Sale reports / Montana / Billings Livestock Commission / 2020-01-30

Billings Livestock Commission

Name: Billings Livestock Commission livestock auction prices — 2020-01-30
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2020-01-30

Feeder Cattle · Slaughter Cattle · Replacement Cattle · Billings, Montana · Thu, Jan 30

● Final78 lots reportedUSDA AMS · slug 1777

← Jan 23Jan 30Feb 6 →

Feeder Cattle receipts

4,150 head

▲ 3,423 vs last sale 727▲ 4,150 vs year ago 0 · no sale a year ago

Slaughter Cattle receipts

55 head

▼ 310 vs last sale 365▲ 55 vs year ago 0 · no sale a year ago

Replacement Cattle receipts

192 head

▼ 646 vs last sale 838▲ 192 vs year ago 0 · no sale a year ago

Also sold here(Mon)Mon Nov 2, 2026

View

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last sale: Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Feeder steers weighing less than 650 lbs were too lightly tested to develop a full market trend, however lower undertones were noticed; Feeder steers over 650 lbs sold generally steady to weak in a narrow comparison. 600-649 lbs heifers offered the best market test this week as these heifers sold mostly 1.00-2.00 higher, all other weights of heifer calves sold unevenly steady, from weak to firm. Quality this week was mixed from plain to attractive. Demand was mostly light to moderate for grass cattle and mostly moderate to good for backgrounded cattle. Backgrounded cattle were mostly attractive overall and more attractive than grass cattle this week. Notably all calves were pushing some fill this week as mild weather was seen throughout the day. Market activity this week was mostly active with many bidders and buyers in the stands. Weigh up cows and bulls were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend however lower undertones were noticed. Notably, cows and bulls were very full this sale and offered buyers below average weigh up conditions. Young age cows suitable to re-breed were too lightly tested to develop any market trend this week.

Weight class — the figures below change to match

Weight classPick one — the panels below update

Steers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb steers averaged $152.19/cwt on 1,894 head.

Average price

$152.19

1,894 head · 657 lb average

Value per head Derived

$1,000

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

−$113

per head · Medium 1 over Medium and Large 1-2

$20.00/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−7.98

vs MT average

Price by quality 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium 1	493	167.71	826	16thin
Medium and Large 1	661	152.44	1,007	1,726
Medium and Large 1-2	636	147.71	939	152

One grade step is worth $20.00/cwt here — about −$113 a head. Across this sale the premium is widest at 0–100 lb. USDA reports each grade on its own line and never publishes the spread.

How it compared 0–100 lb

Same class and week · spot auction only

This sale1,894 hd

152.19

—

MT average4 barns · 4,063 hd

160.17

−7.98

A barn can sit above the state average at one weight and below it at another — check the class you actually sell.

Slaughter cattle

By class and quality grade · $/cwt

Cull cows and bulls are graded, not weight-classed — grade is what moves the money here.

Class	Grade	Dressing	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Bulls	—	Low	1,714	71.24	1,221	10
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	Low	1,600	61.50	984	5thin
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Average	1,554	51.42	799	6thin
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Average	1,230	48.04	591	27

Every lot

78 lots · USDA AMS · Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction - Billings, MT (Thu)

Nothing removed and nothing rounded — the same lots as the USDA report, with per-head values added. Grouped by class and set lightest first; USDA files them in sale-ring order.

