Sale reports / Montana / Public Auction Yards / 2021-10-06

Public Auction Yards

Name: Public Auction Yards livestock auction prices — 2021-10-06
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2021-10-06

Feeder Cattle · Slaughter Cattle · Replacement Cattle · Billings, Montana · Wed, Oct 6

● Final66 lots reportedUSDA AMS · slug 1774

← Sep 29Oct 6Oct 13 →

Feeder Cattle receipts

801 head

▼ 320 vs last sale 1,121▲ 237 vs year ago 564 · +42.0%

Slaughter Cattle receipts

1,479 head

▲ 736 vs last sale 743▲ 898 vs year ago 581 · +154.6%

Replacement Cattle receipts

398 head

▲ 0 vs last sale 398▲ 63 vs year ago 335 · +18.8%

Also sold hereRegular saleFri Oct 30, 2026

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Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last week: Yearling steers and heifers were all too lightly tested to develop any market trend. Steer and heifer calves were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, steady to lower undertones were noticed. Quality this sale was mostly plain to average, with a few larger consignments of attractive offerings. Calves were mostly offered in small lots or as singles. Demand was light to moderate for light offerings. Feeders in the corn-belt continue to be busy with harvest and unwilling to take un-weaned calves. Market activity was slow to moderate. Weigh up cows sold on light to moderate demand for heavy offerings. Many cows were very thin this sale and offered buyers mostly low to very low yielding carcasses. Yields on lean cows were significantly lower than last weeks sale. Slaughter cows sold mostly 3.00-4.00 lower on boning and lean cows. Breaking cows sold fully steady as packers search for these offerings to blend down all the lean product that is hitting the market. Slaughter bulls sold fully steady. Feeding cows sold steady to 4.00 lower. High quality cows suitable to feed to premium white, sold fully steady. However buyers purchased some thinner feeding cows to put on a holding ration for the upcoming holiday season. These feeding cows were not as attractive as the cows that were purchased last week. Cow quality this week was mixed from plain to very attractive. Weigh up conditions were mostly average this week and much better than last week. Young age cows sold fully steady as buyers continue to purchase these offerings to send to southern states for fall breeding programs.

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 $147.15/cwt on 377 head.

Average price

$147.15

377 head · 521 lb average

Value per head Derived

$766

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

$503

per head · Medium and Large 1 over Small and Medium 2-3

$73.74/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−9.36

vs MT average

Price by quality 0–100 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	517	153.74	795	289
Medium 1	783	144.00	1,128	14thin
Medium and Large 1-2	514	142.36	732	38
Large 1	844	124.25	1,049	6thin
Small and Medium 2	381	105.00	400	19thin
Small and Medium 2-3	365	80.00	292	11thin

One grade step is worth $73.74/cwt here — about $503 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 sale377 hd

147.15

—

MT average5 barns · 3,028 hd

156.51

−9.36

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	1,718	80.53	1,383	78
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	Average	1,648	77.29	1,274	33
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Low	1,416	63.81	903	294
Cows	Lean 85-90%	Average	1,177	46.43	546	494

