Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

The state in one line

Counts as USDA filed them

Montana reported 252 priced lines covering 10,558 head across feeder cattle, slaughter cattle, replacement cattle. USDA puts feeder cattle receipts at 8,677 head. slaughter cattle receipts at 3,654 head. replacement cattle receipts at 1,571 head. Counted as USDA files them — 15 of those are cow-calf pairs, each counted once.

Mon Nov 10, 2025

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 8,677Last week 11,819Year ago 10,684

Slaughter CattleReceipts 3,654Last week 3,828Year ago 4,376

Replacement CattleReceipts 1,571Last week 3,230Year ago 1,900

Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Steer calves under 400 lbs were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. 400-649 lbs steers sold steady to 5.00 higher, steers over 650 lbs sold steady to 8.00 lower. Heifer calves under 400 lbs were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noticed. Heifers 400-449 lbs sold 10.00-20.00 higher; Heifers over 450 lbs sold steady to 5.00 higher. Demand was mostly moderate to good with many takers for all weight classes again this week. The driver of the light calf market was a combination of southern wheat buyers and northern Canadian buyers. The heavy calf market (calves over 550 lbs) was driven higher by Canadian buyers and order buyers buying for packers. Quality this week limited demand in places. Despite lower deferred CME positions buyers showed good demand for high quality offerings throughout the week. CME positions remain volatile with large swings seen almost daily. The November contract closed at 338.675, 12.275 higher for the week. The January contract closed at 320.55, 0.975 higher than last Friday. The March contract closed Friday at 313.35. A larger buyer pool was noticed this week with more farmer feeders, ranchers, and order buyers in the stands actively bidding on offerings. Market activity was mostly moderate to active this week as a result. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate demand. Feeding cow demand was moderate to good this week, however demand was not as strong as the last few weeks. All cow feeders report they are starting to fill pens and demand for feeding cows was significantly lighter this week as a result. High quality cows suitable to feed to premium white sold mostly 4.00-6.00 lower. Buyers showed the lightest demand for thin cows this week as many of these cows were purchased buy private buyers over the past few weeks and many smaller farmer feeders report full lots. Thin cows sold 4.00-8.00 lower. Demand for slaughter cows was mostly light. Many lame or blemished cows were seen this week. Demand for lame and blemished cows was significantly lighter this week as many of these cows which were purchased to feed were purchased by packer buyers this week. Breaking cows sold steady to weak, boning and lean cows sold unevenly steady from 3.00 higher to sharply lower. Regional packers were in the market this past week at some sales buying high quality cows for slaughter this pushed high quality slaughter cows higher in places. Lame or blemished cows were off the most this past week as demand for these offerings was the lightest. Slaughter bulls sold 4.00-6.00 lower. Moderate demand was seen for young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed. Coming 2 year old cows 10.00-20.00 lower. Demand for these offerings has lightened as the calendar has gotten late in the year and many buyers have stopped buying cows for fall rebreeding programs. Quality this week was not as attractive as last weeks offering and hampered demand as well.

