Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Montana · Weekly summary · Mon, Jun 1
● As filed130 lines reportedUSDA AMS · slug 1778

The state in one line

Counts as USDA filed them
Montana reported 130 priced lines covering 1,892 head across feeder cattle, slaughter cattle, replacement cattle. USDA puts feeder cattle receipts at 543 head. slaughter cattle receipts at 1,217 head. replacement cattle receipts at 533 head. Counted as USDA files them — 15 of those are cow-calf pairs, each counted once.

Montana Weekly Livestock Auction Summary

Mon Jun 1, 2026
USDA Livestock, Poultry & Grain Market News · Federal-State Market News Service, Billings, MT (LS-BL)
Feeder CattleReceipts 543Last week 965Year ago 685
Slaughter CattleReceipts 1,217Last week 1,320Year ago 1,466
Replacement CattleReceipts 533Last week 1,385Year ago 641

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were all too lightly tested either this week or last week to develop any market trend. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Most cattle were offered in small groups or as singles. Rains have helped improve pasture and range conditions across much of the state. Some renewed demand was seen this week for cattle suitable to turn out on grass. A few sets of fall calves have were seen this past week as well and these offerings were average to attractive in quality and sold with moderate to good demand. Demand for feeder cattle was good to very good. CME positions were volatile this past week. A confirmed case of New World screw worm whip sawed futures before pushing them the limit higher on Thursday. The August contract closed Friday at 353.90, 5.475 higher than last Fridays close. The September contract closed Friday at 350.825, 5.475 higher than last Fridays close. The October contract closed Friday at 347.22, 5.195 higher than last Fridays close. Market activity was mostly moderate to active despite a small buyer pool. Weigh up cows sold on mostly good demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Feeding cow demand remains very good. Feeding cows sold mostly steady to 3.00 lower on breaking and boning cows. Thin lean feeding cows sold fully steady. Good demand was seen this week from both private feeders and Canadian buyers. Canadian buyers were active again this week as they bought thinner fleshed, lower yielding offering to put on feed. American packers showed a desire to buy cows lower. They picked around trying to find cows to fit their orders and budget but purchased very few cows throughout the week. Slaughter cow demand was mostly light to moderate this week and significantly lower than the last few weeks. The best demand continues to be for fleshy breaking cows as these offerings have the most yield and heaviest carcass at harvest. Breaking cows sold fully steady in a narrow comparison. Boning and lean cows sold 4.00-8.00 lower in a narrow comparison. Very few cows are being sold to go to harvest immediately as most purchased for slaughter are too blemished to feed. Slaughter bulls sold 2.00-6.00 lower. Feeding bulls sold 2.00-4.00 lower. Bulls that would feed often sold higher on a dressed basis than big, high yielding bulls going directly to slaughter. Demand for feeding bulls was moderate to good. Demand for young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed was mostly good, and stronger than last week. Rain fell across much of the upper plains giving buyers some relief as they have or look to turn out cows to breed. Cows and heifers which lost calves sold on very good demand this week. Feeding demand for young cows which are still eligible to grade choice was good. Buyers took heifers up to 3 years old to put on feed this week. Young cows sold 8.00-12.00 higher. Quality was mostly average to attractive.

Replacement Cattle

As reported
AgeStageHeadWt rangeAvg wtPrice rangeAvg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per head · actual wt
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo)21,5283,150.00–3,450.003,287.48
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)11,4553,200.003,200.00
Young (2-4 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)11,4553,400.003,400.00
Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo)11,2253,650.003,650.00
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo)91,2933,500.00–3,700.003,599.40
Young (2-4 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)21,2403,650.00–3,700.003,673.89
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo)11,4153,500.003,500.00
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)41,4283,050.003,050.00
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo)41,5142,700.002,700.00
Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo)41,3323,475.00–3,500.003,493.71
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo)21,6103,450.003,450.00
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Broken Mouth$ per head · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)31,3172,700.00–3,100.002,976.99
Aged (>8 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo)51,4333,200.00–3,500.003,334.77
Aged (>8 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo)11,3452,600.002,600.00
Bred Cows — Large 1$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo)11,6753,350.003,350.00
Cow-Calf Pairs — Medium and Large 1 · Broken Mouth$ per head · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)Open41,8194,100.00–4,325.004,272.11
Aged (>8 yrs)Open31,6423,750.00–3,850.003,819.44
Cow-Calf Pairs — Medium and Large 1$ per head · actual wt
Middle Aged/Aged (>5 yrs)Open31,7224,200.00–4,325.004,282.04
Cow-Calf Pairs — Medium and Large 1-2$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)Open11,3704,300.004,300.00
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)Open11,5054,000.004,000.00
Cow-Calf Pairs — Medium and Large 1-2 · Broken Mouth$ per head · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)Open31,6543,900.003,900.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per head · actual wt
(<2 yrs)N/A31,3134,200.004,200.00
Bred Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo)31,1573,500.00–3,800.003,601.15
Young (2-4 yrs)2nd Stage (4-6 mo)21,2553,400.003,400.00
Bred Heifers — Large 1$ per head · actual wt
(<2 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo)11,4053,600.003,600.00
Bred Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)3rd Stage (7-9 mo)21,3353,350.00–3,500.003,422.75
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)Open21,073195.00195.00
Stock Cows — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)Open1880270.00270.00
(<2 yrs)Open9813290.00–325.00308.52
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)Open341,219187.00–237.50199.74
Young (2-4 yrs)Open1121,149189.00–332.50244.02
(<2 yrs)Open1721,048201.00–341.50290.24
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)Open231,116187.00–270.00208.13
(<2 yrs)Open9973203.00–305.00265.29
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)Open11,195207.50207.50
Stock Cows — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)Open2875205.00–230.00216.21
(<2 yrs)Open4836255.00–282.50265.10
Stock Cows — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)Open121,343191.00–262.50200.32

