Sale reports / Montana / Billings Livestock Commission / 2020-09-03

Billings Livestock Commission

Name: Billings Livestock Commission livestock auction prices — 2020-09-03
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2020-09-03

Feeder Cattle · Slaughter Cattle · Replacement Cattle · Billings, Montana · Thu, Sep 3

● Final59 lots reportedUSDA AMS · slug 1777

← Aug 20Sep 3Sep 10 →

Feeder Cattle receipts

702 head

▲ 261 vs last sale 441▼ 794 vs year ago 1,496 · −53.1%

Slaughter Cattle receipts

290 head

▼ 38 vs last sale 328▼ 355 vs year ago 645 · −55.0%

Replacement Cattle receipts

361 head

▲ 156 vs last sale 205▲ 78 vs year ago 283 · +27.6%

Also sold here(Mon)Mon Nov 2, 2026

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Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last sale(8-20-20): Feeder steers and heifers were too lightly tested last sale to develop an accurate market trend, however lower undertones were noted on steers under 900 lbs and steady to firm undertones were noticed on steers over 900 lbs. Yearling heifers under 900 lbs sold with lower undertones heifers over 900 lbs sold with mostly steady undertones. Heifers saw uneven demand this sale as buyers were forced to finish loads for the week before the long weekend this led to uneven price spreads. Quality this week was mostly plain to average. Demand was mostly light to moderate for light offerings. Spring born calves sold on mostly light to moderate demand. Market activity this week was mostly slow to moderate. Weigh up cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand and offerings. Packers showed mostly light demand for slaughter cows this sale. Slaughter cows sold mostly 1.00-4.00 lower than two weeks ago. Feeding cows sold 2.00-5.00 lower as lighter demand from packer buyers allowed cow prices to fall. Cow quality this sale was mostly average. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average again this week. Warm weather continues to have cows very full as afternoon temperatures warm into the low 90s. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 1.00-4.00 lower. Young age cows were very lightly again this week most sold as feeding cows.

Weight class — the figures below change to match

Weight classPick one — the panels below update

Heifers · summary 0–100 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

0–100 lb heifers averaged $127.16/cwt on 262 head.

Average price

$127.16

262 head · 855 lb average

Value per head Derived

$1,088

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

−$136

per head · Medium and Large 1 over Large 1

$8.92/cwt at this weight

vs the market

+0.57

vs MT average

Price by quality 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	882	129.02	1,137	160
Medium and Large 1-2	742	125.93	934	66
Medium 1	605	124.00	750	9thin
Large 1	1,061	120.11	1,274	27

One grade step is worth $8.92/cwt here — about −$136 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 sale262 hd

127.16

—

MT average2 barns · 698 hd

126.58

+0.57

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	—	Average	1,817	82.02	1,490	99
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	Average	1,625	61.90	1,006	12
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Average	1,390	59.38	825	32
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Average	1,141	53.19	607	76

