Sale reports / Montana / Public Auction Yards / 2019-11-22

Public Auction Yards

Name: Public Auction Yards livestock auction prices — 2019-11-22
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2019-11-22

Feeder Cattle · Slaughter Cattle · Replacement Cattle · Billings, Montana · Fri, Nov 22

● Final71 lots reportedUSDA AMS · slug 1776

← Nov 15Nov 22Dec 6 →

Feeder Cattle receipts

2,837 head

▲ 647 vs last sale 2,190▲ 2,837 vs year ago 0 · no sale a year ago

Slaughter Cattle receipts

121 head

▲ 61 vs last sale 60▲ 121 vs year ago 0 · no sale a year ago

Replacement Cattle receipts

92 head

▼ 28 vs last sale 120▲ 92 vs year ago 0 · no sale a year ago

Also sold hereRegular saleWed Oct 28, 2026

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Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last Fridays sale: Yearling steers and heifers were all too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Steer calves weighing less than 500 lbs sold sharply higher, with most sales 10.00-15.00 higher; steers 500-649 lbs sold steady to 5.00 higher; 650 lbs steers and heavier were too lightly tested to develop a full market trend, lower undertones were noticed. All weights of heifer calves sold steady to 3.00 lower. Quality this sale was average to attractive, and higher than last weeks sale. Buyers were able to purchase calves in load lots and large packages this sale making it easy to put together loads. Rain is in the forecast for the west coast this helped improve demand for lightweight calves suitable to run on grass. Weaned calves are staring to be marketed. Buyers showed good demand for healthy appearing, weaned calves which were given two rounds of shots and weaned over 45 days. Many sets of weaned calves showed signs of stress this week. Calves with fall preconditioning shots continue to sell with a premium to non vaccinated of calves with only one round of preconditioning shots. Market activity this week was mostly moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly very light to light demand for light offerings. Lean and boning cows all sold sharply lower. With heavy supplies of cows seen over the last month packers have filled feedlots and have dropped prices due to heavy supplies. Feeding cows sold sharply lower as well on light offerings. All cows and bulls were full again this sale offering buyers below average weigh up conditions. Cow quality this week was mostly poor. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Young age cows suitable to re-breed were too lightly tested to develop any market trend.

Weight class — the figures below change to match

Weight classPick one — the panels below update

Steers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb steers averaged $155.95/cwt on 1,311 head.

Average price

$155.95

1,311 head · 567 lb average

Value per head Derived

$885

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

$18

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

$20.43/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−2.53

vs MT average

Price by quality 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	570	156.98	895	1,095
Medium and Large 1-2	543	152.32	828	192
Medium and Large 2	432	150.00	648	3thin
Small and Medium 2	643	136.55	878	21

One grade step is worth $20.43/cwt here — about $18 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 sale1,311 hd

155.95

—

MT average5 barns · 4,698 hd

158.49

−2.53

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	1,891	74.95	1,418	23
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Very Low	1,468	39.06	573	6thin
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Very Low	1,181	30.29	358	65

Every lot

71 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. Grouped by class and set lightest first; USDA files them in sale-ring order.

Class	Weight	Grade / description	Avg wt	Price	Range	Per head	Head
Feeder Cattle · Steers29 lots · lightest first
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	363	175.00/cwt	175.00–175.00	635	4
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	364	189.86/cwt	187.50–196.00	691	22
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	425	183.57/cwt	179.00–187.00	780	41
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	428	173.33/cwt	171.00–178.00	742	31
Steers	—	Medium and Large 2Unweaned	432	150.00/cwt	150.00–150.00	648	3
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	464	154.56/cwt	153.00–155.00	717	18
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	480	175.47/cwt	168.50–182.00	842	98
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	492	156.00/cwt	156.00–156.00	768	5
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	521	161.67/cwt	153.00–167.00	842	147
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	526	151.47/cwt	144.50–155.50	797	30
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	536	152.50/cwt	152.50–152.50	817	8
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	572	154.91/cwt	150.00–157.25	886	450
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	577	146.51/cwt	146.00–149.00	845	24
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	589	153.29/cwt	150.00–154.00	903	33
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	594	148.02/cwt	146.00–148.50	879	41
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	595	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	863	27
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	619	150.10/cwt	145.00–156.00	929	137
Steers	—	Small and Medium 2	621	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	838	8
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	628	140.23/cwt	137.00–142.00	881	29
Steers	—	Small and Medium 2	656	137.50/cwt	137.50–137.50	902	13
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	657	145.74/cwt	145.50–146.00	958	19
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	679	142.65/cwt	139.00–145.00	969	79
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	684	139.11/cwt	134.00–143.00	952	7
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	724	138.00/cwt	138.00–138.00	999	5
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	730	137.50/cwt	137.50–137.50	1,004	7
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	757	137.00/cwt	137.00–137.00	1,037	3
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	777	141.00/cwt	141.00–141.00	1,096	6
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	807	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	1,089	5
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	852	143.50/cwt	143.50–143.50	1,223	11
Feeder Cattle · Heifers24 lots · lightest first
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	366	156.04/cwt	150.00–162.00	571	15
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	376	156.83/cwt	154.00–162.00	590	35
Heifers	—	Medium 1Unweaned	403	147.00/cwt	147.00–147.00	592	5
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	414	144.00/cwt	144.00–144.00	596	4
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	441	155.42/cwt	151.00–162.00	685	78
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	482	149.24/cwt	148.00–150.50	719	12
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	488	149.45/cwt	145.00–153.00	729	103
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	494	146.00/cwt	146.00–146.00	721	7
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	520	142.00/cwt	142.00–142.00	738	15
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	531	139.92/cwt	135.00–148.00	743	287
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	544	134.00/cwt	134.00–134.00	729	9
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	544	129.17/cwt	127.00–133.00	703	13
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	572	134.00/cwt	134.00–134.00	766	17
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	574	135.18/cwt	130.00–137.50	776	114
Heifers	—	Small and Medium 1-2	587	115.00/cwt	115.00–115.00	675	13
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	607	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	759	3
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	611	131.22/cwt	129.00–132.00	802	17
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	614	133.72/cwt	131.50–134.75	821	56
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	662	129.47/cwt	127.00–134.00	857	32
Heifers	—	Medium 2	666	123.80/cwt	120.00–126.00	825	42
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	675	130.71/cwt	130.00–132.00	882	23
Heifers	—	Medium 2	754	122.00/cwt	122.00–122.00	920	5
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	869	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	1,086	7
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	941	130.50/cwt	130.50–130.50	1,228	22
Feeder Cattle · Bulls4 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	454	165.00/cwt	165.00–165.00	749	7
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	563	138.00/cwt	138.00–138.00	777	9
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	610	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	824	5
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	674	130.00/cwt	130.00–130.00	876	8
Slaughter Cattle · Bulls3 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	—	1,704	68.19/cwt	63.00–70.00	1,162	7
Bulls	—	—	1,934	77.20/cwt	75.00–77.50	1,493	13
Bulls	—	—	2,143	81.00/cwt	81.00–81.00	1,736	3
Slaughter Cattle · Cows4 lots · lightest first
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,114	23.38/cwt	20.00–28.00	260	28
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,232	35.52/cwt	32.00–42.00	438	37
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,445	35.00/cwt	35.00–35.00	506	1
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,472	39.87/cwt	36.00–43.00	587	5
Replacement Cattle · Stock Cows7 lots · lightest first
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,165	67.96/cwt	63.00–72.00	792	6
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	1,225	53.00/cwt	53.00–53.00	649	1
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	1,306	40.00/cwt	40.00–40.00	522	9
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,327	61.19/cwt	55.00–64.00	812	15
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	1,347	44.02/cwt	42.00–45.00	593	6
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,440	48.09/cwt	46.00–49.50	692	10
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,449	49.71/cwt	44.00–57.00	720	21

