Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

The state in one line

Counts as USDA filed them

Montana reported 216 priced lines covering 16,017 head across feeder cattle, slaughter cattle, replacement cattle. USDA puts feeder cattle receipts at 12,235 head. slaughter cattle receipts at 4,316 head. replacement cattle receipts at 3,460 head.

Mon Nov 8, 2021

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 12,235Last week 9,486Year ago 11,736

Slaughter CattleReceipts 4,316Last week 6,371Year ago 3,283

Replacement CattleReceipts 3,460Last week 2,643Year ago 985

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were all too lightly tested this week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed on both steers and heifers. Steer calves under 350 lbs sold mostly 5.00-7.00 higher in a narrow comparison. 350-599 lbs steers sold mostly steady to 4.00 higher, steers over 600 lbs sold steady to 4.00 higher. Heifer calves under 500 lbs sold 5.00-8.00 higher, heifer calves over 500 lbs sold mostly steady to 5.00 higher. Quality this week was average to very attractive. Transportation continues to be the biggest factor limiting demand, however by late week trucks started to loosen up and demand was more consistent. Buyers continue to focus on buying front end cattle and passed or discounted calves with only one round of vaccinations or average quality calves. Calves with fall preconditioning shots sold at a premium this week. Very wide price spreads continue to be seen however prices did narrow slightly this week. Local yard space remains tight. CME positions traded mostly higher this week as packers paid 130.00 in the cash market this week. The November contract closed 157.325, 1.55 lower, the January contract closed at 159.1, 0.500 lower. Market activity was moderate to active this week. Weigh up cows sold on moderate demand for heavy offerings. The majority of cows sold to return to the country to feed. Packer buyers only purchased very poor quality, lame, or severely blemished cows harvest this week. Lean slaughter cows sold mostly steady to 2.00 lower, boning cows sold steady to 2.00 lower on a light test, and breaking cows sold 4.00 lower on a light test this and last week. Feeding cows sold steady to 4.00 lower. Thin fleshed cows continue to be purchased to hold for the holidays. A large buyer pool continues to be seen for thin cows. Slaughter bulls sold steady to 1.50 lower in a narrow comparison. Bull quality was average to attractive this week. Young age cows sold unevenly from steady to 3.00 lower. Most of these offerings are destined for the southern plains and the corn belt. Quality was average to attractive but quality continues to vary and prices reflect the differences in quality.

