Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

The state in one line

Counts as USDA filed them

Montana reported 218 priced lines covering 12,311 head across feeder cattle, slaughter cattle, replacement cattle. USDA puts feeder cattle receipts at 11,056 head. slaughter cattle receipts at 2,575 head. replacement cattle receipts at 1,238 head. Counted as USDA files them — 24 of those are cow-calf pairs, each counted once.

Mon Oct 14, 2024

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 11,056Last week 7,727Year ago 10,039

Slaughter CattleReceipts 2,575Last week 1,334Year ago 2,623

Replacement CattleReceipts 1,238Last week 392Year ago 1,313

Compared to last week: Steer calves under 500 lbs sold mostly steady to 5.00 higher, steers over 500 lbs sold mostly steady to firm. Heifer calves under 500 lbs sold generally steady, heifer calves over 500 lbs sold steady to firm. Yearling steers were too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Yearling heifers under 800 lbs sold mostly steady to 5.00 lower, while heifers over 800 lbs sold generally steady. Calf quality this week was mostly average to attractive. Yearling quality was mostly average to attractive, and much more attractive this week compared to last week. Demand was mostly moderate to good for yearlings. Additionally, yearling cattle were offered in larger packages this week with several load lots and multiple load lot consignments seen. Demand for calves was mostly good to very good. Very few load lots or partial load lots were seen this week. Most cattle were offered in small to moderate size packages. Packages sizes under 5 head sold with significantly lighter demand compared to larger consignments. The best demand for calves continues to be for high quality light weight calves under 500 lbs which buyers can develop into yearlings. Many of these calves are going south to wheat pastures or west to California to grass. CME positions were slightly lower this past week. The October contract closed at 248.325, 1.425 lower than last Fridays close. The November contract closed Friday at 247.60, 2.20 lower than last Fridays close. Market activity this week was mostly active, with good participation seen from bidders both ringside as well as over the internet. Weigh up cows and bulls sold on mostly moderate to good demand for moderate offerings. Packers showed light to moderate demand for slaughter cows this week. Packers were forced to pay higher prices for slaughter cows this week as feeding buyers purchased the vast majority of cows to send to feed this week. Even slightly lame or blemished cows were purchased by feeding buyers this week. Slaughter cows sold mostly 5.00-10.00 higher on breaking cows. Boning and lean cows sold steady to firm. Feeding cow demand was mostly good to very good demand, with many takers seen for this class of cows. Feeding cows sold mostly 3.00-6.00 higher, with the biggest increase in price seen for low yielding cows. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 3.00-5.00 higher. Demand for feeding bulls was light to moderate this week as packers were the main buyer of feeding bulls. Feeding bulls sold generally steady. Cow and bull quality this week was mostly average to attractive. Weigh conditions were mostly average this week. Cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly 5.00 higher with very good demand seen from rebreed buyers. Quality was mostly average to attractive this week.

