How to read cattle auction reports

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) publishes livestock auction reports after many US barn sales. The PDFs are free and public. They are also dense. Here is a plain way to read one lot line, then pull the same row as JSON.

1. What an AMS auction report is

Each report covers one sale (or a daily summary) and lists feeder, slaughter, and sometimes replacement cattle by class and weight. Receipts and market comments sit at the top. Lot tables follow. Prices are exactly as AMS publishes them.

2. Class, grade, and category

Compare the same class and grade when you scan prices across barns or days.

3. Weight and head count

Reports show weight ranges and an average weight for the lot, plus how many head sold in that group. A 500–600 lb steer lot is not the same product as an 800–900 lb lot, even at the same barn.

4. Price per cwt vs per head

Most feeder lots are priced per hundredweight (cwt) on actual weight. One cwt is 100 pounds. Approximate lot value:

value ≈ (weight_avg ÷ 100) × price_avg × head_count

Some slaughter or specialty lines use per-head pricing. Always read the unit column before you multiply.

5. Worked example from a real sale

From Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission Co. (Salina, KS) on Nov 5, 2026, one feeder lot in our API:

{ "auction_name": "Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission Co.",
  "state": "KS", "report_date": "2026-11-05",
  "category": "FEEDER CATTLE", "class_name": "STEERS",
  "grade": "Medium and Large 1", "head_count": 15,
  "weight_avg": 521, "price_avg": 426.61,
  "unit": "Per Cwt / Actual Wt", "comments": "Unweaned" }

Reading it: 15 unweaned Medium and Large 1 steers, about 521 lb average, sold around $426.61 per cwt. Rough lot value: (521 ÷ 100) × 426.61 × 15 ≈ $33,300. Source: USDA AMS; we are not affiliated with USDA.

curl -s -H "X-API-Key: kl_free_demo_2026" \
  "https://api.kossinlabs.com/v1/prices?class=STEERS&state=KS&weight_min=500&weight_max=700&limit=3"

6. When an API helps

If you compare many barns, filter by state and weight, or load prices into a sheet or model, copying PDFs gets old. Our API returns the same AMS fields as JSON, refreshed on weekdays, with a link back to each official report.

Price per cwt, step by step

Want just the cwt math and how to compare lots? See cattle price per cwt. For what feeder cattle means in AMS reports and how weight bands change $/cwt, see feeder cattle prices. For cull cows, bulls, and slaughter grades like Boner and Breaker, see slaughter cattle prices. For bred heifers and pairs priced per head, see replacement cattle prices. For cow-calf pairs specifically (often Per Unit with a calf weight band), see cow-calf pair prices. For light dairy-area calves and Beef Cross comments, see dairy / beef-cross calf prices. For feeder heifers vs similar-weight steers on $/cwt, see heifer prices. For feeder vs slaughter bulls, see bull prices. For a national weight-band snapshot of feeder steer prices, see feeder steer prices. For lighter feeders bought to graze (often called stockers), see stocker cattle prices. For a state-by-state snapshot of feeder steer prices, see cattle prices by state.

Try the data

Free demo key (no sign-up): kl_free_demo_2026. Docs: api.kossinlabs.com. Product page: cattle auction prices API. Starter is $29/mo for higher limits — subscribe. 30-day money-back guarantee.