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
18	—	1,023	122.00	122.00
19	—	972	126.00–138.50	134.81
47	—	483	143.00–151.50	147.09
54	—	819	134.00–144.00	141.31
155	—	760	130.00–155.00	154.08
85	—	591	141.00–145.00	142.64
100	—	434	131.00–164.50	153.46
7	—	858	131.00–141.00	139.11
59	—	628	135.50–152.00	137.18
1	—	1,085	125.00	125.00
75	—	934	130.00–141.00	137.56
4	—	730	148.00	148.00
83	—	531	139.00–148.00	142.77
28	—	301	176.00	176.00
9	—	1,108	119.00	119.00
126	—	385	160.00–175.00	170.48
61	—	663	133.00–143.50	142.46
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	503	139.00	139.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
95	—	417	137.00–160.00	144.49
77	—	528	125.00–140.50	135.93
118	—	480	132.50–145.00	138.22
8	—	393	150.00–160.00	156.28
154	—	568	129.00–140.75	136.75
52	—	332	140.00–155.00	149.56
20	—	625	134.00–135.00	134.41
20	—	288	146.00–155.00	150.01
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
27	—	521	131.00	131.00
9	—	557	131.00–132.00	131.45
4	—	844	131.00–135.00	134.02
12	—	476	138.00–139.00	138.48
1	—	770	137.00	137.00
7	—	375	140.00–145.00	142.12
103	—	424	135.00–152.00	147.99
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
360	—	575	131.00–161.00	147.69
24	—	263	160.00–180.00	172.02
2	—	240	165.00	165.00
62	—	678	134.50–142.50	139.36
164	—	333	155.00–184.50	175.48
456	—	417	150.00–178.75	169.23
70	—	726	131.00–150.00	147.61
256	—	370	150.00–190.00	177.39
90	—	620	135.00–140.25	138.78
673	—	477	132.00–165.00	153.74
617	—	521	132.00–156.50	148.77
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	485	143.00	143.00
7	—	1,024	111.00–114.00	112.31
7	—	509	137.00	137.00
Heifers — Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	768	122.00	122.00
12	—	477	131.50–148.00	139.65
10	—	387	141.00–150.00	144.61
37	—	517	133.00–139.50	137.90
9	—	567	133.00–136.00	134.37
8	—	700	130.00–136.00	135.25
12	—	627	132.00–135.50	134.36
Heifers — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
9	—	562	139.00–144.00	143.44
4	—	396	152.00	152.00
19	—	472	122.50–135.00	128.15
12	—	606	123.00–133.00	123.85
3	—	440	150.00	150.00
3	—	545	130.00	130.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Replacement$ per cwt · actual wt
65	—	465	167.00	167.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Spayed$ per cwt · actual wt
13	—	817	144.00	144.00
Heifers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
28	—	584	140.00	140.00
8	—	530	134.50	134.50
Heifers — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
11	—	461	115.00	115.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
392	—	621	140.00–182.50	157.11
33	—	764	146.00–163.00	154.42
543	—	525	147.00–186.00	167.44
8	—	264	167.50–200.00	189.85
130	—	663	137.50–159.50	150.38
280	—	429	154.00–210.50	191.26
859	—	467	157.00–203.00	187.87
40	—	724	135.00–159.50	150.67
340	—	376	172.50–223.00	208.18
79	—	318	175.00–227.00	208.62
590	—	569	150.00–172.00	161.76
13	—	235	180.00	180.00
Steers — Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
9	—	686	131.00	131.00
6	—	511	151.00	151.00
18	—	478	145.00–164.00	158.00
30	—	413	178.50	178.50
14	—	394	164.00	164.00
10	—	343	135.00–155.00	151.15
6	—	586	132.00–147.00	142.20
24	—	616	133.00–148.00	137.20
Steers — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	712	141.00–153.00	150.56
8	—	665	140.00–149.00	144.89
5	—	522	121.00	121.00
6	—	410	130.00	130.00
23	—	591	144.00–150.00	149.01
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
196	—	616	151.00–167.00	161.18
12	—	858	139.00	139.00
113	—	485	173.00–194.00	178.78
55	—	578	156.00–165.50	160.74
85	—	419	181.00–203.00	198.26
10	—	806	150.50	150.50
91	—	678	150.00–160.00	155.31
4	—	785	154.50	154.50
14	—	902	150.50	150.50
180	—	524	163.50–191.50	180.97
33	—	715	142.00–154.00	152.77
56	—	343	180.00–201.00	190.04
16	—	370	191.00	191.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	213	130.00	130.00
137	—	618	128.00–163.50	145.96
34	—	337	170.00–195.00	183.69
66	—	428	147.00–177.50	164.88
67	—	385	161.00–196.00	177.01
2	—	995	175.00	175.00
142	—	523	141.00–165.00	154.18
198	—	478	148.00–175.00	162.09
31	—	679	137.00–153.50	149.03
3	—	723	130.00	130.00
6	—	287	155.00	155.00
83	—	574	134.00–155.00	146.03
Steers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	635	137.00	137.00
7	—	700	136.00	136.00
Steers — Medium 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	405	152.00	152.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	568	138.00	138.00
7	—	472	145.00–151.00	145.87
Steers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	541	154.00	154.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
45	—	668	139.00–154.00	152.30
19	—	587	148.00–157.50	153.80
268	—	448	157.00–167.50	157.19
6	—	513	153.00	153.00
6	—	476	166.00–171.00	169.33
9	—	372	167.50–191.00	172.60
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
20	—	564	140.50–141.00	140.83
12	—	629	151.00–153.00	151.66
4	—	440	151.00	151.00
13	—	519	145.00	145.00
Steers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
15	—	336	140.00–145.00	142.68
19	—	423	141.00	141.00
Steers — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
13	—	512	133.00	133.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	533	136.00	136.00
34	—	468	137.50–169.00	158.48
11	—	442	152.50–166.00	158.56
14	—	681	130.50–135.00	132.28
13	—	568	133.00–137.00	135.46
16	—	615	135.00	135.00
5	—	709	129.00	129.00
4	—	905	112.00	112.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	575	125.00	125.00
2	—	935	110.00	110.00
2	—	878	137.00	137.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	563	125.00	125.00
Bulls — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	583	120.00	120.00

