Sale reports / Montana / Public Auction Yards / 2021-01-29

Public Auction Yards

Name: Public Auction Yards livestock auction prices — 2021-01-29
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2021-01-29

Feeder Cattle · Slaughter Cattle · Replacement Cattle · Billings, Montana · Fri, Jan 29

● Final64 lots reportedUSDA AMS · slug 1776

← Jan 22Jan 29Feb 26 →

Feeder Cattle receipts

2,130 head

▼ 571 vs last sale 2,701▲ 2,130 vs year ago 0 · no sale a year ago

Slaughter Cattle receipts

91 head

▲ 17 vs last sale 74▲ 91 vs year ago 0 · no sale a year ago

Replacement Cattle receipts

44 head

▲ 25 vs last sale 19▲ 44 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 week: Yearling steers and heifers were not well compared. Steers all sold steady to 3.00 higher. Heifers under 400 lbs were not well compared steady to firm undertones were noticed. 400-649 lbs heifers sold 3.00-4.00 higher, 650-699 lbs heifers sold 4.00-8.00 higher; heavier weights of heifers were not well compared, higher undertones were noticed. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Demand was mostly moderate to good for moderate offerings. Good demand continues to be seen for all cattle suitable to run on grass. Market activity was mostly active today. Weigh up cows and bulls were all too lightly tested to develop any market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Packers showed very good demand for all cows and bulls on offer as they pushed for fill both feeding and slaughter loads for the week.

Weight class — the figures below change to match

Weight classPick one — the panels below update

Heifers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb heifers averaged $147.75/cwt on 984 head.

Average price

$147.75

984 head · 557 lb average

Value per head Derived

$823

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

−$6

per head · Medium 1 over Medium 2

$37.00/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−3.68

vs MT average

Price by quality 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium 1	424	154.00	653	11thin
Large 1	499	150.00	749	65
Medium and Large 1	570	148.89	849	768
Medium and Large 1-2	532	143.34	762	111
Medium 1-2	480	129.38	621	24
Medium 2	563	117.00	659	5thin

One grade step is worth $37.00/cwt here — about −$6 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 sale984 hd

147.75

—

MT average4 barns · 1,473 hd

151.43

−3.68

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	2,105	87.50	1,842	1thin
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Low	1,408	55.95	788	11
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Very Low	1,169	50.61	592	43
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	Low	1,550	50.00	775	1thin

Every lot

64 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 · Steers21 lots · lightest first
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	342	195.27/cwt	190.00–196.00	668	9
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	365	177.50/cwt	177.50–177.50	648	4
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	382	194.49/cwt	187.50–197.00	743	20
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	414	177.14/cwt	175.00–181.00	733	45
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	436	196.65/cwt	190.00–198.00	857	46
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Fancy	463	205.00/cwt	205.00–205.00	949	52
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	469	191.65/cwt	185.00–194.00	899	64
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	490	172.65/cwt	171.00–176.00	846	9
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	511	182.29/cwt	174.50–187.50	932	75
Steers	—	Large 1	523	172.00/cwt	172.00–172.00	900	4
Steers	—	Medium 1-2	528	151.00/cwt	151.00–151.00	797	4
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	571	168.30/cwt	161.00–178.00	961	121
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	592	159.11/cwt	158.00–159.50	942	54
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	611	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	886	12
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	624	153.93/cwt	148.75–160.00	961	75
Steers	—	Large 1	642	148.00/cwt	148.00–148.00	950	23
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	670	150.04/cwt	145.00–155.00	1,005	112
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	703	143.50/cwt	143.50–143.50	1,009	13
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	720	143.50/cwt	143.50–143.50	1,033	3
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	730	133.50/cwt	133.50–133.50	975	9
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	781	134.59/cwt	130.00–134.75	1,051	29
Feeder Cattle · Heifers27 lots · lightest first
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	363	170.33/cwt	167.50–174.00	618	19
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	389	157.27/cwt	155.00–164.00	612	23
Heifers	—	Medium 1	424	154.00/cwt	154.00–154.00	653	11
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	434	165.12/cwt	162.00–166.00	717	92
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	438	153.29/cwt	150.00–159.00	671	12
Heifers	—	Medium 1-2	449	139.00/cwt	139.00–139.00	624	9
Heifers	—	Medium 1-2	454	122.00/cwt	122.00–122.00	554	7
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	455	156.00/cwt	156.00–156.00	710	14
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	462	149.00/cwt	149.00–149.00	688	6
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	482	160.89/cwt	158.00–164.00	775	95
Heifers	—	Large 1	499	150.00/cwt	150.00–150.00	749	65
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	517	154.35/cwt	149.00–160.00	798	85
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	530	145.39/cwt	139.00–149.00	771	25
Heifers	—	Medium 1-2	537	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	671	8
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	561	134.19/cwt	130.00–137.00	753	10
Heifers	—	Medium 2	563	117.00/cwt	117.00–117.00	659	5
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	568	149.08/cwt	142.00–153.50	847	205
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	578	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	780	8
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	619	140.23/cwt	137.00–148.00	868	90
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	628	128.00/cwt	128.00–128.00	804	4
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	645	136.00/cwt	136.00–136.00	877	8
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	655	139.14/cwt	131.00–141.00	911	113
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	696	126.00/cwt	126.00–126.00	877	6
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	700	130.50/cwt	130.50–130.50	914	8
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	810	122.23/cwt	121.00–122.50	990	17
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	842	111.00/cwt	111.00–111.00	935	17
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	987	116.50/cwt	116.50–116.50	1,150	22
Feeder Cattle · Bulls3 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1	391	189.00/cwt	189.00–189.00	739	5
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1	465	180.24/cwt	180.00–182.00	838	8
Bulls	—	Large 1-2	1,001	89.00/cwt	89.00–89.00	891	7
Slaughter Cattle · Bulls1 lot · lightest first
Bulls	—	—	2,105	87.50/cwt	87.50–87.50	1,842	1
Slaughter Cattle · Cows8 lots · lightest first
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	873	41.79/cwt	40.00–44.00	365	2
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	949	46.16/cwt	45.00–50.00	438	5
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,157	55.91/cwt	54.00–59.50	647	6
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,225	51.22/cwt	46.00–54.00	627	29
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,325	41.00/cwt	41.00–41.00	543	1
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,377	49.98/cwt	48.00–51.00	688	3
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,420	58.19/cwt	54.00–60.50	826	8
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%	1,550	50.00/cwt	50.00–50.00	775	1
Replacement Cattle · Stock Cows1 lot · lightest first
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,239	58.40/cwt	50.00–80.00	724	7
Replacement Cattle · Bred Cows3 lots · lightest first
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	1,165	625.00/cwt	625.00–625.00	7,281	9
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,203	1,010.00/cwt	1,010.00–1,010.00	12,150	6
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	1,333	732.69/cwt	725.00–735.00	9,767	4

