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A black Angus cow on dry rangeland with mountains behind, Montana
Handy tools

Livestock sale value calculator

Turn a $/cwt bid into dollars. Enter the head, average weight and price - live or dressed (in the beef) - and your selling costs to see the value per head, the total and what you keep.

How is the price quoted?

Carcass ÷ live weight. Varies with breed, finish, gut fill (shrink) and the packer.

Use your sale barn's, order buyer's or packer's bid. The starting number is only an example, not a market price.

Selling costs - from your sale barn, buyer or trucker

Your estimate

$2,400per head
$96,000for 40 head
$96,000you keep after costs
  • You keep
  • Commission
  • Checkoff, yardage, fees
  • Trucking
Commission
$0.00
Checkoff, yardage and fees
$0.00
Trucking
$0.00
You keep per head
$2,400
Net, in $ per cwt live weight
$300.00/cwt lwt
Link to this estimate

How we work it out

  • Per head: weight paid on (live weight, or live weight × dressing % when sold dressed) × price ÷ 100. In US units that is lb × $/cwt ÷ 100; in metric, kg × c/kg ÷ 100.
  • What you keep: total minus commission (% of the total), checkoff, yardage and other fees, and trucking (per head).
  • Net $/cwt live weight: what you keep per head ÷ live weight × 100 - a fair way to compare a sale barn, a private treaty or video sale, and a dressed (grid or in-the-beef) bid.

An estimate only: pencil shrink, slide, actual weights, grid premiums and discounts, bruising, state brand inspection and your sale barn's terms change the real check. Check the numbers with your sale barn, buyer or packer. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. Price quoted in $/lb or $/kg? Use the livestock price converter; words like hundredweight (cwt) and dressing percentage are in the farm words glossary.

Ready to sell?

List your livestock on the REALM Marketplace or talk to us about the sale.

Sell on the marketplace Auction services