Sale reports / Montana / Public Auction Yards / 2025-01-08

Public Auction Yards

Name: Public Auction Yards livestock auction prices — 2025-01-08
Creator: RaisedBeef
Published: 2025-01-08

Feeder Cattle · Slaughter Cattle · Replacement Cattle · Billings, Montana · Wed, Jan 8

● Final60 lots reportedUSDA AMS · slug 1774

← Dec 4Jan 8Jan 15 →

Feeder Cattle receipts

363 head

▼ 263 vs last sale 626▲ 265 vs year ago 98 · +270.4%

Slaughter Cattle receipts

569 head

▼ 381 vs last sale 950▼ 166 vs year ago 735 · −22.6%

Replacement Cattle receipts

202 head

▼ 233 vs last sale 435▼ 600 vs year ago 802 · −74.8%

Also sold hereRegular saleFri Oct 30, 2026

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Reporter comment USDA

As filed

Compared to last sale (12-04-24): All feeder cattle were too lightly tested either this week or last sale to develop an accurate market trend, however mostly higher undertones were noticed last week to develop an accurate market trend, however higher undertones were noticed. Quality was mostly average today. Most feeders were offered in small packages or as singles. Demand for limited feeders was very good. CME positions have seen significant improvement since the beginning of December and buyers continue to show very good demand for all feeder cattle on offer. The largest gains in price were seen in cattle over 600 lbs. Demand for both steers and heifers of this weight was very good. Market activity was mostly active today, with buyers both ringside and over the internet rapidly bidding on offerings. Weigh up cows comprised most of the sale today. Demand was mostly good to very good for moderate offerings. A very large pool of cow buyers were on hand for todays sale. Cow quality this sale was mostly average to attractive. Most cows were purchased to go to feed in some capacity. High quality feeding cows, suitable to feed to premium white sold mostly 3.00-5.00 higher. Thin, short term feeding cows sold mostly steady to firm. Many low yielding, slightly lame, or slightly blemished cows were purchased for this purpose. Slaughter cow demand was mostly moderate today. Buyers picked around and purchased cows that fit slaughter orders. Very few cows were purchased to slaughter this sale as feeding cow buyers pushed most cows over slaughter cow orders. Slaughter cows sold steady to 2.00 higher on lean and boning cows breaking cows sold mostly 3.00 higher. Slaughter bulls sold mostly 3.00-6.00 lower in a narrow comparison. Demand for slaughter bulls was lighter this sale as fewer buyers were noticed. Bull quality was average today. Weigh up conditions were mostly average to below average today. Young age cows suitable to feed or rebreed sold mostly steady in a narrow comparison. Demand from rebreed buyers remains good to very good. Quality this week was average to attractive. Offerings this sale were significantly heavier than last sale.

Weight class — the figures below change to match

Weight classPick one — the panels below update

Heifers · summary 500–600 lb

Weighted average of every reported lot

500–600 lb heifers averaged $304.81/cwt on 21 head. That ranks 1 of 19 comparable sales and sits −90.65 against this barn's trailing median of $395.45.

Average price

$304.81

21 head · 565 lb average

Value per head Derived

$1,723

Price × average weight ÷ 100

Grade differential Derived

$94

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

$20.17/cwt at this weight

vs the market

−5.76

vs MT average

−0.43 vs national

Price by quality 500–600 lb

Frame and muscle grade

Frame / muscle	Avg wt	$/cwt	$/head	Head
Medium and Large 1	564	308.65	1,741	17thin
Medium and Large 1-2	571	288.48	1,647	4thin

One grade step is worth $20.17/cwt here — about $94 a head. Across this sale the premium is widest at 600–700 lb. USDA reports each grade on its own line and never publishes the spread.

How it compared 500–600 lb

Same class and week · spot auction only

This sale21 hd

304.81

—

MT average2 barns · 92 hd

310.57

−5.76

National average163 barns · 22,771 hd

305.24

−0.43

This barn, trailing median19 sales

395.45

−90.65

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

This barn's trailing prices 500–600 lb

19 sales

Heifers 500–600 lb: high $464.07, low $347.53, median $395.45 across 19 sales. Sales under 10 head in this class are excluded, so a thin day cannot swing the median or the ranking.

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	2,013	136.45	2,747	16
Cows	Breaker 75-80%	High	1,453	136.07	1,977	48
Cows	Boner 80-85%	Low	1,401	124.46	1,744	168
Cows	Lean 85-90%	High	1,176	108.86	1,280	98

Replacement cattle Per head

By class, stage and age

Bred stock and pairs are reported per head, not per hundredweight — these prices are never mixed with the $/cwt figures above.

