Bred cows, bred heifers and cow-calf pairs at USDA-reported auctions · $/head · week to Oct 26
Bred Cows
$2,450
−$67-2.7%
Derived · $/head · weeklyWk Oct 26
Bred Heifers
$3,514
−$9-0.2%
Derived · $/head · weeklyWk Oct 26
Cow-Calf Pairs
$3,231
−$4-0.1%
Derived · $/head · weeklyWk Oct 26
Heifer Pairs
$3,046
−$429-12.3%
Derived · $/head · weeklyWk Oct 26
Bred stock, week by week
DerivedComplete weeks · last 120 days
Weighted average dollars a head, SUM(price × head) ÷ SUM(head), across every USDA-reported auction selling that class. Complete weeks only, so the line never ends on a handful of lots.
Bred CowsBred HeifersCow-Calf PairsHeifer Pairs
Bred stock volume is thin compared with the feeder trade — a few hundred head in a week — so a single large consignment moves a line. Read the head count beside each figure. A line breaks where a class had no sales that week.
Bred stock prices
DerivedWeek to Oct 26
Dollars a head. Bred stock and pairs are bought by the head, never by the hundredweight.
Class
This week
Δ wk
Head
120-day
Bred Cows
$2,450
−67
5,793
$2,628
Bred Heifers
$3,514
−9
1,490
$3,717
Cow-Calf Pairs
$3,231
−4
756
$3,452
Heifer Pairs
$3,046
−429
14
$4,163
Change is against the week ofOct 19
Still filling, excludedWeek of Nov 2
This is what it costs to buy a replacement cow. When bred stock prices are high, adding a cow costs more than the calves she will produce are worth, and herds stay smaller.
Only rows USDA marks “Per Unit” are included, which is how bred stock and pairs trade. Stock cows are not on this page at all — they sell by the hundredweight, and putting them beside a $3,000 bred cow would be meaningless. The newest week is excluded because barn reports arrive through the week and its average would be a handful of lots rather than a market.
Bred cows by stage and age
DerivedLast 120 days
What a buyer pays for a cow closer to calving, and what age costs. Measured over 120 days rather than one week — a single week has too few head in each cell to say anything. $/head with head sold.
Pregnancy stage
Aged (>8 yrs)
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)
Young (2-4 yrs)
1st Stage (1-3 mo)
$2,026 4,741
$2,498 2,898
$2,390 2,819
$2,675 1,610
2nd Stage (4-6 mo)
$2,214 10,670
$2,768 5,037
$2,699 6,830
$3,161 2,792
2nd/3rd Stage (4-9 mo)
$2,533 2,408
$3,178 4,604
$2,978 535
$3,173 364
3rd Stage (7-9 mo)
$2,558 1,968
$3,240 2,243
$3,163 2,222
$3,836 1,453
What a cow closer to calving is worth: 3rd stage (7-9 mo) over 1st stage (1-3 mo), by age.
Aged (>8 yrs)+$532 a head
Young/Middle Aged (2-8 yrs)+$743 a head
Middle Aged (5-8 yrs)+$773 a head
Young (2-4 yrs)+$1,161 a head
Stage and age descriptions are USDA's own, as the barn reported them. A dash means no cows of that description sold in the window. Only the four most-traded stages and ages are shown; the long tail of one-off descriptions is left out.
Bred cows by state
DerivedLast 120 days · 23 states
Not a like-for-like ranking — quality and age mix differ by state. Use the stage and age table for that. States with fewer than 50 head over the window are left out.
Each state links to its sale barns — the individual reports these averages are built from. The ten states with the most expensive cows are shown of 23.