Name: Public Auction Yards livestock auction prices — 2020-11-06
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2020-11-06

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last Friday: Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Unweaned steers under 400 lbs were too lightly tested last sale to develop an accurate market trend, however sharply lower undertones were noticed. Feeder steers over 400 lbs sold steady to 3.00 lower, except 550-599 lbs steers which sold mostly 2.00 higher. Unweaned heifers under 400 lbs sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher; heifers over 400 lbs sold steady to 4.00 lower. Demand was mostly light to moderate today for moderate to heavy offerings. Quality this sale was mixed from plain to attractive. Calves with 2 rounds of preconditioning shots sold with the best demand. Weaned calves are beginning to be marketed, demand was similar to unweaned calves this sale. Transportation is tight this week and demand lightened as buyers filled trucks. Many continental cross breed cattle sold this sale. Market activity was slow to moderate today. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand for light offerings. Slaughter cows sold generally steady to firm as packers attempted to fill loads for the week. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to weak. Cows and bulls offered average to below average weigh up conditions this sale. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed as feeding bull buyers pushed bull prices higher. Young age 2-3 year olds sold mostly 3.00-4.00 lower. Quality was mostly average this week.

Weight class

Steers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb steers averaged $152.68/cwt on 1,682 head.

Average price

$152.68

1,682 head · 542 lb average

Value per head Derived

$828

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

−$9

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

$27.50/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−2.93

vs MT average

What quality paid 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 2	414	163.00	675	11thin
Medium and Large 1	548	153.73	843	1,372
Medium and Large 1-2	478	152.65	729	174
Medium 1	544	146.50	797	20
Large 1	622	140.49	874	75
Large 1-2	505	135.50	684	30

One grade step is worth $27.50/cwt here — about −$9 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 sale1,682 hd

152.68

—

MT average5 barns · 6,765 hd

155.61

−2.93

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	1,913	75.12	1,437	11
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	High	1,662	59.34	986	11
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Low	1,375	51.55	709	61
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Very Low	1,169	45.07	527	70

Every lot, as filed

97 lots · USDA AMS · Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction - Billings, MT (Fri)