Every lot

66 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 · Steers15 lots · lightest first
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	300	207.50/cwt	207.50–207.50	623	1
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	343	180.00/cwt	180.00–180.00	617	2
Steers	—	Small and Medium 2-3Unweaned	348	130.00/cwt	130.00–130.00	452	6
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	381	166.00/cwt	166.00–166.00	632	5
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	383	186.69/cwt	185.00–187.00	715	6
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	406	172.00/cwt	172.00–172.00	698	8
Steers	—	Small and Medium 2-3Unweaned	414	105.00/cwt	105.00–105.00	435	18
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	425	181.50/cwt	181.50–181.50	771	18
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	436	171.00/cwt	171.00–171.00	746	5
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	464	169.88/cwt	165.00–172.00	788	7
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	482	169.70/cwt	168.00–171.00	818	7
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	513	167.38/cwt	159.00–173.00	859	46
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	523	157.00/cwt	157.00–157.00	821	2
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	594	155.82/cwt	151.00–161.50	926	26
Steers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	610	154.50/cwt	148.00–160.00	942	25
Feeder Cattle · Heifers17 lots · lightest first
Heifers	—	Small and Medium 2-3Unweaned	365	80.00/cwt	80.00–80.00	292	11
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	373	166.86/cwt	163.00–171.00	622	47
Heifers	—	Small and Medium 2Unweaned	381	105.00/cwt	105.00–105.00	400	19
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	393	148.00/cwt	148.00–148.00	582	7
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	438	163.35/cwt	160.00–163.50	715	35
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	476	146.79/cwt	146.50–147.00	699	21
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	486	156.03/cwt	148.00–159.50	758	148
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	528	137.57/cwt	137.00–138.00	726	7
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	567	134.53/cwt	133.00–135.00	763	21
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2Unweaned	576	128.50/cwt	128.50–128.50	740	7
Heifers	—	Large 1Unweaned	605	122.00/cwt	122.00–122.00	738	3
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Unweaned	613	128.00/cwt	128.00–128.00	785	3
Heifers	—	Medium 1	783	144.00/cwt	144.00–144.00	1,128	14
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1-2	920	130.50/cwt	130.50–130.50	1,201	3
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1	961	134.06/cwt	133.00–135.50	1,288	7
Heifers	—	Medium and Large 1Full	980	127.00/cwt	127.00–127.00	1,245	21
Heifers	—	Large 1	1,083	126.50/cwt	126.50–126.50	1,370	3
Feeder Cattle · Bulls2 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	Large 1Fancy	1,206	101.50/cwt	101.50–101.50	1,224	6
Bulls	—	Large 1	1,216	100.00/cwt	100.00–100.00	1,216	5
Slaughter Cattle · Bulls7 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	—Light Weight	1,300	66.50/cwt	66.50–66.50	865	1
Bulls	—	—Return to Feed	1,465	73.50/cwt	61.00–79.50	1,077	4
Bulls	—	—Return to Feed	1,547	82.49/cwt	80.00–85.50	1,276	21
Bulls	—	—	1,763	83.81/cwt	79.00–87.00	1,478	29
Bulls	—	—	1,811	71.93/cwt	63.00–78.00	1,303	17
Bulls	—	—	1,996	91.49/cwt	89.00–94.50	1,826	5
Bulls	—	—Canadian Origin	2,440	78.00/cwt	78.00–78.00	1,903	1
Slaughter Cattle · Cows19 lots · lightest first
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	938	47.00/cwt	47.00–47.00	441	4
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	961	33.14/cwt	31.00–39.00	318	23
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,098	39.74/cwt	31.00–43.00	436	90
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	1,188	47.65/cwt	45.00–49.50	566	73
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,188	46.45/cwt	40.00–49.50	552	179
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	1,244	52.10/cwt	50.50–61.00	648	70
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	1,255	66.24/cwt	64.00–72.00	831	7
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,283	52.16/cwt	50.00–57.50	669	48
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,364	48.12/cwt	44.00–53.00	656	30
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	1,403	64.94/cwt	58.00–70.00	911	168
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,411	61.77/cwt	55.00–64.00	872	15
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	1,440	73.43/cwt	71.00–79.00	1,057	49
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	1,460	52.49/cwt	51.50–55.00	766	21
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,567	73.78/cwt	73.50–76.50	1,156	10
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,575	42.00/cwt	42.00–42.00	662	1
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%	1,624	76.68/cwt	73.50–78.50	1,245	19
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%	1,644	81.47/cwt	81.00–83.00	1,339	10
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%	1,677	67.00/cwt	67.00–67.00	1,124	3
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%Heavy Weight	2,065	78.00/cwt	78.00–78.00	1,611	1
Replacement Cattle · Stock Cows5 lots · lightest first
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	850	63.00/cwt	63.00–63.00	536	4
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Thin Fleshed	885	85.00/cwt	85.00–85.00	752	1
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	942	94.13/cwt	74.00–112.00	887	188
Stock Cows	—	Medium 1	951	79.00/cwt	79.00–79.00	751	15
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,092	74.77/cwt	60.00–85.00	816	68
Replacement Cattle · Bred Cows1 lot · lightest first
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,143	1,137.17/cwt	1,110.00–1,160.00	12,998	24