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
32	450–500	473	306.00–343.00	319.00
31	500–550	502	308.00	308.00
25	600–650	643	280.00	280.00
31	650–700	651	280.00	280.00
66	700–750	724	262.00–274.00	268.21
33	750–800	770	258.00–260.00	258.86
125	800–850	838	244.00–258.00	255.53
47	850–900	869	231.50–254.00	232.78
245	950–1000	974	236.50–240.25	240.00
4	1000–1050	1,011	218.00	218.00
8	1050–1100	1,081	219.00	219.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
91	250–300	278	409.00–450.00	424.64
104	300–350	328	405.00–432.50	422.13
252	350–400	373	380.00–432.50	404.20
404	400–450	432	330.00–400.00	359.14
671	450–500	471	309.00–356.00	326.87
950	500–550	526	287.00–319.00	308.00
851	550–600	572	271.00–298.75	292.07
196	600–650	623	254.00–290.00	281.47
194	650–700	669	252.00–285.00	273.10
59	700–750	729	247.00–274.00	264.39
11	750–800	785	252.00–254.00	252.55
5	850–900	857	244.00	244.00
Steers — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
7	400–450	431	290.00	290.00
5	450–500	490	260.00	260.00
12	500–550	515	250.00	250.00
2	550–600	593	250.00	250.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
8	500–550	523	286.00	286.00
11	600–650	623	271.00	271.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
4	600–650	633	300.00	300.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
10	450–500	482	282.50–302.00	296.33
7	550–600	553	277.00	277.00
13	700–750	725	253.00–257.00	254.24
69	750–800	770	237.00–250.00	247.37
3	850–900	862	242.50	242.50
1	900–950	945	210.00	210.00
2	950–1000	960	225.00	225.00
15	1000–1050	1,037	219.50	219.50
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
6	200–250	248	445.00	445.00
8	250–300	293	405.00–425.00	411.11
41	300–350	336	382.50–410.00	386.16
175	350–400	388	330.00–387.50	355.13
63	400–450	432	317.50–348.00	333.49
202	450–500	490	285.00–306.00	299.09
141	500–550	533	272.00–300.00	286.76
11	550–600	597	265.00–266.00	265.18
27	600–650	639	258.00–270.00	263.27
6	650–700	676	246.00–250.00	248.03
6	700–750	709	240.00	240.00
Steers — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
10	350–400	382	327.50	327.50
3	400–450	422	307.50	307.50
10	450–500	481	301.00–310.00	304.61
3	500–550	515	295.00	295.00
12	550–600	592	264.00	264.00
5	750–800	794	238.00	238.00
Steers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
13	850–900	862	244.00	244.00
24	1100–1150	1,120	215.25	215.25
Steers — Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
4	500–550	520	285.00–287.00	285.96
11	550–600	597	270.00	270.00
5	650–700	652	257.00	257.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
5	500–550	536	282.50	282.50
11	650–700	692	257.00	257.00
9	700–750	741	257.00	257.00
Steers — Medium 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
10	400–450	449	312.50	312.50
Steers — Medium 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
13	400–450	436	260.00	260.00
5	450–500	496	225.00	225.00
Steers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
13	650–700	682	264.00–265.00	264.31
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
33	250–300	280	375.00–390.00	381.46
101	300–350	309	337.50–380.00	367.15
260	350–400	376	321.00–370.00	339.88
342	400–450	420	308.00–338.00	322.26
530	450–500	479	280.00–310.50	300.29
523	500–550	524	264.00–295.00	282.58
197	550–600	571	258.00–274.00	266.94
105	600–650	617	245.00–261.00	257.00
35	650–700	665	246.00–251.00	249.12
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
22	400–450	430	313.00–316.00	314.75
9	500–550	546	265.00	265.00
14	600–650	625	258.00–264.00	259.25
4	650–700	698	252.00	252.00
161	700–750	709	245.00–250.50	248.29
166	750–800	759	235.00–246.00	241.61
71	800–850	827	234.00–238.50	236.09
115	850–900	867	225.50–235.50	233.08
29	950–1000	980	213.00–220.00	216.19
21	1000–1050	1,025	211.00–215.00	212.59
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
8	400–450	434	291.00	291.00
10	450–500	485	279.00	279.00
15	500–550	505	262.00	262.00
5	850–900	861	217.00	217.00
2	900–950	918	210.00	210.00
8	1000–1050	1,041	205.00	205.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
5	450–500	496	273.00	273.00
4	600–650	601	235.00	235.00
9	750–800	777	237.00	237.00
2	950–1000	955	198.00	198.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
25	250–300	288	345.00–350.00	348.55
54	300–350	341	330.00–355.00	338.32
71	350–400	384	305.00–335.00	324.10
90	400–450	441	290.00–307.50	295.10
93	450–500	478	260.00–293.00	281.58
9	500–550	536	262.00–267.00	265.34
8	550–600	576	241.00–256.00	248.69
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
4	400–450	410	310.00	310.00
9	650–700	661	232.00	232.00
12	750–800	796	226.00–231.00	228.91
5	800–850	812	233.00	233.00
11	850–900	886	220.00–225.00	223.20
7	900–950	924	215.00–220.00	218.00
11	950–1000	965	208.00	208.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
4	800–850	836	207.50	207.50
Heifers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
5	750–800	764	241.00	241.00
2	850–900	875	212.50	212.50
88	900–950	908	235.75	235.75
18	950–1000	999	222.00	222.00
2	1000–1050	1,045	208.00	208.00
39	1050–1100	1,077	202.00–210.00	205.32
17	1100–1150	1,119	199.00–205.00	200.57
1	1200–1250	1,205	191.00	191.00
5	1250–1300	1,266	192.00	192.00
Heifers — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	450–500	475	260.00	260.00
2	550–600	565	231.00	231.00
Heifers — Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
4	250–300	280	340.00	340.00
Heifers — Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
5	1050–1100	1,096	190.00	190.00
Heifers — Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
1	1250–1300	1,290	185.00	185.00
Heifers — Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
13	350–400	372	313.00	313.00
42	400–450	436	297.50–307.50	302.64
2	450–500	473	282.00	282.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
10	400–450	429	282.50–285.00	283.79
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
39	600–650	614	245.00–258.00	253.74
91	650–700	683	249.00–251.00	249.39
9	700–750	719	243.00	243.00
Heifers — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
15	550–600	588	254.00	254.00
3	600–650	627	241.00	241.00
33	650–700	666	232.50–243.00	234.37
Heifers — Medium 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
22	650–700	691	255.00	255.00
Heifers — Medium 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
31	300–350	340	315.00	315.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
2	850–900	873	220.00–222.50	221.25
2	1000–1050	1,020	212.50	212.50
Bulls — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
7	400–450	441	315.00	315.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
11	350–400	383	350.00	350.00
5	400–450	409	340.00	340.00
5	450–500	451	280.00	280.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1-2 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
8	400–450	414	305.00	305.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
2	600–650	603	227.50	227.50
1	750–800	780	230.00	230.00
2	1050–1100	1,078	190.00–194.00	192.02
Bulls — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
11	350–400	366	370.00–375.00	372.32
Bulls — Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
7	1100–1150	1,119	170.00–195.00	191.35
Bulls — Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
3	1200–1250	1,210	160.00	160.00
Bulls — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
2	1100–1150	1,123	213.00–215.00	213.99

