Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

The state in one line

Counts as USDA filed them

Montana reported 196 priced lines covering 17,133 head across feeder cattle, slaughter cattle, replacement cattle. USDA puts feeder cattle receipts at 17,243 head. slaughter cattle receipts at 5,414 head. replacement cattle receipts at 1,972 head.

Mon Oct 18, 2021

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 17,243Last week 11,405Year ago 8,775

Slaughter CattleReceipts 5,414Last week 4,859Year ago 2,303

Replacement CattleReceipts 1,972Last week 2,610Year ago 941

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were all too lightly tested either this week or last to develop any market trend. Steer calves under 400 lbs sold mostly sharply lower, 400-599 lbs sold steady to 10.00 lower, steers over 600 lbs sold steady to 3.00 lower. Heifer calves under 400 lbs sold steady firm, heifers 400-599 lbs sold mostly steady to 8.00 lower, heifers over 600 lbs sold with steady undertones. Quality this week was average to very attractive. Transportation continues to be the biggest factor limiting demand. Buyers refuse to buy calves without trucks to get them out of the yards. Buyers focused on buying front end cattle and passed or discounted calves with only one round of vaccinations or average quality calves. This led to very wide price spreads often around 20.00 cwt per 50 lbs weigh break. Local yard space remains tight as many remain full of cows. The best demand this week was for lightweight calves suitable to develop into yearlings or heavyweight calves buyers thought could finish against the April live contract. CME positions traded mostly lower this week. The October contract closed at 155.425, 2.14 lower; the November contract closed 156.90, 4.525 lower. Market activity was moderate. Weigh up cows sold on moderate to good demand for heavy offerings. An additional packer buyer was on hand throughout the week. Packer buyers competed over market share as cow supplies remains heavy Slaughter cows sold mostly steady to 3.00 lower on breaking cows, boning cows sold 5.00-6.00 higher, and lean cows sold 2.00-4.00 higher. Feeding cows sold 2.00-6.00 higher. Slaughter bulls sold mostly steady to firm in a narrow comparison. Many long strings of cows were seen this week. The best demand was seen for boning flesh cows suitable to feed to premium white. Young age cows mostly 5.00-6.00 lower. Most of these offerings are destined for the southern plains and the corn belt. Quality was average to attractive with many long strings of one iron home-raised open cows.