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 Oct 6, 2021

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 801Last week 1,121Year ago 564

Slaughter CattleReceipts 1,479Last week 743Year ago 581

Replacement CattleReceipts 398Last week 398Year ago 335

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
70	—	1,244	50.50–61.00	52.10
73	—	1,188	45.00–49.50	47.65
7	—	1,255	64.00–72.00	66.24

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
21	—	1,460	51.50–55.00	52.49
49	—	1,440	71.00–79.00	73.43
168	—	1,403	58.00–70.00	64.94

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
15	—	1,411	55.00–64.00	61.77
10	—	1,567	73.50–76.50	73.78
30	—	1,364	44.00–53.00	48.12
1	—	1,575	42.00	42.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
48	—	1,283	50.00–57.50	52.16
90	—	1,098	31.00–43.00	39.74
179	—	1,188	40.00–49.50	46.45

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
19	—	1,624	73.50–78.50	76.68
10	—	1,644	81.00–83.00	81.47
3	—	1,677	67.00	67.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Heavy Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	2,065	78.00	78.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
23	—	961	31.00–39.00	33.14
4	—	938	47.00	47.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
29	—	1,763	79.00–87.00	83.81
17	—	1,811	63.00–78.00	71.93
5	—	1,996	89.00–94.50	91.49

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	1,300	66.50	66.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
21	—	1,547	80.00–85.50	82.49
4	—	1,465	61.00–79.50	73.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Canadian Origin$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	2,440	78.00	78.00

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	1,206	101.50	101.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	1,216	100.00	100.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
21	—	980	127.00	127.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	961	133.00–135.50	134.06

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
14	—	783	144.00	144.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
21	—	567	133.00–135.00	134.53
35	—	438	160.00–163.50	163.35
7	—	528	137.00–138.00	137.57
148	—	486	148.00–159.50	156.03
3	—	613	128.00	128.00
47	—	373	163.00–171.00	166.86

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Small and Medium 2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
19	—	381	105.00	105.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
7	—	576	128.50	128.50
21	—	476	146.50–147.00	146.79
7	—	393	148.00	148.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	605	122.00	122.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Small and Medium 2-3 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
11	—	365	80.00	80.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	920	130.50	130.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
3	—	1,083	126.50	126.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	523	157.00	157.00
5	—	381	166.00	166.00
7	—	464	165.00–172.00	169.88
8	—	406	172.00	172.00
2	—	343	180.00	180.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
25	—	610	148.00–160.00	154.50
7	—	482	168.00–171.00	169.70
6	—	383	185.00–187.00	186.69
1	—	300	207.50	207.50
26	—	594	151.00–161.50	155.82
46	—	513	159.00–173.00	167.38
18	—	425	181.50	181.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Small and Medium 2-3 · Unweaned$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	348	130.00	130.00
18	—	414	105.00	105.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1 · Full$ per cwt · actual wt
5	—	436	171.00	171.00

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
(<2 yrs)	Open	188	—	942	74.00–112.00	94.13
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	68	—	1,092	60.00–85.00	74.77

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Stock Cows — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	15	—	951	79.00	79.00

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Thin Fleshed$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	4	—	850	63.00	63.00
(<2 yrs)	Open	1	—	885	85.00	85.00

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st/2nd Stage (1-6 mo)	24	—	1,143	1,110.00–1,160.00	1,137.17

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.