Sale reports / Montana / Billings Livestock Commission / 2021-01-07

Billings Livestock Commission

Name: Billings Livestock Commission livestock auction prices — 2021-01-07
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2021-01-07

Feeder Cattle · Slaughter Cattle · Replacement Cattle · Billings, Montana · Thu, Jan 7

● Final77 lots reportedUSDA AMS · slug 1777

← Dec 17Jan 7Jan 14 →

Feeder Cattle receipts

5,646 head

▲ 3,291 vs last sale 2,355▼ 955 vs year ago 6,601 · −14.5%

Slaughter Cattle receipts

140 head

▼ 793 vs last sale 933▲ 81 vs year ago 59 · +137.3%

Replacement Cattle receipts

81 head

▼ 100 vs last sale 181▼ 16 vs year ago 97 · −16.5%

Also sold here(Mon)Mon Nov 2, 2026

View

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last sale (Dec. 17th): Yearling steers and heifers were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Steer calves under 500 lbs sold 8.00-12.00 higher; steers 500 lbs and heavier sold 4.00-6.00 higher, except 650-699 lbs steers which sold unevenly steady. Heifers under 600 lbs sold mostly 6.00-12.00 higher, heifers over 600 lbs sold steady to 5.00 higher. Demand was mostly good to very good for heavy offerings. Quality this sale was attractive to very attractive with many long strings of home raised calves on offer. Several load lots of calves were on offer this sale and these offerings were met with very good demand. The majority of calves on offer were weaned and most were weaned 60 to 90 days. Despite very mild winter weather weaned calves were in mostly light flesh, with only a few offerings carrying moderate to moderate plus flesh. The best demand was seen for calves suitable to develop into yearlings. Depending on flesh, buyers purchased calves up to 575 lbs to develop into yearlings. A large crowd was on hand today with as many as 15 order buyers actively bidding on offerings throughout the day. Market activity was mostly active to very active as a result. Weigh up cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand for light offerings. Packers opted to send a large portion of the offering to feed this week. Slaughter cows sold mostly 1.00-2.00 lower on lean cows. All other classes of cows sold as feeding cows this week. Feeding cows sold steady to 2.00 higher as feeding and packer buyers competed over offerings. Cow and bull quality this week was mostly plain to average. Weigh up conditions were mostly below average this sale as all cows were very full. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. 2 year old to young age cows sold on mostly light to moderate demand. These cows were of mostly average to attractive quality. Young age cows were too lightly tested to develop any market trend.

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 $163.86/cwt on 2,534 head.

Average price

$163.86

2,534 head · 595 lb average

Value per head Derived

$974

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

−$45

per head · Medium and Large 1 over Large 1

$30.12/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−0.55

vs MT average

Price by quality 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	591	165.25	977	2,200
Medium and Large 1-2	584	159.41	931	269
Large 1	756	135.14	1,022	65

One grade step is worth $30.12/cwt here — about −$45 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 sale2,534 hd

163.86

—

MT average3 barns · 3,154 hd

164.41

−0.55

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	1,620	67.29	1,090	10
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Average	1,388	50.66	703	56
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	Low	1,800	48.74	877	2thin
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Low	1,197	45.82	549	41

