Icy weather forced many auction markets to forego sales last week, and that may have been a good thing. As it was, based heavily on USDA's bearish corn report the previous week, as well as rocketing corn futures, the stocker calves and feeders that did sell were $3-$7 off the preceding week.

Moreover, analysts with USDA's Ag Marketing Service (AMS) explain, "Higher feed costs and weather expenses that feedlots are faced with have not been offset with a higher fed cattle market as sales were mostly $1 lower this week from $86.50-$87. Last year at this time, fed cattle were selling at $96, cash corn was more than $2/bu. cheaper, and the feeder cattle index was more than $17 higher."

As such, the AMS folks say, "Many feeder-cattle buyers and sellers were more than willing to take a step back and watch cattle and corn markets settle down."

The summary below reflects the week ended Jan. 19 for Medium and Large 1 -- 500- to 550-lb., 600- to 650-lb., and 700- to 750-lb. feeder heifers and steers (unless otherwise noted). The list is arranged in descending order by auction volume and represents sales reported in the weekly USDA National Feeder and Stocker Cattle Summary:

Summary Table

State	Volume	Steers			Heifers
Calf Weight		500-550 lbs.	600-650 lbs.	700-750 lbs.	500-550 lbs.	600-650 lbs.	700-750 lbs.
Dakotas	30,900 South Dakota North Dakota	$116.28 $115.13	$103.40 $106.10	$93.36 $96.69	$102.53 $103.15	$94.11 $94.47	$97.15 $91.10
KY*	16,600	$94-104	$86-96	$82-92.505	$80-90	$75-853	$74-845
IA	16,200	$112.02	$107.832	$96.98	$98.83	$94.622	$88.497
AL	12,900	$95-104	$84-90	$80-88	$80-90	$75-853	$72-82
NE	11,500	$121.79	$105.93	$96.90	$103.76	$94.89	$90.88
Carolinas*	9,500	$80-105	$72-93.503	$69-845	$70-87	$64.50-833	$60-775
CO	8,800	$108.15	$95.89	$93.91	$99.43	$86.43	$89.92
MO	8,300	$110.91	$100.81	$93.62	$94.81	$92.34	$86.39
TN*	7,200	$93.93	$85.73	$80.99	$83.99	$79.32	$79.10
KS	6,800	$119.08	$108.96	$96.93	$106.08	$91.84	$91.48
TX	6,600	$98.11	$94.232	$90.84	$90.95	$88.03	$86.182
OK	6,300	$110.50	$97.73	$96.01	$93.69	$90.55	$87.46
FL*	5,200	$82-101	$76-92	**	$74-91	$76-79	**
NM	4,400	$104.26	$95.60	$95.264	$94.77	$90.18	$92.974
AR	4,200	$102.98	$96.12	$89.584	$89.10	$85.06	$84.104
MS*	3,900	$85-951	$75-853	**	$77-851	$70-773	**
WY	3,800	$122.09	$109.872	**	$96.50	$94.152	**
VA	3,300	$100.80	$90.97	$83.72	$83.47	$76.38	$91.334
GA*(***)	2,000	$87-102	$80-98	$72-87	$76-91	$72-85	$75.50-80.50
MT	1,900	$111.11	$110.752	$98.564	$102.31	$97.05	$87.45
LA(ND)	1,700	$81-94	**	**	$78-94	**	**
WA*	1,600	**	**	**	$88.07	**	**

^* Plus 2
^** None reported at this weight or near weight
^(***) Steers and bulls
^NDNo Description
¹500-600 lbs.
²550-600 lbs.
³600-700 lbs.
⁴650-700 lbs.
⁵700-800 lbs.
⁶750-800 lbs.
⁷800-850 lbs.