Class	Weight	Grade / description	Avg wt	Price	Range	Per head	Head
Feeder Cattle · Steers32 lots · lightest first
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	432	190.67/cwt	185.50–193.00	824	19
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	433	181.21/cwt	174.00–184.00	785	7
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	450	194.22/cwt	194.00–195.00	874	28
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	452	185.00/cwt	185.00–185.00	836	15
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	468	174.00/cwt	174.00–174.00	814	4
Steers	—	Medium 1	476	176.33/cwt	170.00–179.00	839	7
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	485	182.65/cwt	178.00–189.50	886	48
Steers	—	Medium 1Full	488	163.00/cwt	163.00–163.00	795	7
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	527	170.25/cwt	165.00–176.00	897	198
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	531	159.50/cwt	159.50–159.50	847	6
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	535	163.59/cwt	158.00–168.00	875	33
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	551	165.50/cwt	165.50–165.50	912	38
Steers	—	Medium 1	568	154.00/cwt	154.00–154.00	875	2
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	575	159.18/cwt	155.00–170.00	915	299
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	585	150.13/cwt	147.00–151.00	878	18
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	610	148.41/cwt	148.00–148.50	905	16
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	624	153.47/cwt	149.00–157.50	958	245
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	639	152.00/cwt	152.00–152.00	971	7
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	672	146.66/cwt	143.50–151.00	986	212
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	680	138.84/cwt	134.50–142.00	944	48
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Fancy	709	150.25/cwt	150.25–150.25	1,065	15
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	711	144.88/cwt	140.00–147.00	1,030	112
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	733	138.50/cwt	138.50–138.50	1,015	4
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	733	134.50/cwt	134.50–134.50	986	16
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Fancy	758	146.00/cwt	146.00–146.00	1,107	37
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	769	133.00/cwt	133.00–133.00	1,023	4
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	772	137.56/cwt	134.00–140.00	1,062	151
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	822	128.00/cwt	128.00–128.00	1,052	22
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	824	131.00/cwt	131.00–131.00	1,079	13
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	835	134.42/cwt	131.50–135.50	1,122	136
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	867	130.82/cwt	130.25–131.00	1,134	46
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	932	133.83/cwt	131.00–134.75	1,247	81
Feeder Cattle · Heifers26 lots · lightest first
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	394	163.00/cwt	163.00–163.00	642	13
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	408	153.00/cwt	153.00–153.00	624	4
Heifers	—	Medium 1	425	152.00/cwt	152.00–152.00	646	17
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	437	158.28/cwt	157.00–160.50	692	23
Heifers	—	Medium 1-2	452	144.00/cwt	144.00–144.00	651	31
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	468	158.02/cwt	154.00–162.00	740	63
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	478	143.50/cwt	143.00–144.00	686	10
Heifers	—	Medium 1	491	150.85/cwt	150.00–151.00	741	41
Heifers	—	Medium 1	513	135.00/cwt	135.00–135.00	693	3
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	515	157.50/cwt	157.50–157.50	811	46
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	521	156.01/cwt	150.00–161.00	813	220
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	529	145.81/cwt	144.00–149.00	771	48
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Fancy	567	159.00/cwt	158.50–159.50	902	90
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	577	146.94/cwt	142.00–153.00	848	222
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Fancy	606	148.00/cwt	148.00–148.00	897	10
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	620	143.75/cwt	138.50–146.25	891	193
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	629	133.87/cwt	133.50–134.00	842	20
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	657	130.00/cwt	130.00–130.00	854	5
Heifers	—	Medium 1-2	675	119.00/cwt	119.00–119.00	803	2
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	678	135.55/cwt	132.00–137.00	919	194
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	702	128.00/cwt	128.00–128.00	899	3
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	725	133.55/cwt	130.50–135.75	968	112
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	737	124.00/cwt	124.00–124.00	914	3
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	774	127.00/cwt	127.00–127.00	983	6
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	784	132.00/cwt	132.00–132.00	1,035	14
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	796	124.00/cwt	124.00–124.00	987	7
Feeder Cattle · Bulls2 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1	573	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	831	2
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1	607	137.00/cwt	137.00–137.00	832	3
Slaughter Cattle · Bulls1 lot · lightest first
Bulls	—	—	1,714	71.24/cwt	66.00–76.00	1,221	10
Slaughter Cattle · Cows8 lots · lightest first
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	905	36.00/cwt	36.00–36.00	326	1
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,172	58.50/cwt	58.50–58.50	686	3
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,223	56.03/cwt	55.00–57.00	685	2
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,228	50.38/cwt	46.00–53.25	619	16
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,340	33.50/cwt	33.50–33.50	449	5
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,445	57.00/cwt	57.00–57.00	824	1
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,576	50.30/cwt	48.00–54.00	793	5
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%	1,600	61.50/cwt	61.50–61.50	984	5
Replacement Cattle · Stock Cows5 lots · lightest first
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,096	67.82/cwt	59.00–77.00	743	24
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	1,154	53.85/cwt	53.75–54.00	621	20
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	1,202	52.07/cwt	49.00–54.50	626	14
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,332	60.80/cwt	58.50–63.50	810	21
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,562	58.46/cwt	55.00–60.75	913	28
Replacement Cattle · Bred Cows4 lots · lightest first
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	1,369	810.00/cwt	810.00–810.00	11,089	6
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,395	54.00/cwt	54.00–54.00	753	2
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Broken Mouth	1,408	54.30/cwt	52.00–56.50	765	2
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,623	59.00/cwt	59.00–59.00	958	2