Every lot

77 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 · Steers31 lots · lightest first
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	346	210.00/cwt	210.00–210.00	727	3
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	369	180.00/cwt	180.00–180.00	664	8
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	390	204.97/cwt	200.50–210.00	799	30
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	420	189.50/cwt	187.00–190.00	796	32
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	428	208.00/cwt	208.00–208.00	890	19
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	431	197.52/cwt	190.00–205.00	851	83
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	469	194.59/cwt	186.00–201.50	913	214
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	494	182.14/cwt	180.00–183.00	900	44
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	497	183.00/cwt	183.00–183.00	910	38
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	533	179.28/cwt	174.00–185.00	956	466
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	534	170.66/cwt	162.50–173.00	911	36
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	575	166.20/cwt	158.50–175.00	956	362
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	580	161.50/cwt	161.50–161.50	937	3
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	590	155.00/cwt	155.00–155.00	915	19
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	594	155.75/cwt	153.00–157.00	925	32
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	616	156.73/cwt	151.50–161.50	965	300
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	636	145.12/cwt	140.50–147.00	923	34
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	640	149.00/cwt	149.00–149.00	954	21
Steers	—	Large 1	669	140.50/cwt	140.50–140.50	940	48
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	671	146.87/cwt	143.00–152.75	985	275
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	687	138.84/cwt	132.00–141.00	954	57
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	691	137.00/cwt	137.00–137.00	947	9
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	713	139.86/cwt	133.25–143.50	997	259
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	734	131.04/cwt	130.00–133.00	962	17
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	770	131.78/cwt	130.00–136.00	1,015	44
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	804	130.27/cwt	130.00–132.00	1,047	26
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	823	128.94/cwt	128.50–129.50	1,061	9
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	889	119.25/cwt	119.25–119.25	1,060	7
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	907	119.25/cwt	119.25–119.25	1,082	11
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	955	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	1,194	11
Steers	—	Large 1	1,003	120.00/cwt	120.00–120.00	1,204	17
Feeder Cattle · Heifers26 lots · lightest first
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	318	190.00/cwt	190.00–190.00	604	2
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	373	181.76/cwt	176.00–188.50	678	31
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	380	186.00/cwt	186.00–186.00	707	21
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	392	172.00/cwt	172.00–172.00	674	5
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	430	174.73/cwt	169.00–178.00	751	200
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	435	168.00/cwt	168.00–168.00	731	3
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 2	440	145.00/cwt	145.00–145.00	638	5
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	478	162.23/cwt	158.00–170.00	775	257
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	478	154.63/cwt	148.00–156.00	739	24
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	503	156.25/cwt	156.25–156.25	786	33
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	514	150.54/cwt	147.50–152.00	774	61
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 2	521	138.50/cwt	138.50–138.50	722	6
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	528	156.56/cwt	153.00–161.50	827	497
Heifers	—	Medium 1	549	146.00/cwt	146.00–146.00	802	10
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	563	151.10/cwt	143.00–156.00	851	284
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	583	139.69/cwt	138.50–141.50	814	22
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	619	139.78/cwt	135.00–143.50	865	304
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	630	131.90/cwt	128.00–133.50	831	20
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	667	134.82/cwt	131.50–137.50	899	143
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	679	129.00/cwt	129.00–129.00	876	9
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	691	127.50/cwt	127.50–127.50	881	18
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	704	132.14/cwt	132.00–132.25	930	56
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	708	126.00/cwt	126.00–126.00	892	8
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	765	132.55/cwt	131.50–134.00	1,014	58
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	773	120.00/cwt	120.00–120.00	928	8
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	849	128.00/cwt	128.00–128.00	1,087	5
Feeder Cattle · Bulls5 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1-2	358	185.00/cwt	185.00–185.00	662	4
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1-2	546	146.00/cwt	146.00–146.00	797	4
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1	656	134.00/cwt	134.00–134.00	879	6
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	844	119.00/cwt	119.00–119.00	1,004	4
Bulls	—	Large 1	1,017	109.50/cwt	109.50–109.50	1,114	8
Slaughter Cattle · Bulls3 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	—Return to Feed	1,496	63.40/cwt	61.50–65.00	948	6
Bulls	—	—	1,738	68.99/cwt	67.50–72.25	1,199	3
Bulls	—	—	2,005	85.50/cwt	85.50–85.50	1,714	1
Slaughter Cattle · Cows9 lots · lightest first
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	915	39.00/cwt	39.00–39.00	357	1
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	1,158	45.36/cwt	40.00–47.00	525	19
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,211	48.84/cwt	48.00–49.50	591	9
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	1,235	53.00/cwt	53.00–53.00	655	1
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,255	32.00/cwt	32.00–32.00	402	1
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,278	45.34/cwt	40.00–47.50	579	10
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	1,350	47.78/cwt	47.00–48.00	645	33
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	1,442	54.79/cwt	50.00–55.75	790	23
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	1,800	48.74/cwt	44.50–53.00	877	2
Replacement Cattle · Bred Cows1 lot · lightest first
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,325	800.00/cwt	800.00–800.00	10,600	5
Replacement Cattle · Stock Cows2 lots · lightest first
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	978	76.26/cwt	59.00–88.00	746	39
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,117	80.16/cwt	78.00–90.00	895	15