Every lot

59 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 · Steers14 lots · lightest first
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	393	162.50/cwt	162.50–162.50	639	3
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	438	151.00/cwt	151.00–151.00	661	8
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	540	136.00/cwt	136.00–136.00	734	2
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	552	148.00/cwt	148.00–148.00	817	3
Steers	—	Medium 1-2	646	143.00/cwt	143.00–143.00	924	4
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	714	148.59/cwt	148.50–149.50	1,061	64
Steers	—	Medium and Large 2	749	133.50/cwt	133.50–133.50	1,000	14
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	805	134.00/cwt	134.00–134.00	1,079	3
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	864	127.50/cwt	127.50–127.50	1,102	4
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	887	134.27/cwt	134.00–134.50	1,191	13
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	912	133.25/cwt	133.25–133.25	1,215	34
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	980	126.50/cwt	126.50–126.50	1,240	3
Steers	—	Large 1	1,006	125.81/cwt	125.50–126.00	1,266	8
Steers	—	Large 1-2	1,021	113.50/cwt	113.50–113.50	1,159	5
Feeder Cattle · Heifers17 lots · lightest first
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	351	142.50/cwt	142.50–142.50	500	7
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	368	157.00/cwt	157.00–157.00	578	2
Heifers	—	Medium 1	605	124.00/cwt	124.00–124.00	750	9
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	717	127.00/cwt	127.00–127.00	911	18
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	772	123.63/cwt	118.00–127.00	954	26
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	816	128.36/cwt	126.00–128.75	1,047	31
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	876	119.98/cwt	118.00–122.00	1,051	6
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	880	128.93/cwt	126.00–129.25	1,135	85
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	906	121.99/cwt	119.00–122.50	1,105	7
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	931	128.24/cwt	124.50–129.50	1,194	23
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	968	120.00/cwt	120.00–120.00	1,162	2
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	990	128.54/cwt	122.00–129.50	1,273	19
Heifers	—	Large 1	1,013	124.14/cwt	122.50–125.75	1,258	12
Heifers	—	Large 1	1,064	120.69/cwt	119.00–125.00	1,284	7
Heifers	—	Large 1Full	1,083	112.00/cwt	112.00–112.00	1,213	2
Heifers	—	Large 1	1,137	114.61/cwt	114.00–116.50	1,303	4
Heifers	—	Large 1	1,160	113.00/cwt	113.00–113.00	1,311	2
Feeder Cattle · Bulls5 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	392	164.00/cwt	164.00–164.00	643	3
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	438	150.00/cwt	150.00–150.00	657	4
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	493	151.00/cwt	151.00–151.00	744	3
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	549	132.00/cwt	132.00–132.00	725	34
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1	787	118.00/cwt	118.00–118.00	929	6
Slaughter Cattle · Bulls5 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	—Light Weight	1,273	70.29/cwt	63.00–77.50	895	2
Bulls	—	—	1,744	75.44/cwt	70.00–78.50	1,316	16
Bulls	—	—	1,811	82.68/cwt	79.00–86.50	1,497	68
Bulls	—	—	1,967	88.93/cwt	86.50–91.50	1,749	12
Bulls	—	—Heavy Weight	2,660	82.50/cwt	82.50–82.50	2,195	1
Slaughter Cattle · Cows10 lots · lightest first
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	786	46.21/cwt	45.50–47.00	363	17
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,078	49.92/cwt	49.50–50.00	538	6
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,214	58.91/cwt	58.00–61.50	715	8
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,271	55.25/cwt	50.50–57.25	702	45
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,347	56.62/cwt	53.00–60.00	763	16
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,426	62.01/cwt	58.50–64.50	884	15
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,525	64.00/cwt	64.00–64.00	976	1
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%	1,573	54.08/cwt	51.50–57.00	851	4
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%	1,616	67.25/cwt	67.25–67.25	1,087	5
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%	1,710	63.43/cwt	62.75–64.50	1,085	3
Replacement Cattle · Stock Cows8 lots · lightest first
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,034	74.70/cwt	70.00–95.00	772	16
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	1,100	52.19/cwt	51.50–52.50	574	3
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	1,183	53.53/cwt	52.00–54.75	633	2
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	1,210	54.32/cwt	52.00–56.25	657	53
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,266	64.68/cwt	59.00–70.00	819	26
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1-2	1,281	58.00/cwt	58.00–58.00	743	12
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,305	56.87/cwt	55.00–61.50	742	59
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,438	62.10/cwt	56.50–66.50	893	107

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 Sep 3, 2020

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 702Last week 441Year ago 1,496

Slaughter CattleReceipts 290Last week 328Year ago 645

Replacement CattleReceipts 361Last week 205Year ago 283

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	980	126.50	126.50
64	—	714	148.50–149.50	148.59
13	—	887	134.00–134.50	134.27
34	—	912	133.25	133.25

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	805	134.00	134.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	438	151.00	151.00
3	—	552	148.00	148.00
3	—	393	162.50	162.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	864	127.50	127.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	1,006	125.50–126.00	125.81

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	1,021	113.50	113.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
14	—	749	133.50	133.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	540	136.00	136.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	646	143.00	143.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
34	—	549	132.00	132.00
4	—	438	150.00	150.00
3	—	493	151.00	151.00
3	—	392	164.00	164.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	787	118.00	118.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
85	—	880	126.00–129.25	128.93
31	—	816	126.00–128.75	128.36
23	—	931	124.50–129.50	128.24
19	—	990	122.00–129.50	128.54

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	876	118.00–122.00	119.98
2	—	968	120.00	120.00
26	—	772	118.00–127.00	123.63
7	—	906	119.00–122.50	121.99
18	—	717	127.00	127.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	368	157.00	157.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
9	—	605	124.00	124.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	351	142.50	142.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	1,137	114.00–116.50	114.61
12	—	1,013	122.50–125.75	124.14
7	—	1,064	119.00–125.00	120.69
2	—	1,160	113.00	113.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,083	112.00	112.00

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	1,710	62.75–64.50	63.43
5	—	1,616	67.25	67.25
4	—	1,573	51.50–57.00	54.08

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
15	—	1,426	58.50–64.50	62.01
1	—	1,525	64.00	64.00
16	—	1,347	53.00–60.00	56.62

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	1,214	58.00–61.50	58.91
6	—	1,078	49.50–50.00	49.92
45	—	1,271	50.50–57.25	55.25

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
17	—	786	45.50–47.00	46.21

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
68	—	1,811	79.00–86.50	82.68
16	—	1,744	70.00–78.50	75.44
12	—	1,967	86.50–91.50	88.93

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,273	63.00–77.50	70.29

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Heavy Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	2,660	82.50	82.50

Replacement Cattle

As reported

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	53	—	1,210	52.00–56.25	54.32
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	3	—	1,100	51.50–52.50	52.19
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	2	—	1,183	52.00–54.75	53.53

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	26	—	1,266	59.00–70.00	64.68
Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	59	—	1,305	55.00–61.50	56.87
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	107	—	1,438	56.50–66.50	62.10
(<2 yrs)	Open	16	—	1,034	70.00–95.00	74.70

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	12	—	1,281	58.00	58.00

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.