Sale reports / Montana / Public Auction Yards / 2021-12-03

Public Auction Yards

Name: Public Auction Yards livestock auction prices — 2021-12-03
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2021-12-03

Feeder Cattle · Slaughter Cattle · Replacement Cattle · Billings, Montana · Fri, Dec 3

● Final80 lots reportedUSDA AMS · slug 1776

← Nov 19Dec 3Dec 10 →

Feeder Cattle receipts

3,082 head

▲ 1,166 vs last sale 1,916▼ 448 vs year ago 3,530 · −12.7%

Slaughter Cattle receipts

33 head

▼ 232 vs last sale 265▼ 47 vs year ago 80 · −58.8%

Replacement Cattle receipts

12 head

▼ 70 vs last sale 82▼ 2 vs year ago 14 · −14.3%

Also sold hereRegular saleWed Oct 28, 2026

View

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to two weeks ago: All yearlings were scarcely tested thus no trend is available. Steer calves under 500 lbs traded mostly 10.00-15.00 higher, with instances of higher sales noted. Steers over 500 lbs traded mostly steady to 10.00 higher. Heifers under 500 lbs traded mostly 8.00-12.00 higher, heifers over 500 lbs traded steady to 5.00 higher. Quality this week was average to very attractive. A heavy offering of weaned cattle were seen this week as todays sale featured weaned calves with a full health protocol. Most calves were weaned 45 days or more this sale, with some sets weaned 90 days or longer. Demand for cattle suitable to develop into yearlings was very good. Several load lots of cattle were on offer this sale and these offerings were met with good demand. Transportation has loosened some and demand improved on all classes as a result. Most calves had two rounds of vaccinations this sale. Price spreads were the tightest seen all fall. CME positions have inched higher since last sale as higher prices for finished cattle has helped improve all feeder contract prices. Market activity this sale was mostly active with a large buyer pool actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for light offerings. Too few cows sold to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed on all offerings.

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 $185.85/cwt on 1,553 head.

Average price

$185.85

1,553 head · 538 lb average

Value per head Derived

$1,000

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

$349

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

$34.87/cwt at this weight

vs the market

+2.39

vs MT average

What quality paid 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	539	188.39	1,016	1,317
Medium and Large 1-2	507	182.42	925	117
Medium 1	580	162.54	942	100
Medium and Large 2	435	153.52	667	19thin

One grade step is worth $34.87/cwt here — about $349 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 sale1,553 hd

185.85

—

MT average5 barns · 4,128 hd

183.46

+2.39

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
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Average	1,402	54.30	761	5thin
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Average	1,198	50.83	609	21

Every lot, as filed

80 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 · Steers36 lots · lightest first
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	303	213.00/cwt	213.00–213.00	645	6
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	349	216.00/cwt	216.00–216.00	754	11
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	367	231.05/cwt	229.00–233.00	848	47
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	383	210.35/cwt	207.50–214.00	806	18
Steers	—	Medium and Large 2	385	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	558	3
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	396	215.00/cwt	215.00–215.00	851	13
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	408	222.15/cwt	214.50–225.00	906	110
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	423	212.42/cwt	209.00–214.50	899	15
Steers	—	Medium and Large 2	436	149.19/cwt	135.00–172.00	650	10
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	448	209.00/cwt	209.00–209.00	936	23
Steers	—	Medium and Large 2	457	165.00/cwt	165.00–165.00	754	6
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	463	212.08/cwt	164.00–217.00	982	238
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	482	202.57/cwt	199.00–210.00	976	96
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	508	171.00/cwt	171.00–171.00	869	3
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	521	189.00/cwt	189.00–189.00	985	11
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	528	187.13/cwt	185.00–194.50	988	75
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	535	172.85/cwt	170.00–175.00	925	49
Steers	—	Medium 1	546	174.00/cwt	174.00–174.00	950	24
Steers	—	Medium 1	559	164.58/cwt	159.00–166.00	920	34
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	559	160.90/cwt	160.00–162.00	899	11
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	566	175.84/cwt	170.00–179.50	995	151
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	575	175.80/cwt	170.00–179.75	1,011	172
Steers	—	Medium 1	605	155.00/cwt	155.00–155.00	938	38
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	628	164.66/cwt	158.00–170.00	1,034	123
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	628	150.00/cwt	150.00–150.00	942	8
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	629	152.76/cwt	152.00–154.00	961	8
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	641	168.24/cwt	166.00–170.50	1,078	69
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	643	155.00/cwt	155.00–155.00	997	5
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	662	137.00/cwt	137.00–137.00	907	5
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	667	163.34/cwt	157.00–169.00	1,089	96
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	677	167.00/cwt	167.00–167.00	1,131	5
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	713	152.50/cwt	152.50–152.50	1,087	32
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	717	142.50/cwt	142.50–142.50	1,022	9
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	719	160.71/cwt	156.00–162.00	1,156	19
Steers	—	Medium 1	720	148.00/cwt	148.00–148.00	1,066	4
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	795	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	1,153	6
Feeder Cattle · Heifers32 lots · lightest first
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	321	165.00/cwt	165.00–165.00	530	9
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	336	195.00/cwt	195.00–195.00	655	4
Heifers	—	Medium 1-2Unweaned	345	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	431	4
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	377	169.99/cwt	165.00–172.50	641	17
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	384	183.27/cwt	180.00–185.00	704	159
Heifers	—	Medium 1	389	160.00/cwt	160.00–160.00	622	17
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	390	184.00/cwt	184.00–184.00	718	28
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	412	174.01/cwt	165.00–174.50	717	77
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	425	156.00/cwt	156.00–156.00	663	14
Heifers	—	Medium 1	440	163.00/cwt	163.00–163.00	717	2
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	443	175.45/cwt	165.00–184.00	777	183
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	447	153.00/cwt	153.00–153.00	684	3
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Fancy	452	178.00/cwt	178.00–178.00	805	6
Heifers	—	Medium 1-2Unweaned	454	112.50/cwt	112.50–112.50	511	3
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	465	165.00/cwt	165.00–165.00	767	20
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	478	161.82/cwt	154.00–166.00	773	62
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	487	149.50/cwt	149.50–149.50	728	11
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	493	154.00/cwt	154.00–154.00	759	7
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	503	147.00/cwt	147.00–147.00	739	15
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	511	152.13/cwt	150.00–160.00	777	67
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	536	152.64/cwt	150.00–154.50	818	37
Heifers	—	Medium 1	545	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	790	32
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Replacement	546	165.75/cwt	165.75–165.75	905	112
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	550	140.00/cwt	140.00–140.00	770	2
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	574	150.17/cwt	142.00–154.00	862	236
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	575	146.38/cwt	146.00–147.00	842	16
Heifers	—	Large 1	577	140.00/cwt	140.00–140.00	808	7
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	615	141.52/cwt	137.00–144.00	870	20
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	628	138.44/cwt	138.00–139.50	869	10
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	659	143.32/cwt	138.00–147.00	944	14
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	718	139.50/cwt	139.50–139.50	1,002	12
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	760	137.00/cwt	137.00–137.00	1,041	5
Feeder Cattle · Bulls2 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	Large 1	495	164.00/cwt	164.00–164.00	812	5
Bulls	—	Large 1	619	136.00/cwt	136.00–136.00	842	7
Slaughter Cattle · Cows7 lots · lightest first
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,175	45.00/cwt	45.00–45.00	529	1
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,182	51.17/cwt	48.00–54.00	605	14
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	1,238	51.00/cwt	51.00–51.00	631	6
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	1,373	59.00/cwt	59.00–59.00	810	2
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,395	55.50/cwt	55.50–55.50	774	1
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,405	45.00/cwt	45.00–45.00	632	1
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	1,465	53.00/cwt	53.00–53.00	776	1
Replacement Cattle · Stock Cows2 lots · lightest first
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	995	90.00/cwt	90.00–90.00	896	1
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,083	67.00/cwt	67.00–67.00	726	3
Replacement Cattle · Bred Heifers1 lot · lightest first
Bred Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	1,005	1,100.00/cwt	1,100.00–1,100.00	11,055	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 →