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 7, 2021

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 5,646Last week 2,355Year ago 6,601

Slaughter CattleReceipts 140Last week 933Year ago 59

Replacement CattleReceipts 81Last week 181Year ago 97

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
31	—	373	176.00–188.50	181.76
5	—	849	128.00	128.00
2	—	318	190.00	190.00
284	—	563	143.00–156.00	151.10
58	—	765	131.50–134.00	132.55
497	—	528	153.00–161.50	156.56
56	—	704	132.00–132.25	132.14
200	—	430	169.00–178.00	174.73
304	—	619	135.00–143.50	139.78
143	—	667	131.50–137.50	134.82
257	—	478	158.00–170.00	162.23

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
9	—	679	129.00	129.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	435	168.00	168.00
33	—	503	156.25	156.25
21	—	380	186.00	186.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	708	126.00	126.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
20	—	630	128.00–133.50	131.90
8	—	773	120.00	120.00
5	—	392	172.00	172.00
18	—	691	127.50	127.50
22	—	583	138.50–141.50	139.69
24	—	478	148.00–156.00	154.63
61	—	514	147.50–152.00	150.54

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 2$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	440	145.00	145.00
6	—	521	138.50	138.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	549	146.00	146.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
44	—	494	180.00–183.00	182.14
32	—	420	187.00–190.00	189.50
17	—	734	130.00–133.00	131.04
36	—	534	162.50–173.00	170.66
9	—	823	128.50–129.50	128.94
34	—	636	140.50–147.00	145.12
8	—	369	180.00	180.00
32	—	594	153.00–157.00	155.75
57	—	687	132.00–141.00	138.84

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
30	—	390	200.50–210.00	204.97
214	—	469	186.00–201.50	194.59
26	—	804	130.00–132.00	130.27
44	—	770	130.00–136.00	131.78
362	—	575	158.50–175.00	166.20
11	—	955	125.00	125.00
83	—	431	190.00–205.00	197.52
259	—	713	133.25–143.50	139.86
300	—	616	151.50–161.50	156.73
466	—	533	174.00–185.00	179.28
275	—	671	143.00–152.75	146.87

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	346	210.00	210.00
9	—	691	137.00	137.00
19	—	428	208.00	208.00
38	—	497	183.00	183.00
3	—	580	161.50	161.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	889	119.25	119.25
19	—	590	155.00	155.00
11	—	907	119.25	119.25

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
21	—	640	149.00	149.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
48	—	669	140.50	140.50
17	—	1,003	120.00	120.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	656	134.00	134.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	546	146.00	146.00
4	—	358	185.00	185.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	844	119.00	119.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
8	—	1,017	109.50	109.50

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	1,496	61.50–65.00	63.40

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	1,738	67.50–72.25	68.99
1	—	2,005	85.50	85.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	915	39.00	39.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	1,278	40.00–47.50	45.34
1	—	1,255	32.00	32.00
9	—	1,211	48.00–49.50	48.84

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
23	—	1,442	50.00–55.75	54.79
33	—	1,350	47.00–48.00	47.78

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
19	—	1,158	40.00–47.00	45.36
1	—	1,235	53.00	53.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,800	44.50–53.00	48.74

Replacement Cattle

As reported

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	5	—	1,325	800.00	800.00

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	15	—	1,117	78.00–90.00	80.16
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	39	—	978	59.00–88.00	76.26

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.