Sale reports / Montana / Public Auction Yards / 2020-04-15

Public Auction Yards

Name: Public Auction Yards livestock auction prices — 2020-04-15
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2020-04-15

Feeder Cattle · Slaughter Cattle · Replacement Cattle · Billings, Montana · Wed, Apr 15

● Final51 lots reportedUSDA AMS · slug 1774

← Apr 8Apr 15Apr 22 →

Feeder Cattle receipts

1,988 head

▲ 1,813 vs last sale 175▼ 3,632 vs year ago 5,620 · −64.6%

Slaughter Cattle receipts

15 head

▼ 30 vs last sale 45▼ 335 vs year ago 350 · −95.7%

Replacement Cattle receipts

24 head

▼ 159 vs last sale 183▼ 48 vs year ago 72 · −66.7%

Also sold hereRegular saleFri Oct 30, 2026

View

Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last week: Feeder cattle were all too lightly tested last week to develop an accurate market trend, however steady to higher undertones were noticed on a significantly higher quality offering. Demand was mostly moderate for moderate offerings. Quality this week was mostly average to attractive. Many sets of cattle were strictly developed for grass and were in thin to light flesh. Many sets of cattle were one iron and home-raised. Additionally, many sets of cattle were offered as load lots. These cattle were met with the best demand. CME positions continue to trade with lots of volatility casting more uncertainty in the market. Market activity this week was mostly moderate to active with many buyers in the stands actively bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows sold on mostly moderate to good demand for very light offerings. Packers purchased cows sticky for harvest this week as a late season snow storm in the Midwest has lightened available supplies. Slaughter cows were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Feeding cows were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Slaughter bulls were too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Young age cows suitable to feed or re-breed were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however steady undertones were noticed.

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 $127.29/cwt on 1,016 head.

Average price

$127.29

1,016 head · 685 lb average

Value per head Derived

$872

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

$93

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

$11.18/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−1.21

vs MT average

Price by quality 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	686	128.12	879	941
Medium and Large 1-2	672	116.94	786	75

One grade step is worth $11.18/cwt here — about $93 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 sale1,016 hd

127.29

—

MT average2 barns · 1,183 hd

128.51

−1.21

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	2,016	77.60	1,565	5thin
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Average	1,355	52.00	705	2thin
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Average	1,224	51.94	636	6thin

Every lot

51 lots · USDA AMS · Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction - Billings, MT (Wed)