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
1	350–400	360	510.00	510.00
8	400–450	429	380.00–420.00	405.39
4	450–500	489	382.50–385.00	383.09
8	500–550	524	380.00–397.00	390.37
18	550–600	551	330.00	330.00
20	600–650	615	347.50	347.50
Bulls — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
10	400–450	440	380.00	380.00
5	450–500	493	300.00	300.00
7	500–550	513	362.50	362.50
3	550–600	560	355.00	355.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
1	250–300	280	670.00	670.00
3	300–350	337	555.00	555.00
5	350–400	355	480.00–560.00	527.30
7	400–450	437	458.00–505.00	491.68
1	450–500	465	480.00	480.00
29	500–550	530	400.00–415.00	406.65
6	550–600	572	340.00–402.50	377.72
1	600–650	620	327.00	327.00
9	650–700	684	310.00–342.50	321.49
4	700–750	716	315.00–322.50	316.86
2	750–800	760	267.50	267.50
Bulls — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
2	1200–1250	1,248	255.00	255.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
6	750–800	782	281.00	281.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
2	800–850	810	300.00	300.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
1	200–250	245	610.00	610.00
12	250–300	290	565.00–600.00	574.71
11	300–350	319	535.00–560.00	546.54
58	350–400	374	435.00–545.00	499.05
82	400–450	432	450.00–485.00	475.59
104	450–500	471	420.00–496.00	448.13
180	500–550	520	355.00–452.50	422.73
40	550–600	583	350.00–402.50	379.91
125	600–650	627	326.00–390.00	355.43
26	650–700	684	327.50–355.00	348.42
28	700–750	739	323.00–332.00	327.36
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
3	300–350	318	490.00	490.00
25	350–400	388	450.00–470.00	461.95
1	400–450	405	485.00	485.00
8	450–500	481	417.00–460.00	449.38
9	500–550	512	402.50–405.00	403.86
9	550–600	574	380.00–392.50	385.82
3	650–700	682	350.00	350.00
2	900–950	908	310.00	310.00
5	950–1000	951	308.00	308.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
16	250–300	276	615.00–620.00	616.93
26	300–350	331	550.00–620.00	589.04
27	350–400	383	540.00–580.00	555.39
184	400–450	429	507.50–557.00	524.26
297	450–500	469	445.00–515.00	491.87
485	500–550	536	429.00–482.50	453.37
479	550–600	581	399.00–454.00	419.51
339	600–650	620	367.50–414.00	396.66
263	650–700	669	350.00–394.00	376.97
54	700–750	709	355.00–385.50	368.66
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
19	400–450	434	512.50–528.00	520.04
3	450–500	483	470.00	470.00
30	500–550	512	448.00–477.50	470.28
103	550–600	573	412.50–430.00	419.97
57	600–650	618	380.00–415.00	402.78
58	650–700	680	381.00–392.00	383.84
4	700–750	700	382.50	382.50
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
4	500–550	524	401.00	401.00
20	550–600	592	387.50–397.00	393.19
4	600–650	615	350.00	350.00
18	650–700	690	337.50	337.50
Steers — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
2	200–250	240	575.00	575.00
4	300–350	346	400.00	400.00
7	350–400	391	430.00	430.00
9	400–450	441	422.50	422.50
12	500–550	512	375.00–382.00	380.84
13	550–600	590	310.00–357.50	325.99
3	600–650	602	321.00	321.00
Steers — Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
4	450–500	493	315.00	315.00
5	500–550	529	310.00	310.00
Steers — Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
2	600–650	645	325.00	325.00
Steers — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
22	500–550	532	402.50–432.00	411.88
25	550–600	561	360.00–410.00	407.93
2	600–650	603	330.00	330.00
7	650–700	673	349.00–390.00	364.14
17	700–750	730	346.00	346.00
7	750–800	750	337.00	337.00
Steers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
4	400–450	426	435.00	435.00
50	450–500	472	400.00–417.50	405.67
7	500–550	507	355.00	355.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
2	650–700	683	345.00	345.00
3	750–800	797	309.00	309.00
3	800–850	805	305.00	305.00
Steers — Medium 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	350–400	390	360.00	360.00
2	500–550	513	300.00	300.00
Steers — Medium 2$ per cwt · actual wt
5	550–600	586	285.00	285.00
Steers — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
4	450–500	458	385.00	385.00
Steers — Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
10	400–450	437	457.50–480.00	461.62