Class	Stage	Age	Avg wt	$/head	Head
Bred Cows	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	Young (2-4 yrs)	1,423	$2,400	6
Bred Cows	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	Young (2-4 yrs)	1,037	$2,263	28
Bred Cows	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	Young (2-4 yrs)	1,400	$2,250	2thin
Bred Cows	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	Aged (>8 yrs)	1,340	$1,730	5

Every lot

60 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 · Steers9 lots · lightest first
Steers	450–500	Medium and Large 1	470	381.00/cwt	381.00–381.00	1,791	23
Steers	500–550	Large 1	515	325.00/cwt	325.00–325.00	1,674	3
Steers	500–550	Medium and Large 1	530	358.00/cwt	358.00–358.00	1,897	9
Steers	550–600	Medium and Large 1-2	575	311.50/cwt	310.00–313.00	1,791	2
Steers	600–650	Medium and Large 1	634	316.82/cwt	310.00–327.00	2,009	44
Steers	600–650	Medium and Large 1-2	635	290.00/cwt	290.00–290.00	1,842	2
Steers	650–700	Medium and Large 1-2	690	290.00/cwt	290.00–290.00	2,001	2
Steers	800–850	Medium and Large 1	842	260.00/cwt	260.00–260.00	2,189	10
Steers	950–1000	Medium and Large 1	980	241.00/cwt	241.00–241.00	2,362	6
Feeder Cattle · Heifers15 lots · lightest first
Heifers	300–350	Medium and Large 1-2	318	345.00/cwt	345.00–345.00	1,097	2
Heifers	400–450	Medium and Large 1	433	347.50/cwt	347.50–347.50	1,505	3
Heifers	450–500	Medium and Large 1-2	453	315.00/cwt	315.00–315.00	1,427	6
Heifers	550–600	Medium and Large 1	564	308.65/cwt	297.00–313.00	1,741	17
Heifers	550–600	Medium and Large 1-2	571	288.48/cwt	287.00–289.00	1,647	4
Heifers	600–650	Medium and Large 1	614	292.00/cwt	292.00–292.00	1,793	6
Heifers	600–650	Medium and Large 1-2	615	284.00/cwt	284.00–284.00	1,747	1
Heifers	650–700	Medium and Large 1	665	281.61/cwt	275.00–283.00	1,873	17
Heifers	650–700	Medium 1	674	249.00/cwt	249.00–249.00	1,678	4
Heifers	700–750	Medium and Large 1	731	268.40/cwt	267.00–275.00	1,962	11
Heifers	800–850	Medium and Large 1-2	829	236.00/cwt	236.00–236.00	1,956	4
Heifers	850–900	Medium and Large 1	857	241.49/cwt	240.00–251.00	2,070	15
Heifers	950–1000	Medium and Large 1	996	230.68/cwt	230.50–233.00	2,298	14
Heifers	1000–1050	Medium and Large 1-2	1,040	210.00/cwt	210.00–210.00	2,184	1
Heifers	1100–1150	Large 1	1,100	213.00/cwt	213.00–213.00	2,343	1
Feeder Cattle · Bulls3 lots · lightest first
Bulls	650–700	Medium and Large 1	677	282.00/cwt	282.00–282.00	1,909	3
Bulls	700–750	Medium and Large 1	715	268.00/cwt	268.00–268.00	1,916	5
Bulls	800–850	Medium and Large 1	802	248.00/cwt	248.00–248.00	1,989	3
Slaughter Cattle · Bulls4 lots · lightest first
Bulls	—	—Return to Feed	1,578	129.25/cwt	122.00–134.50	2,040	2
Bulls	—	—	1,923	132.54/cwt	128.00–136.00	2,549	6
Bulls	—	—	2,073	142.39/cwt	138.00–145.00	2,952	6
Bulls	—	—Heavy Weight	2,538	137.52/cwt	136.00–139.00	3,490	2
Slaughter Cattle · Cows19 lots · lightest first
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	818	93.00/cwt	93.00–93.00	761	4
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Light Weight	925	87.50/cwt	87.50–87.50	809	1
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	945	85.57/cwt	82.50–88.00	809	2
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	1,125	88.00/cwt	88.00–88.00	990	2
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	1,188	120.42/cwt	115.00–123.00	1,431	19
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	1,191	100.90/cwt	96.50–111.00	1,202	31
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,205	105.00/cwt	105.00–105.00	1,265	1
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%	1,206	93.80/cwt	89.00–102.00	1,131	16
Cows	—	Lean 85-90%Return to Feed	1,223	129.08/cwt	127.00–133.50	1,579	22
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	1,366	127.40/cwt	118.00–132.00	1,740	80
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	1,408	137.78/cwt	136.00–138.00	1,940	40
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	1,422	113.72/cwt	108.00–117.00	1,617	37
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%Return to Feed	1,425	132.60/cwt	131.00–137.50	1,890	41
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,435	102.36/cwt	96.00–106.00	1,469	6
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%Return to Feed	1,545	131.00/cwt	131.00–131.00	2,024	1
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%	1,613	132.90/cwt	131.50–133.50	2,144	3
Cows	—	Boner 80-85%	1,618	114.57/cwt	108.00–117.00	1,854	4
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%	1,683	127.89/cwt	125.00–130.00	2,152	3
Cows	—	Breaker 75-80%	1,980	107.00/cwt	107.00–107.00	2,119	1
Replacement Cattle · Stock Cows5 lots · lightest first
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1-2	980	148.40/cwt	129.00–192.50	1,454	4
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1-2	1,087	133.02/cwt	130.00–136.00	1,446	4
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,095	168.20/cwt	133.00–185.50	1,842	67
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,126	166.07/cwt	142.00–211.00	1,870	51
Stock Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Fleshy	1,373	173.00/cwt	173.00–173.00	2,375	2
Replacement Cattle · Bred Cows5 lots · lightest first
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Non-Legible BANGS	977	2,000.00/head	2,000.00–2,000.00	2,000	3
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1	1,044	2,294.33/head	2,250.00–2,300.00	2,294	25
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1-2Broken Mouth	1,340	1,730.30/head	1,700.00–1,875.00	1,730	5
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1-2	1,400	2,250.00/head	2,250.00–2,250.00	2,250	2
Bred Cows	—	Medium and Large 1Non-Legible BANGS	1,423	2,400.00/head	2,400.00–2,400.00	2,400	6