This sale against other markets

Montana weighted averages

One sale is one barn on one day. The state ladder is every Montana auction USDA reported that week, weighted by head — the fairer test of whether a lot sold well.

Montana feeder prices, every weight →Every state and region →

Billings Livestock Commission Cattle Auction - Billings, MT (Thu)

Thu Jan 30, 2020

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 4,150Last week 727Year ago 0

Slaughter CattleReceipts 55Last week 365Year ago 0

Replacement CattleReceipts 192Last week 838Year ago 0

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
31	—	452	144.00	144.00
2	—	675	119.00	119.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	478	143.00–144.00	143.50
3	—	737	124.00	124.00
4	—	408	153.00	153.00
5	—	657	130.00	130.00
7	—	796	124.00	124.00
20	—	629	133.50–134.00	133.87
48	—	529	144.00–149.00	145.81

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	606	148.00	148.00
90	—	567	158.50–159.50	159.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	774	127.00	127.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
14	—	784	132.00	132.00
222	—	577	142.00–153.00	146.94
194	—	678	132.00–137.00	135.55
220	—	521	150.00–161.00	156.01
23	—	437	157.00–160.50	158.28
63	—	468	154.00–162.00	158.02
112	—	725	130.50–135.75	133.55
193	—	620	138.50–146.25	143.75

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	513	135.00	135.00
17	—	425	152.00	152.00
41	—	491	150.00–151.00	150.85

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	702	128.00	128.00
13	—	394	163.00	163.00
46	—	515	157.50	157.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
38	—	551	165.50	165.50
7	—	639	152.00	152.00
15	—	452	185.00	185.00
4	—	733	138.50	138.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
37	—	758	146.00	146.00
15	—	709	150.25	150.25

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
16	—	733	134.50	134.50
6	—	531	159.50	159.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	488	163.00	163.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
13	—	824	131.00	131.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
198	—	527	165.00–176.00	170.25
212	—	672	143.50–151.00	146.66
245	—	624	149.00–157.50	153.47
299	—	575	155.00–170.00	159.18
48	—	485	178.00–189.50	182.65
81	—	932	131.00–134.75	133.83
112	—	711	140.00–147.00	144.88
136	—	835	131.50–135.50	134.42
151	—	772	134.00–140.00	137.56
19	—	432	185.50–193.00	190.67
46	—	867	130.25–131.00	130.82

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
16	—	610	148.00–148.50	148.41
18	—	585	147.00–151.00	150.13
4	—	468	174.00	174.00
33	—	535	158.00–168.00	163.59
48	—	680	134.50–142.00	138.84
22	—	822	128.00	128.00
4	—	769	133.00	133.00
7	—	433	174.00–184.00	181.21

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	568	154.00	154.00
7	—	476	170.00–179.00	176.33

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
28	—	450	194.00–195.00	194.22

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	573	145.00	145.00
3	—	607	137.00	137.00

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	1,714	66.00–76.00	71.24

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,223	55.00–57.00	56.03
3	—	1,172	58.50	58.50
5	—	1,340	33.50	33.50
16	—	1,228	46.00–53.25	50.38

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	1,445	57.00	57.00
5	—	1,576	48.00–54.00	50.30

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	1,600	61.50	61.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	905	36.00	36.00

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
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	21	—	1,332	58.50–63.50	60.80
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	24	—	1,096	59.00–77.00	67.82
Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	28	—	1,562	55.00–60.75	58.46

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	14	—	1,202	49.00–54.50	52.07
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	20	—	1,154	53.75–54.00	53.85

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	2	—	1,395	54.00	54.00
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	2	—	1,623	59.00	59.00

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Broken Mouth$ per cwt · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	2	—	1,408	52.00–56.50	54.30
Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	6	—	1,369	810.00	810.00

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.