18	450–500	461	410.00–425.00	419.42
19	500–550	525	397.50–410.00	402.77
Steers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
24	450–500	493	432.00–432.50	432.08
Steers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
4	750–800	760	356.00	356.00
Steers — Medium 2-3$ per cwt · actual wt
8	300–350	343	432.50	432.50
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
14	300–350	349	410.00	410.00
2	450–500	495	345.00	345.00
27	500–550	526	345.00–379.00	367.22
9	550–600	571	321.00–336.00	331.12
5	750–800	771	318.00	318.00
33	800–850	823	280.00–308.00	294.93
1	950–1000	950	287.50	287.50
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
19	250–300	285	530.00–550.00	541.58
27	300–350	322	420.00–495.00	459.76
53	350–400	378	410.00–465.00	441.19
63	400–450	425	388.00–441.00	417.98
78	450–500	484	337.50–407.50	374.45
146	500–550	529	327.50–382.50	353.76
63	550–600	575	321.00–362.50	347.15
23	600–650	624	315.00–350.00	331.56
10	650–700	675	285.00–329.00	315.46
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
1	200–250	245	565.00	565.00
1	250–300	295	505.00	505.00
16	300–350	320	490.00–520.00	505.68
64	350–400	381	460.00–502.50	492.50
159	400–450	423	420.00–499.00	465.48
381	450–500	471	340.00–457.00	423.99
553	500–550	518	372.00–414.00	398.29
358	550–600	579	350.00–389.00	377.01
114	600–650	615	329.00–374.00	354.25
44	650–700	669	302.00–340.00	331.56
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
8	600–650	627	320.00	320.00
2	950–1000	968	292.50	292.50
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
15	400–450	441	431.00	431.00
91	450–500	496	436.50	436.50
6	500–550	504	414.00	414.00
49	550–600	578	352.00–390.00	372.09
9	800–850	802	312.50	312.50
1	850–900	850	315.00	315.00
14	950–1000	970	295.00	295.00
Heifers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
8	550–600	553	315.00	315.00
21	600–650	604	337.00	337.00
10	650–700	670	290.00	290.00
9	750–800	757	287.00	287.00
Heifers — Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
7	350–400	390	425.00	425.00
4	1100–1150	1,134	260.00	260.00
Heifers — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
17	350–400	357	400.00	400.00
2	400–450	400	445.00	445.00
10	450–500	480	324.00–412.50	375.90
9	500–550	528	320.00–340.00	326.73
46	550–600	566	325.00–369.00	365.55
25	600–650	627	300.00–342.00	321.42
5	650–700	658	300.00	300.00
3	700–750	743	287.50	287.50
Heifers — Medium and Large 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
29	400–450	416	315.00–385.00	363.86
5	450–500	465	290.00–352.00	315.34
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
3	600–650	605	315.00	315.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
13	450–500	454	461.00	461.00
52	600–650	637	358.00	358.00
Heifers — Medium 2$ per cwt · actual wt
12	300–350	349	310.00	310.00
Heifers — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
19	550–600	593	324.00	324.00
Heifers — Medium 2-3$ per cwt · actual wt
7	300–350	323	435.00	435.00
Heifers — Medium 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	300–350	348	445.00	445.00
4	350–400	375	450.00	450.00
12	400–450	420	355.00–435.00	413.89
21	450–500	459	377.50	377.50
4	500–550	515	365.00	365.00
3	550–600	565	337.50	337.50
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
5	450–500	499	340.00	340.00
5	500–550	523	322.50	322.50
Heifers — Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
5	1050–1100	1,095	284.00	284.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Replacement$ per cwt · actual wt
36	500–550	542	400.00	400.00
98	600–650	608	360.00–383.00	370.65
Heifers — Medium 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
6	850–900	863	255.00	255.00
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
2	350–400	373	380.00	380.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
6	400–450	436	360.00	360.00
Beef/Dairy Steers — Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
4	750–800	754	310.00	310.00
6	800–850	837	306.00	306.00
Beef/Dairy Steers — Large 1-2 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
22	950–1000	998	287.00	287.00
Beef/Dairy Heifers — Large 1-2 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
19	850–900	888	273.00	273.00

