A USDA auction report lists cattle by class (steers, heifers), grade and weight range. For each group it gives the head count, the price range and the weighted average price in dollars per hundredweight ($/cwt), the price per 100 lb.
Example: Wildorado sale of Oct 27, 2026
| Steers 500–599 lb | $409.43/cwt · 43 head |
| Steers 700–799 lb | $317.29/cwt · 14 head |
| Heifers 500–599 lb | $360.41/cwt · 70 head |
Source: USDA AMS report 3365 (PDF) · as of Oct 27, 2026
USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has reporters at cooperating sale barns. They watch the sale and publish a report the same day or the next.
- Receipts: total head sold that day, often compared with last week and a year ago.
- Trend: a line like "steers 500–600 lb 5.00–10.00 higher" compares with the last comparable sale.
- Class and grade: feeder cattle are graded by frame size and muscling. "Medium and Large 1" is the most common group in Panhandle reports; "1-2" mixes thicker and plainer cattle.
- Weight range: lots are grouped in 50 or 100 lb bands, such as 500–599 lb.
- Head, Avg Wt, Price Range, Avg Price: how many head, their average weight, the low and high price, and the weighted average price in $/cwt.
- Notes: "Value Added" (weaned and vaccinated), "Fleshy" or "Thin" mark lots that sold outside the regular range.
To turn $/cwt into dollars per head, multiply by the weight in hundreds of pounds. $400/cwt on a 550 lb calf is 400 × 5.5 = $2,200.
Cownty takes each barn's report and computes one head-weighted average per class and weight band (Medium and Large 1 and 1-2 lots). That's how one number per weight can be compared barn to barn.
Official sources
Rules checked against these pages on Oct 18, 2026. Live numbers update with each data load. Information only: the agency decides. Not affiliated with USDA.