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 · Steers18 lots · lightest first
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	477	167.07/cwt	165.00–168.50	797	23
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	541	164.00/cwt	164.00–164.00	887	14
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	570	147.00/cwt	147.00–147.00	838	2
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	572	162.60/cwt	158.00–168.00	930	77
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	631	154.63/cwt	142.00–157.50	976	170
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	641	125.00/cwt	125.00–125.00	801	13
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	664	155.00/cwt	155.00–155.00	1,029	10
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	674	134.10/cwt	131.00–138.50	904	71
Steers	—	Medium 2	682	113.50/cwt	113.50–113.50	774	7
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	728	125.32/cwt	124.50–125.50	912	11
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	733	118.95/cwt	117.00–122.00	872	34
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	757	119.00/cwt	119.00–119.00	901	3
Steers	—	Medium 2	760	113.00/cwt	113.00–113.00	859	10
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	781	124.39/cwt	120.25–124.50	971	156
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	802	120.33/cwt	119.50–120.50	965	87
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	830	107.50/cwt	107.50–107.50	892	10
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	866	110.43/cwt	109.50–111.50	956	34
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1	912	110.30/cwt	110.00–110.50	1,006	47
Feeder Cattle · Heifers17 lots · lightest first
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	422	145.85/cwt	143.50–147.00	615	13
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	470	143.32/cwt	141.00–145.50	674	6
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	490	151.38/cwt	149.00–152.00	742	48
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	543	149.00/cwt	149.00–149.00	809	123
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	572	141.16/cwt	138.50–145.50	807	75
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	617	121.00/cwt	121.00–121.00	747	3
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	623	130.04/cwt	125.25–137.00	810	63
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	680	120.51/cwt	119.25–121.25	819	91
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	680	114.95/cwt	113.00–116.00	782	15
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Replacement	740	126.20/cwt	124.00–129.00	934	255
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	745	114.00/cwt	114.00–114.00	849	11
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	755	116.50/cwt	116.50–116.50	880	44
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	768	119.00/cwt	119.00–119.00	914	180
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	774	105.00/cwt	105.00–105.00	813	10
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	791	103.35/cwt	101.50–104.00	817	38
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	849	102.50/cwt	102.50–102.50	870	18
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	877	102.00/cwt	102.00–102.00	895	23
Feeder Cattle · Bulls5 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1	80	325.00/cwt	275.00–350.00	260	3
Bulls	—	Medium 1-2	463	130.00/cwt	130.00–130.00	602	7
Bulls	—	Medium 1-2	520	127.50/cwt	127.50–127.50	663	3
Bulls	—	Medium and Large 1	948	98.00/cwt	98.00–98.00	929	3
Bulls	—	Large 1	1,173	81.00/cwt	81.00–81.00	950	2
Slaughter Cattle · Bulls3 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	—	1,830	73.50/cwt	73.50–73.50	1,345	2
Bulls	—	—	2,055	76.00/cwt	76.00–76.00	1,562	1
Bulls	—	—	2,183	82.50/cwt	82.50–82.50	1,801	2
Slaughter Cattle · Cows5 lots · lightest first
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	945	45.00/cwt	45.00–45.00	425	1
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,155	54.00/cwt	54.00–54.00	624	1
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,277	51.21/cwt	48.00–53.00	654	3
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,283	56.50/cwt	56.50–56.50	725	2
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,555	50.00/cwt	50.00–50.00	778	1
Replacement Cattle · Stock Cows3 lots · lightest first
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,172	72.71/cwt	54.00–75.00	852	13
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,180	50.00/cwt	50.00–50.00	590	1
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,461	48.50/cwt	48.50–48.50	709	4

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 →

Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction - Billings, MT (Wed)

Wed Apr 15, 2020

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 1,988Last week 175Year ago 5,620

Slaughter CattleReceipts 15Last week 45Year ago 350

Replacement CattleReceipts 24Last week 183Year ago 72

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
34	—	733	117.00–122.00	118.95
2	—	570	147.00	147.00
3	—	757	119.00	119.00
10	—	830	107.50	107.50
13	—	641	125.00	125.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium 2$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	682	113.50	113.50
10	—	760	113.00	113.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	664	155.00	155.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
170	—	631	142.00–157.50	154.63
156	—	781	120.25–124.50	124.39
87	—	802	119.50–120.50	120.33
11	—	728	124.50–125.50	125.32
14	—	541	164.00	164.00
23	—	477	165.00–168.50	167.07
34	—	866	109.50–111.50	110.43
47	—	912	110.00–110.50	110.30
71	—	674	131.00–138.50	134.10
77	—	572	158.00–168.00	162.60

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
38	—	791	101.50–104.00	103.35
15	—	680	113.00–116.00	114.95
3	—	617	121.00	121.00
6	—	470	141.00–145.50	143.32
13	—	422	143.50–147.00	145.85

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
63	—	623	125.25–137.00	130.04
48	—	490	149.00–152.00	151.38
44	—	755	116.50	116.50
23	—	877	102.00	102.00
18	—	849	102.50	102.50
123	—	543	149.00	149.00
91	—	680	119.25–121.25	120.51
75	—	572	138.50–145.50	141.16
11	—	745	114.00	114.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
10	—	774	105.00	105.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Replacement$ per cwt · actual wt
255	—	740	124.00–129.00	126.20

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
180	—	768	119.00	119.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	80	275.00–350.00	325.00
3	—	948	98.00	98.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	463	130.00	130.00
3	—	520	127.50	127.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,173	81.00	81.00

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
Aged (>8 yrs)	Open	4	—	1,461	48.50	48.50
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)	Open	1	—	1,180	50.00	50.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	13	—	1,172	54.00–75.00	72.71

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	2,055	76.00	76.00
2	—	1,830	73.50	73.50
2	—	2,183	82.50	82.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	1,155	54.00	54.00
1	—	1,555	50.00	50.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,283	56.50	56.50
3	—	1,277	48.00–53.00	51.21

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	945	45.00	45.00

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.