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
34	—	288	160.00–187.00	181.43
115	—	322	158.00–177.50	169.68
47	—	478	137.00–142.00	139.21
106	—	386	150.00–170.00	158.86
26	—	570	125.00–130.00	127.96
3	—	738	122.00	122.00
87	—	429	140.00–153.00	147.58
60	—	540	127.00–135.00	133.05
6	—	248	185.00	185.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
415	—	566	123.00–143.00	139.05
970	—	475	142.00–167.00	154.16
22	—	717	125.00–140.00	129.97
1,190	—	523	125.00–156.50	147.00
713	—	433	157.50–175.25	166.46
68	—	283	176.00–195.00	180.46
223	—	614	128.00–145.00	138.59
573	—	374	160.00–189.00	176.78
47	—	662	130.00–139.00	136.13
6	—	779	125.00	125.00
211	—	330	170.00–190.00	177.60
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
15	—	587	127.00–129.00	127.13
8	—	363	155.00	155.00
11	—	702	138.00	138.00
4	—	839	133.00	133.00
12	—	642	127.00	127.00
28	—	781	133.00–143.50	141.02
4	—	428	149.00	149.00
62	—	518	135.75	135.75
Heifers — Medium 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	422	90.00	90.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
59	—	873	131.00–138.00	137.50
6	—	999	130.50	130.50
4	—	345	188.00	188.00
102	—	475	147.00–166.00	157.78
16	—	933	130.00–135.00	132.02
78	—	536	138.50–151.50	147.34
19	—	727	138.00–150.00	148.73
44	—	446	150.00–153.50	151.12
98	—	819	136.50–143.50	139.44
29	—	645	141.00–143.50	142.38
Heifers — Medium 2$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	373	135.00	135.00
17	—	448	120.00	120.00
Heifers — Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	461	139.00	139.00
5	—	559	126.00	126.00
64	—	430	130.00–155.00	145.04
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	334	197.00	197.00
23	—	456	160.00–163.00	162.74
14	—	503	155.00	155.00
5	—	385	195.00	195.00
24	—	406	183.00	183.00
Heifers — Medium 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
9	—	448	127.50	127.50
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	449	150.00	150.00
Heifers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	1,030	127.50–128.00	127.92
3	—	1,055	125.00	125.00
Heifers — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
42	—	513	125.00–138.00	135.88
32	—	429	145.00	145.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	464	124.00–130.00	125.96
47	—	431	130.00–142.00	138.14
8	—	308	150.00	150.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Replacement$ per cwt · actual wt
132	—	517	167.50–176.00	172.43
40	—	463	174.00	174.00
Heifers — Medium 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	421	136.00	136.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
17	—	812	132.50	132.50
Heifers — Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	392	140.00	140.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
9	—	356	139.00	139.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
968	—	477	160.00–193.00	175.83
87	—	286	191.00–212.50	209.17
615	—	423	173.00–209.00	194.13
224	—	328	192.50–215.00	203.09
71	—	719	135.00–161.00	155.11
146	—	666	144.00–162.00	154.49
486	—	618	148.50–169.50	157.10
1,395	—	573	141.00–171.50	159.33
2	—	795	149.00	149.00
386	—	378	180.00–215.00	202.44
1,012	—	529	152.00–175.00	166.19
6	—	838	144.50	144.50
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
106	—	567	141.00–150.00	145.40
174	—	480	150.00–171.00	159.75
153	—	425	152.00–180.00	168.46
25	—	278	187.50–200.00	193.19
194	—	380	165.00–193.00	174.15
18	—	342	181.00	181.00
77	—	535	144.00–155.00	149.76
19	—	625	144.00–147.00	145.69
17	—	680	127.00–152.50	142.76
2	—	738	130.00	130.00
Steers — Medium 2$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	384	162.00	162.00
Steers — Medium 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
17	—	469	115.00	115.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	544	139.00	139.00
Steers — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
20	—	279	155.00	155.00
16	—	385	145.00–148.00	146.84
33	—	425	154.00–160.00	155.24
2	—	518	120.00	120.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	717	131.00	131.00
7	—	784	146.50	146.50
9	—	521	137.00–144.00	140.01
2	—	805	145.00	145.00
35	—	289	184.50	184.50
41	—	453	162.00	162.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
38	—	683	160.75	160.75
24	—	534	173.00	173.00
Steers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
57	—	379	162.00	162.00
Steers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
13	—	308	187.00	187.00
5	—	462	150.00	150.00
27	—	699	146.00	146.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
37	—	817	149.00–154.00	153.58
13	—	624	150.00	150.00
55	—	584	156.00–170.00	166.57
6	—	908	147.00	147.00
117	—	532	164.00–169.00	165.54
18	—	431	184.00	184.00
24	—	722	138.00–147.00	144.69
5	—	653	158.00	158.00
59	—	458	179.00–181.00	179.10
22	—	771	149.50	149.50
Steers — Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
25	—	477	162.00–165.00	162.37
14	—	393	182.00	182.00
15	—	440	162.00	162.00
Steers — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
56	—	534	147.00–149.00	148.72
21	—	491	148.00	148.00
13	—	575	127.00–130.00	127.47
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	726	134.00	134.00
Steers — Small and Medium 2-3 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
20	—	404	95.00	95.00
Steers — Medium 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	411	152.50	152.50
Bulls — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	530	123.00–126.00	124.14
38	—	575	122.00–139.00	138.12
10	—	433	149.50	149.50
Bulls — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	259	200.00	200.00
17	—	628	130.00–136.00	133.74
12	—	567	129.00–132.00	130.79
35	—	470	151.00–167.50	152.91
47	—	379	164.00–186.00	175.33
20	—	406	167.00–178.00	174.71
2	—	723	122.00	122.00
11	—	681	116.00–128.00	122.57
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
34	—	543	152.00	152.00
5	—	366	170.00	170.00
21	—	421	151.00	151.00
Bulls — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	1,080	94.00	94.00
14	—	1,137	90.00–92.00	90.56
Bulls — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
9	—	455	135.00	135.00
Bulls — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	589	132.00	132.00