Replacement Cattle

As reported

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	4	—	1,020	1,900.00	1,900.00
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	41	—	1,126	2,000.00–2,100.00	2,046.42
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	4	—	1,335	1,875.00	1,875.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	40	—	1,202	1,800.00–2,325.00	2,152.02
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	1	—	1,315	1,750.00	1,750.00
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	18	—	1,254	1,800.00–1,950.00	1,865.47
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	53	—	1,337	1,650.00–1,825.00	1,742.22
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Broken Mouth$ per head · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	—	1,263	1,600.00	1,600.00
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	50	—	1,304	1,550.00–1,650.00	1,620.33
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	27	—	1,258	117.00–135.00	130.21
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	89	—	1,277	119.00–121.00	120.45
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	—	993	1,600.00–1,850.00	1,716.50
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1-2 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	54	—	1,144	115.00–116.00	115.21
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	4	—	955	1,500.00	1,500.00
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Non-Legible BANGS$ per head · actual wt
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	3	—	1,207	1,800.00	1,800.00
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	235	—	1,050	132.50–192.50	164.94
(<2 yrs)	Open	314	—	954	145.00–221.00	198.51
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	11	—	957	208.00	208.00
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	1	—	745	130.00	130.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	—	850	155.00	155.00
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	27	—	953	140.00–199.00	156.74
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	19	—	1,006	130.00–167.50	137.09
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	2	—	1,295	176.00	176.00
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	5	—	807	192.50–199.00	194.59
Stock Cows — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	2	—	1,303	141.00–145.00	143.11
Bred Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per head · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	11	—	900	2,200.00	2,200.00
(<2 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	6	—	1,067	2,100.00	2,100.00
Bred Heifers — Medium 1$ per head · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	6	—	819	1,800.00–1,850.00	1,817.30
Cow-Calf Pairs — Medium and Large 1 · Broken Mouth$ per head · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	7	—	1,641	2,800.00	2,800.00
Cow-Calf Pairs — Medium and Large 1$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	9	—	1,236	3,200.00	3,200.00
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	8	—	1,590	3,000.00	3,000.00

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	900	111.00	111.00
5	—	968	72.50–87.00	84.45
13	—	898	85.00–107.00	94.56
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
295	—	1,203	117.00–128.00	122.83
116	—	1,223	127.00–145.00	132.04
225	—	1,173	91.00–123.00	111.99
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	1,641	121.50–130.00	122.90
22	—	1,639	135.00–139.00	136.56
70	—	1,559	126.00–137.00	132.95
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	1,245	122.00	122.00
21	—	1,182	80.00–91.00	87.46
20	—	1,194	107.00–116.00	109.63
110	—	1,148	90.00–108.00	99.61
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
34	—	1,404	97.00–112.00	107.62
2	—	1,298	129.00	129.00
1	—	1,490	96.00	96.00
20	—	1,350	111.00–123.00	114.76
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Heavy Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	2,065	136.50	136.50
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
9	—	1,718	123.00–133.00	128.47
9	—	1,842	128.00–146.50	140.27
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
164	—	1,422	135.00–144.00	137.04
80	—	1,401	104.00–125.00	115.00
610	—	1,385	116.00–135.00	130.00
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	900	109.00	109.00
Dairy Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	995	107.50	107.50
Bulls — Natural$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	1,820	167.00	167.00
2	—	1,890	152.00–155.00	153.53
5	—	1,475	134.00–147.00	141.91
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	1,385	151.00	151.00
58	—	1,788	128.00–150.00	142.05
6	—	2,138	162.00–165.00	164.27
31	—	1,884	148.00–164.00	155.18
5	—	2,085	164.00–176.00	168.47
Bulls — Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,220	125.00–127.50	126.21
Bulls — Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	1,493	144.00–152.00	147.64
50	—	1,539	127.00–147.00	136.35

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