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 Jan 29, 2021

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 2,130Last week 2,701Year ago 0

Slaughter CattleReceipts 91Last week 74Year ago 0

Replacement CattleReceipts 44Last week 19Year ago 0

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
9	—	342	190.00–196.00	195.27
3	—	720	143.50	143.50
20	—	382	187.50–197.00	194.49
64	—	469	185.00–194.00	191.65
75	—	624	148.75–160.00	153.93
46	—	436	190.00–198.00	196.65
112	—	670	145.00–155.00	150.04
121	—	571	161.00–178.00	168.30
75	—	511	174.50–187.50	182.29
29	—	781	130.00–134.75	134.59

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
45	—	414	175.00–181.00	177.14
9	—	730	133.50	133.50
4	—	365	177.50	177.50
12	—	611	145.00	145.00
9	—	490	171.00–176.00	172.65

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
54	—	592	158.00–159.50	159.11
13	—	703	143.50	143.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
23	—	642	148.00	148.00
4	—	523	172.00	172.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	528	151.00	151.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
52	—	463	205.00	205.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	561	130.00–137.00	134.19
17	—	842	111.00	111.00
4	—	628	128.00	128.00
14	—	455	156.00	156.00
25	—	530	139.00–149.00	145.39
23	—	389	155.00–164.00	157.27
12	—	438	150.00–159.00	153.29

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	462	149.00	149.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
17	—	810	121.00–122.50	122.23
205	—	568	142.00–153.50	149.08
90	—	619	137.00–148.00	140.23
113	—	655	131.00–141.00	139.14
19	—	363	167.50–174.00	170.33
8	—	700	130.50	130.50
85	—	517	149.00–160.00	154.35
22	—	987	116.50	116.50
95	—	482	158.00–164.00	160.89
92	—	434	162.00–166.00	165.12

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	645	136.00	136.00
8	—	578	135.00	135.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	454	122.00	122.00
9	—	449	139.00	139.00
8	—	537	125.00	125.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
65	—	499	150.00	150.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
11	—	424	154.00	154.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 2$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	563	117.00	117.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	696	126.00	126.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	465	180.00–182.00	180.24
5	—	391	189.00	189.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	1,001	89.00	89.00

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	1,325	41.00	41.00
29	—	1,225	46.00–54.00	51.22
6	—	1,157	54.00–59.50	55.91

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	1,550	50.00	50.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	1,377	48.00–51.00	49.98
8	—	1,420	54.00–60.50	58.19

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	873	40.00–44.00	41.79
5	—	949	45.00–50.00	46.16

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	2,105	87.50	87.50

Replacement Cattle

As reported

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	7	—	1,239	50.00–80.00	58.40

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	9	—	1,165	625.00	625.00

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	6	—	1,203	1,010.00	1,010.00

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Broken Mouth$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	4	—	1,333	725.00–735.00	732.69

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.