers	Medium and Large 1	300–350	315	450.00/cwt	450.00–450.00	1,418	17
Steers	Medium and Large 1	250–300	273	500.00/cwt	500.00–500.00	1,365	23
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	250–300	283	480.00/cwt	480.00–480.00	1,358	30
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	750–800	770	232.50/cwt	232.50–232.50	1,790	2
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1-2Thin Fleshed	—	835	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	1,127	1
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	900–950	920	229.50/cwt	229.50–229.50	2,111	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	550–600	589	267.00/cwt	267.00–267.00	1,573	7
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	500–550	520	311.00/cwt	311.00–311.00	1,617	1
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	450–500	461	319.00/cwt	319.00–319.00	1,471	8
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	600–650	639	284.00/cwt	284.00–284.00	1,815	7
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	500–550	523	329.00/cwt	329.00–329.00	1,721	3
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	915	200.14/cwt	153.00–225.00	1,831	96
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	—	1,364	170.00/cwt	170.00–170.00	2,319	4
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,478	1,850.00/head	1,850.00–1,850.00	1,850	5
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,205	2,275.00/head	2,275.00–2,275.00	2,275	2
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,053	2,138.48/head	2,125.00–2,150.00	2,138	2
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	955	150.42/cwt	127.50–172.50	1,437	10
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,070	1,750.00/head	1,750.00–1,750.00	1,750	1
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,330	2,000.00/head	2,000.00–2,000.00	2,000	2
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,020	129.69/cwt	122.50–140.00	1,323	11
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	400–450	418	365.00/cwt	365.00–365.00	1,526	2
Steers	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	500–550	515	290.00/cwt	290.00–290.00	1,494	1
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,415	2,000.00/head	2,000.00–2,000.00	2,000	1
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	550–600	576	265.61/cwt	265.00–266.00	1,530	5
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	700–750	741	239.00/cwt	239.00–239.00	1,771	14
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	1000–1050	1,018	202.00/cwt	202.00–202.00	2,056	9
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	650–700	663	261.00/cwt	261.00–261.00	1,730	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	250–300	298	450.00/cwt	450.00–450.00	1,341	2
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	400–450	428	290.00/cwt	290.00–290.00	1,241	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	450–500	488	280.00/cwt	280.00–280.00	1,366	3
Steers	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	350–400	398	330.00/cwt	330.00–330.00	1,313	2
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,355	94.00/cwt	94.00–94.00	1,274	1
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,342	124.92/cwt	123.00–125.50	1,676	26
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,423	118.88/cwt	113.00–123.00	1,692	54
Bulls	—	—	2,058	136.00/cwt	136.00–136.00	2,799	2
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,376	142.70/cwt	140.00–144.00	1,964	4
Bulls	—	—	1,819	140.33/cwt	139.50–142.50	2,553	7
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,140	105.00/cwt	105.00–105.00	1,197	1
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	958	99.99/cwt	99.00–101.00	958	2
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,338	104.03/cwt	102.00–106.00	1,392	2
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,182	90.85/cwt	86.00–100.00	1,074	11
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,159	105.75/cwt	97.00–110.00	1,226	14
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,128	123.55/cwt	123.00–124.50	1,394	6
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,371	89.00/cwt	88.00–90.00	1,220	9
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,207	119.30/cwt	112.50–122.50	1,440	44
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,426	105.12/cwt	101.00–111.00	1,499	12
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,630	120.05/cwt	118.00–122.50	1,957	14
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,770	134.25/cwt	134.25–134.25	2,376	1
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,156	83.04/cwt	75.00–87.50	960	19
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,305	131.60/cwt	130.00–134.00	1,717	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	902	70.22/cwt	67.50–75.00	633	3
Bulls	—	—	1,683	127.69/cwt	120.00–135.00	2,149	9
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,523	121.00/cwt	121.00–121.00	1,843	2
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,729	111.94/cwt	110.00–116.00	1,935	6
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	—	1,482	119.73/cwt	117.00–120.50	1,774	5
Steers	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	550–600	553	282.50/cwt	282.50–282.50	1,562	5
Bred Cows	Medium 1	—	903	1,950.00/head	1,950.00–1,950.00	1,950	2
Bred Cows	Medium 1	—	885	1,900.00/head	1,900.00–1,900.00	1,900	1
Stock Cows	Medium 1-2	—	665	197.50/cwt	197.50–197.50	1,313	2
Bulls	Large 1	1300–1350	1,300	175.00/cwt	175.00–175.00	2,275	4
Heifers	Large 1-2	1050–1100	1,069	201.55/cwt	200.00–202.00	2,155	13
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	600–650	636	263.09/cwt	262.00–270.00	1,673	7
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	450–500	452	340.00/cwt	340.00–340.00	1,537	5
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	300–350	338	425.00/cwt	425.00–425.00	1,437	3
Bulls	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	450–500	497	295.00/cwt	295.00–295.00	1,466	3
Heifers	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	500–550	545	265.00/cwt	265.00–265.00	1,444	5
Bulls	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	700–750	720	225.00/cwt	225.00–225.00	1,620	1
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	300–350	340	432.50/cwt	432.50–432.50	1,471	2
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,247	2,300.00/head	2,300.00–2,300.00	2,300	5
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,126	136.37/cwt	121.00–176.00	1,536	31
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,193	2,275.00/head	2,275.00–2,275.00	2,275	4
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	400–450	445	379.00/cwt	379.00–379.00	1,687	11
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	450–500	474	342.50/cwt	342.50–342.50	1,623	4
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	400–450	447	331.00/cwt	331.00–331.00	1,480	6
Bulls	Medium and Large 1-2	600–650	614	240.00/cwt	240.00–240.00	1,474	5

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 →