Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

The state in one line

Counts as USDA filed them

Montana reported 189 priced lines covering 16,652 head across feeder cattle, slaughter cattle, replacement cattle. USDA puts feeder cattle receipts at 10,690 head. slaughter cattle receipts at 5,546 head. replacement cattle receipts at 6,578 head.

Mon Oct 25, 2021

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 10,690Last week 17,243Year ago 8,648

Slaughter CattleReceipts 5,546Last week 5,414Year ago 2,148

Replacement CattleReceipts 6,578Last week 1,972Year ago 3,412

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were all too lightly tested either this week or last to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed on both steers and heifers. Steer calves sold uneven from 6.00 lower to 5.00 higher. Heifer calves under 500 lbs sold steady to 10.00 lower, heifer calves over 500 sold mostly steady to 3.00 higher Quality this week was average to very attractive. Transportation continues to be the biggest factor limiting demand. Many buyers refuse to buy un-weaned calves without trucks to get them out of the yards or if they buy them they are buying them way back from the front end calves. 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 25.00 cwt per 50 lbs weigh break. Local yard space remains tight as many remain full of cows. Heavy rains fell in California last week and these buyers were mostly out of the market due to poor weather conditions. CME positions traded mostly lower this week. The October contract closed Thursday at 156.675, 1.25 higher; the November contract closed 157.65, 0.75 higher. Market activity was moderate. Weigh up cows sold on moderate demand for heavy offerings. The additional packer buyer that was on hand last week was not at the sale this week. Packer buyers were not as aggressive this week and prices slide lower on very heavy supplies. Slaughter cows sold mostly steady to 2.00 lower on all offerings. Feeding cows sold 3.00-6.00 lower on boning flesh cows suitable to feed to premium white. Thin fleshed cow buyers have been buying cows to hold for the holidays. These offerings sold mostly steady to 1.00 higher. A large buyer pool was seen for thin cows this week as several feeding buyers were specify looking for these type offerings. Slaughter bulls sold steady to 2.00 lower in a narrow comparison. Many long strings of cows continue to be seen. Poor nutrition and water due to the drought led to poor breeding conditions and many open cows. Young age cows sold unevenly steady. Most of these offerings are destined for the southern plains and the corn belt. Quality was average to attractive but quality varied more than last week and prices reflect the differences in quality.

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/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	157	—	1,357	850.00–1,075.00	972.39
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	3	—	1,202	1,125.00	1,125.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	3rd Stage (7-9 mo)	3	—	1,078	1,275.00	1,275.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	8	—	1,196	71.00	71.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	167	—	1,064	1,000.00–1,725.00	1,402.33
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	37	—	1,251	875.00–1,100.00	982.56
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	4	—	1,375	950.00	950.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	130	—	1,200	1,025.00–2,350.00	1,733.76
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	24	—	1,334	57.50–62.00	60.30
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	21	—	1,411	56.50–73.00	59.09
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	1,257	—	1,108	1,150.00–2,575.00	1,983.99
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	82	—	1,231	1,010.00–1,300.00	1,124.33
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	65	—	1,303	925.00–1,125.00	980.80
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	3	—	1,143	1,150.00	1,150.00
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	13	—	1,145	600.00	600.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	32	—	997	950.00–1,125.00	1,012.52
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	8	—	1,141	52.50	52.50
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	3	—	1,375	54.50	54.50
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	11	—	1,253	47.50	47.50
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	19	—	1,056	1,185.00–1,310.00	1,224.36
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	12	—	1,177	1,425.00	1,425.00
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Broken Mouth$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	126	—	1,291	700.00–875.00	810.51
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	35	—	1,457	54.50	54.50
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	43	—	1,308	725.00–750.00	739.29
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	3	—	1,187	825.00	825.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	39	—	1,262	975.00–1,075.00	1,009.39
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	2	—	983	44.00	44.00
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	39	—	1,023	38.00–45.00	43.66
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	17	—	960	41.00–58.00	48.59
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	28	—	1,084	36.00–47.00	44.59
(<2 yrs)	Open	1	—	750	85.00	85.00
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	9	—	934	60.00–75.00	67.79
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	4	—	1,391	46.00	46.00
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	44	—	1,249	45.00–78.00	52.75
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	Open	40	—	1,429	48.00–49.00	48.02
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	465	—	1,015	48.00–95.50	75.23
(<2 yrs)	Open	494	—	931	63.00–119.00	96.41
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	—	990	47.00	47.00
Bred Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	27	—	814	900.00–1,025.00	1,004.39
Bred Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2,052	—	1,027	1,325.00–2,050.00	1,760.52
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	10	—	906	129.00	129.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	19	—	936	1,110.00	1,110.00
Bred Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	13	—	950	1,135.00	1,135.00

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
13	—	1,558	63.00–75.00	71.78
28	—	1,597	75.00–83.00	79.16
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
30	—	1,798	75.00–85.00	80.33
39	—	1,798	61.00–78.00	72.05
5	—	2,085	89.00–94.00	91.29
Bulls — Heavy Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	2,570	85.00	85.00
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
207	—	1,167	38.00–46.00	42.62
70	—	1,136	31.00–39.50	34.12
93	—	1,256	46.00–53.00	48.72
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
228	—	1,425	52.00–64.00	59.48
1	—	1,435	39.50	39.50
107	—	1,396	64.00–68.50	65.49
295	—	1,393	42.50–55.50	49.40
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
29	—	1,387	52.00–62.00	55.64
114	—	1,425	42.00–53.00	46.30
1	—	1,475	40.50	40.50
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
674	—	1,171	38.00–48.50	45.22
152	—	1,075	32.00–42.00	39.01
854	—	1,203	46.00–58.00	49.97
25	—	1,258	56.50–66.00	60.33
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Heavy Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	2,030	62.50	62.50
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
25	—	943	22.00–37.50	31.97
1	—	865	46.00	46.00
2	—	923	47.00	47.00
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
19	—	1,546	63.00–68.00	65.83
4	—	1,624	71.00–72.00	71.23
20	—	1,622	52.00–64.50	60.09
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	1,518	53.00–57.50	54.74
10	—	1,582	64.00–67.50	65.98