This sale against other markets

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 →

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction - Billings, MT (Fri)

Fri Nov 22, 2019

USDA Livestock, Poultry & Grain Market News · Federal-State Market News Service, Billings, MT (LS-BL)

Feeder CattleReceipts 2,837Last week 2,190Year ago 0

Slaughter CattleReceipts 121Last week 60Year ago 0

Replacement CattleReceipts 92Last week 120Year ago 0

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
103	—	488	145.00–153.00	149.45
114	—	574	130.00–137.50	135.18
287	—	531	135.00–148.00	139.92
17	—	611	129.00–132.00	131.22
32	—	662	127.00–134.00	129.47
35	—	376	154.00–162.00	156.83
78	—	441	151.00–162.00	155.42

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	869	125.00	125.00
9	—	544	134.00	134.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	607	125.00	125.00
4	—	414	144.00	144.00
13	—	544	127.00–133.00	129.17
15	—	366	150.00–162.00	156.04
7	—	494	146.00	146.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
17	—	572	134.00	134.00
22	—	941	130.50	130.50
23	—	675	130.00–132.00	130.71
56	—	614	131.50–134.75	133.72
12	—	482	148.00–150.50	149.24
15	—	520	142.00	142.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Small and Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
13	—	587	115.00	115.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	403	147.00	147.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 2$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	754	122.00	122.00
42	—	666	120.00–126.00	123.80

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Small and Medium 2$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	621	135.00	135.00
13	—	656	137.50	137.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	492	156.00	156.00
27	—	595	145.00	145.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	807	135.00	135.00
6	—	777	141.00	141.00
7	—	730	137.50	137.50
11	—	852	143.50	143.50
19	—	657	145.50–146.00	145.74
33	—	589	150.00–154.00	153.29

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	684	134.00–143.00	139.11
18	—	464	153.00–155.00	154.56
24	—	577	146.00–149.00	146.51
29	—	628	137.00–142.00	140.23
30	—	526	144.50–155.50	151.47
31	—	428	171.00–178.00	173.33
4	—	363	175.00	175.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	432	150.00	150.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
79	—	679	139.00–145.00	142.65
3	—	757	137.00	137.00
5	—	724	138.00	138.00
22	—	364	187.50–196.00	189.86
41	—	425	179.00–187.00	183.57
98	—	480	168.50–182.00	175.47
137	—	619	145.00–156.00	150.10
147	—	521	153.00–167.00	161.67
450	—	572	150.00–157.25	154.91

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	536	152.50	152.50
41	—	594	146.00–148.50	148.02

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	610	135.00	135.00
7	—	454	165.00	165.00
8	—	674	130.00	130.00
9	—	563	138.00	138.00

Replacement Cattle

As reported

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	—	1,225	53.00	53.00
Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	9	—	1,306	40.00	40.00
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	6	—	1,347	42.00–45.00	44.02

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	10	—	1,440	46.00–49.50	48.09
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	21	—	1,449	44.00–57.00	49.71
(<2 yrs)	Open	6	—	1,165	63.00–72.00	67.96
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	15	—	1,327	55.00–64.00	61.19

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	2,143	81.00	81.00
7	—	1,704	63.00–70.00	68.19
13	—	1,934	75.00–77.50	77.20

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	1,445	35.00	35.00
5	—	1,472	36.00–43.00	39.87

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
28	—	1,114	20.00–28.00	23.38
37	—	1,232	32.00–42.00	35.52

Head, weight ranges, average weights and price ranges are exactly as USDA AMS filed them — nothing recomputed, nothing rounded — in USDA's own reporting structure. This is RaisedBeef's rendering of that data, not a copy of USDA's document.