Replacement Cattle

As reported

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	4	—	1,091	2,850.00	2,850.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	—	1,343	2,550.00	2,550.00
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	9	—	1,309	2,250.00–2,800.00	2,648.76
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	—	1,177	162.00	162.00
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	4	—	1,339	1,850.00–2,650.00	2,350.99
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per head · actual wt
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	—	1,068	3,150.00	3,150.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	14	—	1,128	2,800.00–3,300.00	3,072.68
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	32	—	1,087	2,700.00–3,350.00	3,126.18
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	7	—	1,346	2,150.00–3,000.00	2,380.48
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	7	—	1,399	171.00	171.00
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	7	—	1,384	2,575.00–2,700.00	2,659.37
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	38	—	1,482	2,700.00–3,200.00	3,040.58
Bred Cows — Large 1 · Broken Mouth$ per head · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	3	—	1,248	2,200.00	2,200.00
Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	10	—	1,350	2,600.00	2,600.00
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Broken Mouth$ per head · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	37	—	1,394	2,375.00–2,950.00	2,714.59
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	3	—	1,243	172.50	172.50
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	13	—	1,393	2,100.00–2,800.00	2,356.37
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	20	—	1,356	174.00	174.00
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1-2 · Broken Mouth$ per head · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	22	—	1,262	2,000.00–2,500.00	2,265.80
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	11	—	1,186	2,100.00–2,600.00	2,222.37
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1-2 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	7	—	1,231	167.00	167.00
Bred Cows — Medium 1$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	2	—	875	2,700.00	2,700.00
Bred Cows — Large 1$ per head · actual wt
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	4	—	1,289	2,550.00	2,550.00
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	—	1,323	172.00–185.00	180.32
(<2 yrs)	Open	10	—	1,100	200.00–271.00	237.56
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	364	—	1,085	172.00–310.00	227.68
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	Open	37	—	1,216	165.00–185.00	178.02
(<2 yrs)	Open	300	—	955	210.00–332.50	278.88
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	—	748	220.00	220.00
(<2 yrs)	Open	3	—	843	255.00	255.00
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	53	—	1,031	170.00–250.00	202.51
(<2 yrs)	Open	33	—	928	200.00–305.00	260.34
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	—	890	180.00	180.00
Stock Cows — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	—	785	240.00	240.00
(<2 yrs)	Open	1	—	770	270.00	270.00
Stock Cows — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	12	—	786	245.00–300.00	268.68
Stock Cows — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	1	—	1,295	175.00	175.00
(<2 yrs)	Open	7	—	993	200.00–255.00	210.26
Bred Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per head · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	6	—	1,215	3,000.00	3,000.00
Cow-Calf Pairs — Medium and Large 1$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	15	—	1,432	4,000.00	4,000.00

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	2,067	177.00–182.00	180.36
1	—	2,215	192.00	192.00
36	—	1,741	134.00–176.00	159.24
36	—	1,908	172.00–190.00	180.64
Bulls — Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	1,126	131.00–172.50	156.53
1	—	1,225	167.50	167.50
Bulls — Heavy Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	2,528	182.00–184.00	183.00
Bulls — Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,353	195.00–199.00	197.01
49	—	1,702	170.00–187.00	179.06
10	—	1,640	162.50–178.00	170.48
Cows — Premium White 65-75%$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	1,730	157.00–162.00	159.28
26	—	1,723	165.00	165.00
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
375	—	1,190	120.00–161.00	146.51
40	—	1,193	164.00–185.00	170.70
291	—	1,192	153.00–169.00	163.81
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
284	—	1,361	111.00–163.50	154.47
732	—	1,366	157.00–175.00	166.58
82	—	1,419	173.00–178.00	176.83
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
44	—	1,664	138.00–169.50	159.53
6	—	1,553	177.50–180.00	178.83
40	—	1,653	169.00–177.50	172.56
2	—	1,615	132.50–136.00	134.33
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
109	—	1,500	166.00–178.00	172.10
51	—	1,540	153.00–173.50	166.70
1	—	1,585	179.00	179.00
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
84	—	1,287	157.00–179.00	163.49
8	—	1,359	85.00–97.50	95.18
16	—	1,397	125.00–153.50	138.08
70	—	1,393	102.00–128.00	114.20
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
20	—	920	87.50–115.00	101.76
1	—	840	130.00	130.00
8	—	901	40.00–85.00	61.41
1	—	865	107.50	107.50
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
171	—	1,161	90.00–126.00	106.41
21	—	1,176	120.00–164.00	138.98
40	—	1,137	50.00–95.00	80.95
40	—	1,173	165.00–182.50	169.57
Cows — Premium White 65-75% · Heavy Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	2,029	165.00	165.00
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Heavy Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	2,120	167.00	167.00
Dairy Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	875	85.00	85.00

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

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Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

The state in one line