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
57	—	1,590	76.50–90.00	80.92
3	—	1,852	88.00–90.00	89.32
61	—	1,706	63.00–78.00	72.31
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	2,145	90.00–92.00	91.09
33	—	1,708	60.50–78.00	73.47
34	—	1,936	76.50–89.00	83.16
Bulls — Natural$ per cwt · actual wt
29	—	1,794	85.50–87.50	85.89
5	—	1,663	75.00	75.00
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
54	—	997	25.50–40.50	32.47
762	—	1,198	45.00–61.00	48.77
4	—	1,022	56.00–60.50	58.16
681	—	1,159	34.00–47.25	42.05
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
33	—	1,544	58.00–66.00	60.65
9	—	1,459	43.00–49.00	45.66
2	—	1,518	65.00	65.00
33	—	1,509	50.00–59.50	54.55
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
14	—	1,205	36.00–42.00	39.90
225	—	1,335	40.50–55.00	48.26
24	—	1,309	63.50–67.50	64.91
322	—	1,351	50.00–65.50	56.81
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	898	44.00–48.00	46.25
14	—	918	25.00–34.50	32.09
12	—	909	33.00–42.00	37.21
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
22	—	1,654	55.00–65.00	60.67
33	—	1,595	45.00–59.00	52.78
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
159	—	1,172	34.00–45.00	39.84
148	—	1,125	25.00–37.50	32.50
108	—	1,189	41.00–51.50	46.40
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
59	—	1,392	50.00–58.50	54.28
16	—	1,426	39.00–40.00	39.07
81	—	1,415	37.00–54.00	45.90

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	389	—	1,013	42.00–98.00	73.51
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	33	—	1,119	45.00–80.00	65.16
(<2 yrs)	Open	740	—	889	70.00–126.00	98.91
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	37	—	853	55.00–84.50	74.25
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	5	—	1,217	54.00–90.00	68.77
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	11	—	1,122	54.00–57.00	55.87
(<2 yrs)	Open	10	—	903	65.00	65.00
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	1	—	765	57.50	57.50
Bred Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	58	—	887	1,025.00–1,360.00	1,304.08
(<2 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	101	—	959	950.00–1,350.00	1,267.57
Bred Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	—	975	975.00	975.00
(<2 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	7	—	1,007	1,000.00–1,075.00	1,040.69
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	34	—	1,247	525.00–675.00	642.82
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	18	—	1,322	710.00	710.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	124	—	1,268	650.00–775.00	708.44
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	26	—	1,226	585.00–950.00	694.15
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	19	—	1,165	52.00–54.00	53.67
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	7	—	974	61.00–100.00	80.18
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	38	—	1,388	650.00–1,050.00	815.73
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	13	—	1,349	46.00–53.00	47.14
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	254	—	1,235	700.00–1,225.00	861.30
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	11	—	1,156	475.00–960.00	833.07
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	—	1,313	45.00	45.00
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	13	—	1,177	560.00–760.00	595.28
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	121	—	1,343	750.00–1,300.00	1,067.88
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	12	—	1,045	43.00–77.00	61.95
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	20	—	1,112	700.00–1,075.00	832.55
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	402	—	1,212	760.00–1,475.00	1,154.87
Bred Cows — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	6	—	1,320	45.00–50.00	47.36
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	—	1,185	625.00	625.00
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	—	1,253	45.00	45.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	5	—	1,165	625.00–700.00	636.14
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	5	—	1,192	775.00–800.00	784.88
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	—	1,120	550.00	550.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	4	—	1,030	500.00–900.00	734.18
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	9	—	1,341	660.00–725.00	665.71
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	20	—	1,149	600.00–650.00	605.22
Bred Cows — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	—	1,120	700.00	700.00

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