A head-weighted average counts every animal once, so a lot of 90 head moves the average more than a lot of 2. It's total dollars divided by total head, which is what a buyer of the whole group would have paid on average.
Cownty 5-wt Index, week ending Oct 30, 2026
| Index | $411.92/cwt · 1,131 head · 7 barns |
| Wildorado | $409.43 · 43 head · Oct 27, 2026 |
| Dalhart | $412.58 · 174 head · Oct 29, 2026 |
| Tulia | $385.58 · 81 head · Oct 29, 2026 |
| Woodward | $393.97 · 95 head · Oct 29, 2026 |
| Beaver | $432.58 · 448 head · Oct 27, 2026 |
| Clovis | $394.15 · 206 head · Oct 28, 2026 |
| Dodge City | $390.91 · 84 head · Oct 28, 2026 |
Source: USDA AMS Market News · as of Oct 30, 2026
Example: at one sale, 5-weight steers sell in three lots. 2 head bring $450/cwt, 40 head bring $410, and 8 head bring $390. A plain average of the three prices is $416.67. The head-weighted average is (2×450 + 40×410 + 8×390) ÷ 50 = $408.80, closer to what most of the calves brought.
Why it matters: small lots of fancy or plain cattle can pull a plain average a long way. Weighting by head keeps a 2-head lot from setting the number.
How Cownty uses it:
- Barn prices: for each sale, class and weight band, Cownty combines USDA's reported lots (Medium and Large 1 and 1-2) into one head-weighted average.
- Week to week: when a barn has more than one sale in a week, the week's number weights each sale by head.
- The Cownty 5-wt Index: the barns' 500–599 lb steer averages are combined by head, so a 300-head barn counts more than a 20-head one.
Cownty hides any average built on fewer than 3 head and shows "too few head" instead. It never fills in a missing week.
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.