Slaughter Cattle

As reported
HeadWt rangeAvg wtPrice rangeAvg price
Bulls — Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
141,554185.00–210.00199.91
401,640205.00–221.00214.45
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
51,708175.00–206.00191.24
262,160221.00–244.00228.10
12,330214.00214.00
32,252210.00–218.00212.69
531,929202.50–222.00215.54
Bulls — Natural$ per cwt · actual wt
92,045235.00–248.00243.36
Bulls — Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
41,383180.00–200.00190.22
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
681,604176.00–186.50182.85
101,501185.00–196.00188.57
171,703165.00–174.50170.02
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
341,257179.00–189.00188.17
331,147152.50–176.50169.75
931,194175.00–186.50183.80
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
4960157.00–164.00162.19
585985.00–105.0097.32
14910102.50–137.50122.84
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
351,461155.00–177.00168.99
2921,401176.00–186.50184.38
1961,364186.50–194.00187.95
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
31,518166.00–181.00171.82
51,466151.00–165.50156.62
11,330144.00144.00
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
161,661181.00–185.00183.62
201,702169.00–178.50174.82
91,640165.00–168.00166.72
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
131,171145.00–162.50150.63
21,383172.50–184.00178.78
121,130112.50–140.00128.97
51,121117.50–122.50121.18

Feeder Cattle

As reported
HeadWt rangeAvg wtPrice rangeAvg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
6350–400384520.00520.00
3400–450445500.00500.00
4600–650634425.00–435.00430.04
1650–700680405.00405.00
1700–750730385.00385.00
1800–850835357.00357.00
1900–950915310.00310.00
11000–10501,010308.00308.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
12950–1000952315.00–324.00323.24
51000–10501,014308.00308.00
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
23500–550509546.00546.00
21550–600563465.00–501.00483.91
10600–650623437.50–442.50442.01
33650–700660415.00–445.00441.15
11700–750701410.00–427.00419.91
4750–800761411.00411.00
4800–850805386.00386.00
1900–950910348.00348.00
Steers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
6650–700652355.00–392.50386.22
1700–750740342.50342.50
3750–800755347.50347.50
1850–900875315.00315.00
Steers — Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
21050–11001,068291.00291.00
Steers — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
3350–400375470.00470.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
7450–500464450.00–480.00462.99
1550–600590400.00400.00
3600–650603385.00385.00
4650–700675371.00–380.00373.17
2750–800798328.00328.00
5800–850836312.50–330.00324.49
2850–900888318.00318.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
4450–500455520.00520.00
6600–650609407.50407.50
4750–800762362.50–367.50365.00
4800–850826345.00345.00
1900–950920321.00321.00
Bulls — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
91100–11501,130271.00–282.50275.73
21150–12001,160263.00–270.00266.52
21200–12501,203247.50–255.00251.24
31250–13001,257232.00–232.50232.17
31350–14001,383232.00232.00
Bulls — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
2300–350300555.00555.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
3550–600550410.00410.00
6600–650627382.50382.50
9700–750736325.00–361.00354.85
13750–800769340.00–349.00345.06
4800–850828316.00–334.00325.22
7850–900867335.00335.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
37450–500494420.00–432.50429.80
8550–600582432.50–441.00440.00
18600–650639388.00–410.00391.23
4650–700683370.00370.00
13700–750723370.00–379.00372.61
36750–800775347.00–367.00361.59
3800–850812348.00348.00
Heifers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
2450–500480437.50437.50
2500–550543385.00385.00
1550–600550380.00380.00
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
2500–550543407.50407.50
8550–600599400.00400.00
Beef/Dairy Steers — Large 2-3$ per cwt · actual wt
4750–800774260.00260.00
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.