Replacement Cattle

As reported

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	—	1,118	900.00	900.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	20	—	1,190	1,050.00	1,050.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	16	—	1,118	1,200.00	1,200.00
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	41	—	1,305	1,100.00–1,150.00	1,139.07
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	3	—	1,238	51.00	51.00
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	7	—	1,366	48.00–51.00	50.15
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	15	—	1,205	63.75	63.75
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	12	—	737	1,000.00–1,200.00	1,188.01
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	41	—	1,329	885.00–910.00	902.82
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Broken Mouth$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	41	—	1,343	750.00	750.00
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	11	—	1,328	48.00	48.00
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	2	—	1,240	810.00	810.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	2	—	1,070	850.00	850.00
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	7	—	1,059	51.00	51.00
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	13	—	928	61.00–85.00	80.11
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	—	1,170	70.00	70.00
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	7	—	1,162	46.50	46.50
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	11	—	1,010	47.00–53.00	49.75
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	14	—	1,185	44.00–48.00	44.64
(<2 yrs)	Open	2	—	810	67.50–81.00	73.92
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	45	—	1,029	48.00–72.00	60.72
(<2 yrs)	Open	634	—	925	69.00–111.75	96.37
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	8	—	1,508	64.50	64.50
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	269	—	1,099	54.50–83.00	69.44
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Broken Mouth$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	12	—	1,297	775.00	775.00

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
34	—	1,839	62.00–77.00	71.63
19	—	1,757	79.50–86.00	82.39
2	—	2,010	90.00–92.00	91.01
Bulls — Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	1,436	74.50	74.50
Bulls — Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
18	—	1,636	76.00–83.00	79.11
43	—	1,514	67.00–77.00	74.77
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	920	35.00–45.00	40.62
18	—	946	25.00–35.00	32.82
1	—	995	45.00	45.00
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
105	—	1,232	57.50–65.50	60.57
515	—	1,224	46.50–59.00	50.67
346	—	1,153	38.00–49.00	44.74
104	—	1,050	32.00–38.00	34.69
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
13	—	1,569	66.00–68.50	67.42
13	—	1,612	51.50–66.00	57.77
4	—	1,750	74.00–79.25	76.37
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
55	—	1,540	61.00–66.00	64.25
6	—	1,590	68.00–72.00	69.65
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
56	—	1,223	46.00–55.00	49.61
1	—	1,230	57.50	57.50
67	—	1,176	29.00–37.50	33.50
188	—	1,182	37.50–47.00	42.75
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
79	—	1,436	43.00–53.00	47.01
2	—	1,458	35.00	35.00
14	—	1,583	60.00–65.00	60.35
22	—	1,438	53.00–61.00	56.10
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
427	—	1,368	55.00–64.50	61.51
87	—	1,424	65.00–72.00	68.24
208	—	1,399	42.00–57.00	49.52

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.

Source: USDA AMS, as filed — nothing recomputed and nothing rounded. This summary aggregates the same sales the Montana barn reports cover, so it must never be added to a state total built from those barns.

Feeder Cattle — prices, barns, and planning

Fed Cattle — the cash market and what quality pays

Beef & Retail — from the box to the grocery shelf

Feed & Hay — the cost side, cash not futures

Cows & Bred Stock — the rebuild market

More

Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

The state in one line