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	730	143.00	143.00
12	—	664	146.50	146.50
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
20	—	840	159.50	159.50
3	—	755	148.00	148.00
10	—	337	197.50	197.50
3	—	602	152.00	152.00
30	—	864	156.50	156.50
26	—	745	144.00–150.50	149.25
45	—	484	179.00–193.00	183.67
73	—	409	176.00–215.00	210.68
8	—	693	147.00	147.00
21	—	511	163.00–165.00	163.68
Steers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
20	—	430	153.00	153.00
Steers — Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	604	126.00	126.00
3	—	373	162.00	162.00
31	—	519	154.00–158.00	156.50
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
158	—	668	144.00–163.50	157.31
652	—	522	155.00–188.50	166.02
968	—	574	148.50–172.50	158.47
169	—	320	187.50–220.00	208.58
39	—	259	202.50–205.00	204.49
132	—	372	184.00–212.00	196.04
19	—	721	153.50–159.00	156.58
308	—	621	144.00–164.00	155.29
14	—	753	144.00	144.00
353	—	472	166.00–196.00	177.57
324	—	425	176.00–201.00	190.96
6	—	804	141.50	141.50
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
84	—	430	149.00–180.00	168.35
30	—	321	167.50–180.00	172.80
48	—	535	140.00–155.00	149.10
11	—	257	190.00	190.00
72	—	485	140.00–165.00	159.17
43	—	374	167.50–182.50	176.65
41	—	571	135.00–150.00	140.32
5	—	660	145.00	145.00
Steers — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	520	125.00–130.00	126.98
6	—	293	172.50	172.50
22	—	365	166.50	166.50
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
65	—	569	166.50–167.00	166.97
17	—	454	196.00–197.00	196.42
Steers — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
21	—	373	167.50	167.50
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
19	—	442	161.00	161.00
11	—	483	164.00–165.00	164.35
11	—	594	144.00	144.00
3	—	517	140.00	140.00
Steers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
14	—	398	170.00	170.00
6	—	423	152.50	152.50
18	—	540	156.00	156.00
33	—	687	152.50	152.50
Steers — Medium 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
15	—	267	178.00	178.00
25	—	403	158.00	158.00
Steers — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	662	143.00	143.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
123	—	615	131.00–141.75	137.93
518	—	572	129.50–145.00	140.07
73	—	660	127.00–142.00	138.73
765	—	524	135.50–156.00	144.15
339	—	431	150.00–170.00	158.87
34	—	257	194.00	194.00
115	—	328	160.00–190.00	169.76
588	—	480	142.00–164.50	152.93
224	—	373	158.00–183.00	166.43
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
35	—	882	131.00–149.00	140.11
10	—	650	139.00	139.00
5	—	637	131.00–137.00	135.83
5	—	821	138.00–139.00	138.40
103	—	773	143.00–153.50	148.92
27	—	961	128.25–137.00	131.43
9	—	922	135.00–137.00	135.87
99	—	430	162.00–170.50	167.47
29	—	392	170.50–174.00	172.78
49	—	462	141.00–160.50	152.41
12	—	343	186.00	186.00
56	—	536	145.00	145.00
32	—	722	128.50–146.00	141.52
Heifers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
12	—	862	135.00	135.00
4	—	1,004	136.75	136.75
23	—	1,058	134.00	134.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
31	—	314	201.00	201.00
4	—	454	174.00	174.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Replacement$ per cwt · actual wt
90	—	516	154.50	154.50
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	788	140.00	140.00
22	—	642	145.00–148.00	146.63
Heifers — Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
11	—	385	145.00	145.00
23	—	322	151.00–160.00	157.74
9	—	455	143.00	143.00
Heifers — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
16	—	367	130.00–141.00	138.12
Heifers — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
13	—	303	141.00	141.00
44	—	393	144.00	144.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	483	137.00	137.00
9	—	374	147.50	147.50
4	—	828	127.50	127.50
2	—	940	130.00	130.00
11	—	438	139.75	139.75
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
37	—	381	150.00–165.00	157.09
13	—	588	126.50–130.00	128.66
17	—	533	128.00–141.00	138.52
48	—	292	153.00–170.00	156.95
45	—	336	149.00–174.00	154.88
12	—	437	147.00–154.00	149.34
11	—	479	136.00–144.00	138.50
Heifers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	338	140.00	140.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
26	—	445	141.00	141.00
Heifers — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	635	125.00–131.00	128.01
8	—	318	161.00	161.00
Heifers — Small and Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
12	—	496	121.00	121.00
Bulls — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	592	130.00	130.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	725	120.00–130.00	123.33
7	—	576	130.00–147.00	141.44
5	—	347	185.00	185.00
10	—	366	175.00–180.00	177.90
6	—	625	145.00	145.00
14	—	526	132.50–148.00	141.34
22	—	491	147.00–158.00	149.52
5	—	407	168.00	168.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
23	—	389	142.50–152.50	150.34
Bulls — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	400	129.00	129.00

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.

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