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

Fri Dec 3, 2021

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 3,082Last week 1,916Year ago 3,530

Slaughter CattleReceipts 33Last week 265Year ago 80

Replacement CattleReceipts 12Last week 82Year ago 14

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
110	—	408	214.50–225.00	222.15
172	—	575	170.00–179.75	175.80
123	—	628	158.00–170.00	164.66
47	—	367	229.00–233.00	231.05
19	—	719	156.00–162.00	160.71
238	—	463	164.00–217.00	212.08
75	—	528	185.00–194.50	187.13
11	—	349	216.00	216.00
6	—	795	145.00	145.00
96	—	667	157.00–169.00	163.34

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	662	137.00	137.00
9	—	717	142.50	142.50
8	—	628	150.00	150.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	436	135.00–172.00	149.19
6	—	457	165.00	165.00
3	—	385	145.00	145.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
23	—	448	209.00	209.00
8	—	629	152.00–154.00	152.76
18	—	383	207.50–214.00	210.35
49	—	535	170.00–175.00	172.85
11	—	559	160.00–162.00	160.90

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
24	—	546	174.00	174.00
38	—	605	155.00	155.00
34	—	559	159.00–166.00	164.58
4	—	720	148.00	148.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	303	213.00	213.00
69	—	641	166.00–170.50	168.24
32	—	713	152.50	152.50
151	—	566	170.00–179.50	175.84
5	—	677	167.00	167.00
15	—	423	209.00–214.50	212.42
11	—	521	189.00	189.00
13	—	396	215.00	215.00
96	—	482	199.00–210.00	202.57

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	508	171.00	171.00
5	—	643	155.00	155.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
77	—	412	165.00–174.50	174.01
16	—	575	146.00–147.00	146.38
10	—	628	138.00–139.50	138.44
37	—	536	150.00–154.50	152.64
20	—	465	165.00	165.00
28	—	390	184.00	184.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
20	—	615	137.00–144.00	141.52
14	—	659	138.00–147.00	143.32
159	—	384	180.00–185.00	183.27
236	—	574	142.00–154.00	150.17
183	—	443	165.00–184.00	175.45
4	—	336	195.00	195.00
67	—	511	150.00–160.00	152.13
62	—	478	154.00–166.00	161.82
12	—	718	139.50	139.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	440	163.00	163.00
32	—	545	145.00	145.00
17	—	389	160.00	160.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
17	—	377	165.00–172.50	169.99
15	—	503	147.00	147.00
5	—	760	137.00	137.00
14	—	425	156.00	156.00
11	—	487	149.50	149.50
2	—	550	140.00	140.00
9	—	321	165.00	165.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	452	178.00	178.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	577	140.00	140.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	493	154.00	154.00
3	—	447	153.00	153.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	345	125.00	125.00
3	—	454	112.50	112.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Replacement$ per cwt · actual wt
112	—	546	165.75	165.75

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	619	136.00	136.00
5	—	495	164.00	164.00

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
14	—	1,182	48.00–54.00	51.17
1	—	1,175	45.00	45.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	1,395	55.50	55.50
1	—	1,405	45.00	45.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,373	59.00	59.00
1	—	1,465	53.00	53.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	1,238	51.00	51.00

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	3	—	1,083	67.00	67.00
(<2 yrs)	Open	1	—	995	90.00	90.00

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	—	1,005	1,100.00	1,100.00

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.