Name: Public Auction Yards livestock auction prices — 2025-04-02
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2025-04-02

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Quality was mostly plain to average today with a limited offering of attractive cattle seen. Many cutback cattle continue to be seen off winter and spring video sales. Both quality and package size limited demand today. Package sizes were small today with many groups under 10 head noticed. Demand for cattle that were developed for grass remains good to very good. Buyers continue to show strong premiums for replacement quality heifers. Todays buyer pool was small, but larger than last weeks sale. Market activity was mostly moderate to active. Weigh up cows comprised most of the sale today. All weigh up cows sold on mostly very good demand for moderate offerings. Regional packers and major packers continue to show very good demand for cows. With regional packers purchasing cows to slaughter and major packers mostly purchasing cows to feed. Slaughter cows sold 4.00-6.00 higher on breaking cows, boning and lean cows sold mostly 3.00-7.00 higher. Demand for feeding cows drove the bulk of the cow market sharply higher as a very large feeding cow buyer pool was noticed. Feeding cows sold mostly 5.00-8.00, with instances of 10.00 higher seen on high quality offerings. Demand for thin fleshed cows was very good as feeding buyers showed very good demand for cows with lots of compensatory gain. Cow quality was mixed today from plain to very attractive. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average as rain and snow showers had most cows tanked up on hay. The quality of cows going to feed continues to vary greatly from buyer to buyer as several buyers were willing to take cows which were lame or slightly blemished and put them on feed or run them on wheat pasture until cow supplies tighten later in the spring and early summer. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 4.00-5.00 higher. Bull quality this week was average to attractive and similar compared to last week. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly 5.00-10.00 higher. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive. Demand from rebreed buyers was very good this sale as they pushed most offerings higher. Very little price difference was seen between high quality coming 2 and coming 3 year olds as buyers search for cows to rebreed.

Weight class

Heifers · summary 500–600 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

500–600 lb heifers averaged $310.50/cwt on 26 head. That ranks 1 of 19 comparable sales and sits −111.04 against this barn's trailing median of $421.54.

Average price

$310.50

26 head · 545 lb average

Value per head Derived

$1,694

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

−$45

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

$29.61/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−23.53

vs MT average

−10.88 vs national

What quality paid 500–600 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	501	331.00	1,658	8thin
Medium and Large 1-2	565	301.39	1,704	18thin

One grade step is worth $29.61/cwt here — about −$45 a head. Across this sale the premium is widest at 600–700 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 sale26 hd

310.50

—

MT average2 barns · 130 hd

334.03

−23.53

National average178 barns · 12,751 hd

321.38

−10.88

This barn, trailing median19 sales

421.54

−111.04

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	—	High	1,822	175.10	3,190	36
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	High	1,648	155.35	2,561	30
Cows	Boner 80-85%	High	1,413	154.78	2,187	171
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Very Low	1,149	142.85	1,642	196

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 Heifers	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	(<2 yrs)	1,263	$3,000	3thin

Every lot, as filed

52 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
Bred Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	1,263	3,000.00/head	3,000.00–3,000.00	3,000	3
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	600–650	628	316.53/cwt	312.00–325.00	1,988	31
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	450–500	465	360.00/cwt	360.00–360.00	1,674	3
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	600–650	625	292.65/cwt	286.00–307.50	1,829	5
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	500–550	535	312.50/cwt	312.50–312.50	1,672	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	650–700	653	327.50/cwt	327.50–327.50	2,139	2
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	1000–1050	1,017	233.73/cwt	223.00–242.00	2,377	7
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	900–950	915	245.33/cwt	244.00–248.00	2,245	6
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1Fancy	—	1,055	227.22/cwt	225.00–236.00	2,397	23
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	500–550	501	331.00/cwt	331.00–331.00	1,658	8
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,030	195.48/cwt	170.00–225.00	2,013	4
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	550–600	569	300.00/cwt	300.00–300.00	1,707	16
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,008	226.66/cwt	200.00–265.00	2,285	51
Bulls	Medium and Large 1	—	1,088	241.00/cwt	241.00–241.00	2,622	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	700–750	744	293.74/cwt	290.00–296.00	2,185	8
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2	950–1000	955	244.00/cwt	244.00–244.00	2,330	3
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,310	158.00/cwt	158.00–158.00	2,070	2
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,115	195.22/cwt	160.00–229.00	2,177	99
Heifers	Medium and Large 2	450–500	488	302.50/cwt	302.50–302.50	1,476	3
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	939	200.63/cwt	162.50–218.00	1,884	6
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,614	159.67/cwt	159.50–160.00	2,577	3
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,393	154.96/cwt	145.00–158.50	2,159	93
Bulls	—	—	2,056	189.85/cwt	183.00–197.00	3,903	6
Bulls	—	—	1,803	177.54/cwt	163.00–183.00	3,201	23
Bulls	—	—	1,847	147.94/cwt	143.00–151.00	2,732	3
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,515	162.23/cwt	162.00–162.50	2,458	2
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,428	135.28/cwt	135.00–136.00	1,932	3
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	893	103.65/cwt	102.50–105.00	926	2
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,487	145.82/cwt	143.00–150.00	2,168	12
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,385	99.00/cwt	99.00–99.00	1,371	1
Cows	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	—	975	112.33/cwt	107.50–119.00	1,095	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,124	120.74/cwt	107.50–130.00	1,357	7
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,558	159.44/cwt	158.50–160.00	2,484	5
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,217	156.21/cwt	154.00–159.00	1,901	54
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	—	1,544	159.20/cwt	159.00–160.00	2,458	5
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,175	147.76/cwt	140.00–154.00	1,736	59
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,515	133.11/cwt	128.00–136.00	2,017	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,250	141.00/cwt	141.00–141.00	1,763	1
Bulls	Large 1	1150–1200	1,175	213.98/cwt	209.00–219.00	2,514	2
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,412	159.83/cwt	158.00–166.00	2,257	55
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,093	136.28/cwt	121.00–143.00	1,490	64
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	—	1,697	153.37/cwt	151.00–156.00	2,603	20
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,096	96.32/cwt	90.00–101.00	1,056	5
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,608	156.35/cwt	151.00–162.00	2,514	2
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	400–450	443	350.00/cwt	350.00–350.00	1,551	3
Steers	Medium and Large 2	500–550	510	345.00/cwt	345.00–345.00	1,760	1
Heifers	Medium and Large 2	400–450	415	320.00/cwt	320.00–320.00	1,328	4
Steers	Medium and Large 2	400–450	443	365.00/cwt	365.00–365.00	1,617	2
Heifers	Medium and Large 2	600–650	632	260.00/cwt	260.00–260.00	1,643	3
Bulls	Large 1	1100–1150	1,100	221.00/cwt	221.00–221.00	2,431	1
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Replacement	700–750	731	298.50/cwt	298.50–298.50	2,182	44
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	700–750	700	274.00/cwt	274.00–274.00	1,918	2

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 →