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 Jan 8, 2025

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

Feeder CattleReceipts 363Last week 626Year ago 98

Slaughter CattleReceipts 569Last week 950Year ago 735

Replacement CattleReceipts 202Last week 435Year ago 802

Feeder Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
3	400–450	433	347.50	347.50
17	550–600	564	297.00–313.00	308.65
6	600–650	614	292.00	292.00
17	650–700	665	275.00–283.00	281.61
11	700–750	731	267.00–275.00	268.40
15	850–900	857	240.00–251.00	241.49
14	950–1000	996	230.50–233.00	230.68

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
2	300–350	318	345.00	345.00
6	450–500	453	315.00	315.00
4	550–600	571	287.00–289.00	288.48
1	600–650	615	284.00	284.00
4	800–850	829	236.00	236.00
1	1000–1050	1,040	210.00	210.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Medium 1$ per cwt · actual wt
4	650–700	674	249.00	249.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Heifers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
1	1100–1150	1,100	213.00	213.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
3	650–700	677	282.00	282.00
5	700–750	715	268.00	268.00
3	800–850	802	248.00	248.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
23	450–500	470	381.00	381.00
9	500–550	530	358.00	358.00
44	600–650	634	310.00–327.00	316.82
10	800–850	842	260.00	260.00
6	950–1000	980	241.00	241.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
2	550–600	575	310.00–313.00	311.50
2	600–650	635	290.00	290.00
2	650–700	690	290.00	290.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Steers — Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt
3	500–550	515	325.00	325.00

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
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	67	—	1,095	133.00–185.50	168.20
(<2 yrs)	Open	51	—	1,126	142.00–211.00	166.07

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Fleshy$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	2	—	1,373	173.00	173.00

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Stock Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt
(<2 yrs)	Open	4	—	980	129.00–192.50	148.40
Young (2-4 yrs)	Open	4	—	1,087	130.00–136.00	133.02

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1 · Non-Legible BANGS$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	6	—	1,423	2,400.00	2,400.00
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	3	—	977	2,000.00	2,000.00

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1-2 · Broken Mouth$ per head · actual wt
Aged (>8 yrs)	2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)	5	—	1,340	1,700.00–1,875.00	1,730.30

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1-2$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	2nd Stage (4-6 mo)	2	—	1,400	2,250.00	2,250.00

Age	Stage	Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bred Cows — Medium and Large 1$ per head · actual wt
Young (2-4 yrs)	1st Stage (1-3 mo)	25	—	1,044	2,250.00–2,300.00	2,294.33

Slaughter Cattle

As reported

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85%$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	1,435	96.00–106.00	102.36
4	—	1,618	108.00–117.00	114.57

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
22	—	1,223	127.00–133.50	129.08
31	—	1,191	96.50–111.00	100.90
19	—	1,188	115.00–123.00	120.42
2	—	1,125	88.00	88.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90%$ per cwt · actual wt
16	—	1,206	89.00–102.00	93.80
2	—	945	82.50–88.00	85.57
1	—	1,205	105.00	105.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Lean 85-90% · Light Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
4	—	818	93.00	93.00
1	—	925	87.50	87.50

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Breaker 75-80% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
40	—	1,408	136.00–138.00	137.78
1	—	1,545	131.00	131.00

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Breaker 75-80%$ per cwt · actual wt
1	—	1,980	107.00	107.00
3	—	1,613	131.50–133.50	132.90
3	—	1,683	125.00–130.00	127.89

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Cows — Boner 80-85% · Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
41	—	1,425	131.00–137.50	132.60
37	—	1,422	108.00–117.00	113.72
80	—	1,366	118.00–132.00	127.40

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls$ per cwt · actual wt
6	—	2,073	138.00–145.00	142.39
6	—	1,923	128.00–136.00	132.54

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Heavy Weight$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	2,538	136.00–139.00	137.52

Head	Wt range	Avg wt	Price range	Avg price
Bulls — Return to Feed$ per cwt · actual wt
2	—	1,578	122.00–134.50	129.25

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.