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 1Unweaned	—	637	128.82/cwt	127.00–130.00	821	15
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	997	116.00/cwt	116.00–116.00	1,157	8
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	615	130.00/cwt	130.00–130.00	800	2
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	362	173.00/cwt	173.00–173.00	626	6
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	602	127.00/cwt	127.00–127.00	765	6
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	521	145.42/cwt	144.00–146.00	758	18
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	310	157.13/cwt	153.00–159.50	487	25
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	290	191.20/cwt	185.00–196.00	554	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	517	145.04/cwt	136.75–148.00	750	110
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	755	138.72/cwt	132.00–142.00	1,047	34
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	389	180.08/cwt	175.00–182.00	701	47
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	476	162.52/cwt	155.00–169.00	774	115
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	764	136.00/cwt	136.00–136.00	1,039	15
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	421	148.24/cwt	143.50–152.00	624	112
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	569	148.18/cwt	144.00–150.00	843	332
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	426	152.87/cwt	152.00–153.00	651	73
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	677	138.43/cwt	132.00–143.00	937	102
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	426	174.61/cwt	167.00–182.00	744	161
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	932	126.50/cwt	126.50–126.50	1,179	3
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	473	155.35/cwt	149.50–157.00	735	53
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	662	126.72/cwt	126.50–127.00	839	16
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	618	143.25/cwt	133.00–145.00	885	169
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	529	153.90/cwt	146.00–160.50	814	315
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	374	161.00/cwt	161.00–161.00	602	12
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	665	122.00/cwt	122.00–122.00	811	2
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	508	153.00/cwt	153.00–153.00	777	9
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	844	139.00/cwt	139.00–139.00	1,173	7
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	871	131.25/cwt	129.75–133.00	1,143	17
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	718	134.97/cwt	131.50–137.00	969	23
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1-2Non-Legible BANGS	—	918	750.00/cwt	750.00–750.00	6,885	5
Bulls	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	586	132.00/cwt	132.00–132.00	774	22
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	756	138.00/cwt	138.00–138.00	1,043	10
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	726	114.00/cwt	114.00–114.00	828	9
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	478	144.41/cwt	139.50–150.50	690	216
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	655	141.00/cwt	141.00–141.00	924	4
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,156	1,050.00/cwt	1,050.00–1,050.00	12,138	5
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	938	76.60/cwt	68.00–80.00	719	24
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	1,145	55.00/cwt	55.00–55.00	630	7
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,223	875.00/cwt	875.00–875.00	10,701	3
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,233	800.00/cwt	800.00–800.00	9,864	3
Heifers	Medium and Large 1	—	462	150.00/cwt	150.00–150.00	693	28
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	576	133.47/cwt	126.00–135.25	769	135
Steers	Large 1-2Unweaned	—	505	135.50/cwt	135.50–135.50	684	30
Heifers	Large 1Unweaned	—	513	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	693	16
Heifers	Large 1Unweaned	—	583	133.12/cwt	132.50–133.25	776	58
Steers	Large 1Unweaned	—	647	138.50/cwt	138.50–138.50	896	52
Steers	Large 1Unweaned	—	548	147.50/cwt	147.50–147.50	808	19
Steers	Large 1	—	646	133.00/cwt	133.00–133.00	859	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,124	36.00/cwt	36.00–36.00	405	9
Bulls	—	—	2,120	73.35/cwt	72.00–74.50	1,555	2
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,161	45.83/cwt	43.00–48.50	532	21
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,234	49.67/cwt	49.00–50.50	613	5
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,273	46.04/cwt	45.00–46.50	586	6
Cows	Lean 85-90%	—	1,020	38.95/cwt	35.00–40.00	397	11
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,940	72.00/cwt	72.00–72.00	1,397	2
Bulls	—	—	2,245	85.00/cwt	85.00–85.00	1,908	1
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	—	1,680	62.00/cwt	62.00–62.00	1,042	1
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,199	59.33/cwt	58.00–62.00	711	3
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,458	62.31/cwt	59.00–63.50	908	4
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,525	41.50/cwt	41.50–41.50	633	1
Bulls	—Return to Feed	—	1,330	75.00/cwt	75.00–75.00	998	1
Cows	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	—	1,660	59.07/cwt	58.00–63.50	981	10
Bulls	—	—	1,661	76.41/cwt	75.00–79.00	1,269	4
Cows	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	—	1,245	49.30/cwt	46.00–52.00	614	20
Cows	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	—	1,351	52.02/cwt	48.00–58.50	703	23
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,440	44.68/cwt	44.00–45.00	643	3
Stock Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	986	62.00/cwt	58.00–63.00	611	17
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1Non-Legible BANGS	—	993	800.00/cwt	800.00–800.00	7,944	13
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1-2	—	1,003	835.00/cwt	835.00–835.00	8,375	6
Heifers	Medium 1Unweaned	—	524	120.00/cwt	120.00–120.00	629	8
Heifers	Medium 1	—	496	140.50/cwt	140.50–140.50	697	21
Bulls	—Heavy Weight	—	2,700	70.00/cwt	70.00–70.00	1,890	1
Bulls	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	349	150.00/cwt	150.00–150.00	524	21
Heifers	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	—	345	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	466	18
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	422	164.35/cwt	154.00–169.00	694	39
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1-2Non-Legible BANGS	—	1,040	650.00/cwt	650.00–650.00	6,760	17
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	—	1,068	48.00/cwt	48.00–48.00	513	4
Cows	Boner 80-85%	—	1,398	50.99/cwt	49.00–53.00	713	25
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	537	131.31/cwt	130.00–132.00	705	14
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	447	143.00/cwt	143.00–143.00	639	32
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	300	142.50/cwt	142.50–142.50	428	10
Steers	Medium and Large 2	—	414	163.00/cwt	163.00–163.00	675	11
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	592	132.00/cwt	132.00–132.00	781	6
Steers	Medium 1	—	544	146.50/cwt	146.50–146.50	797	20
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	380	153.07/cwt	150.00–156.00	582	31
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	646	124.00/cwt	124.00–124.00	801	4
Steers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	516	144.97/cwt	141.50–148.00	748	60
Heifers	Medium and Large 2	—	348	142.00/cwt	142.00–142.00	494	10
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	487	135.91/cwt	135.00–137.00	662	56
Bred Cows	Medium and Large 1	—	1,367	750.00/cwt	750.00–750.00	10,253	3
Steers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	328	183.80/cwt	183.00–185.00	603	19
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	295	156.00/cwt	156.00–156.00	460	10
Bulls	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	489	140.00/cwt	140.00–140.00	685	6
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	—	393	143.07/cwt	140.00–143.50	562	61
Heifers	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	—	523	137.68/cwt	134.00–144.00	720	125
Heifers	Medium and Large 1-2	—	990	112.00/cwt	112.00–112.00	1,109	5
Steers	Medium and Large 1	—	573	150.50/cwt	150.50–150.50	862	18

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 →