# Livestock Auction Prices: Cattle, Sheep, Goats & Hogs (USDA) (`bigsky-data-tools/usda-livestock-auction-prices`) Actor

Cattle, feeder cattle, sheep, goats and hogs in one tool: structured price rows from ~700 USDA AMS auction reports, with class, grade, weights, prices, head, dressing, age and stage. No USDA API key. Filter by state, market, commodity and date.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/bigsky-data-tools/usda-livestock-auction-prices.md
- **Developed by:** [BigSky Data Tools](https://apify.com/bigsky-data-tools) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Livestock Auction Prices: data from USDA AMS Market News (Cattle, Feeder Cattle, Sheep, Goats, Hogs)

> **Notice: This Actor will be retired on Nov 15, 2026.** Until then it runs normally on public, keyless USDA AMS report PDFs.

Published by **bigsky-data-tools**.

> **NOT FOR SAFETY-CRITICAL USE: data may be delayed, revised or incomplete; not for trading or compliance decisions; use official USDA AMS Market News reports.**

Turns **USDA AMS Livestock, Poultry & Grain Market News** auction reports into clean, structured price rows.
**Cattle, feeder cattle, sheep, goats and hogs in one tool**, from a catalog of about 700 USDA reports. **No API key needed, no login.** One row per price line.

### What you get (one row per price line)

| field | example |
|---|---|
| reportDate | 2026-10-28 |
| market | Public Auction Yards Livestock Cattle Auction - Billings, MT (Wed) |
| state / city | MT / Billings |
| commodity | feeder_cattle, slaughter_cattle, replacement_cattle, sheep, goats, hogs |
| section / class / grade | Slaughter Cattle / Cows / Boner 80-85% |
| head | 386 |
| weightRange, weightLow, weightHigh, avgWeight | 1200-1615, 1200, 1615, 1414 |
| priceRange, priceLow, priceHigh, avgPrice | 135.00-150.00, 135, 150, 143.47 |
| priceUnit / weightBasis | Per Cwt (or Per Unit / Per Head) / Actual Wt |
| dressing | Average / High / Low / Very Low (slaughter classes) |
| age / stage | 2-4 / T2 (replacement cattle, bred stage) |
| notes | Return to Feed, Fleshy, Broken Mouth... |
| reportUrl / reportPage | links to the source USDA report |

### How it compares

| | This tool | Typical alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| Species | **Cattle, feeder cattle, sheep, goats, hogs** | Mostly cattle only |
| Bundled report catalog | **About 700 reports** | Varies |
| Any USDA report slug, even outside the catalog | **Yes** | Varies |
| Age and stage (replacement cattle) | **Yes** | Varies |

### Inputs

- **states**: two-letter codes (e.g. `MT`, `NE`). Empty = all.
- **markets**: USDA report slug IDs (e.g. `1774`) or name fragments (`Billings`, `Miles City`). Any USDA slug works, even ones outside the bundled catalog.
- **commodities**: filter rows by commodity.
- **dateFrom / dateTo**: keep only reports whose report date falls in the range.
- **maxReports**, **maxResults**.

Example: `{"states": ["MT"], "commodities": ["feeder_cattle"], "maxResults": 500}`

### Pricing

**$7 per 1,000 results** ($0.007 per price row) plus a $0.01 start fee per run. Use `maxResults` to cap spend.

### Coverage and limits

- Bundled catalog: ~700 USDA auction/livestock reports (about 520 with a parsed state). Montana: Billings PAYS (Wed/Fri), Billings Livestock Commission (Mon/Thu), Miles City, Northern Livestock Video, Billings sheep & goat, and more.
- Each run reads the **latest published edition** of each report. USDA's no-key public files carry only the current edition, so `dateFrom/dateTo` filter on that edition; they do not fetch archived weeks. Schedule the Actor weekly to build history.
- Hog auction coverage is thin because USDA reports most hog prices through mandatory direct-trade (LMR) reports, not auctions.
- Data source: public USDA AMS Market News auction reports (https://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/). Works with no API key. Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service. Not affiliated with or endorsed by USDA. Prices are reported market observations, may be revised or delayed, and are not investment, trading or lending advice.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by any market or auction named.

# Actor input Schema

## `states` (type: `array`):

Two-letter state codes, e.g. MT, NE. Empty = all states.

## `markets` (type: `array`):

USDA report slug IDs (e.g. 1774 = Billings PAYS Wed) or case-insensitive name fragments (e.g. 'Billings', 'Miles City'). Empty = all markets in the selected states.

## `commodities` (type: `array`):

Keep only rows of these commodities. Empty = all.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

Skip reports older than this (YYYY-MM-DD).

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

Skip reports newer than this (YYYY-MM-DD).

## `maxReports` (type: `integer`):

Upper limit on how many USDA reports (auctions) to download per run.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many price rows.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "states": [
    "MT"
  ],
  "maxReports": 50,
  "maxResults": 1000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

Default dataset containing all output records

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "states": [
        "MT"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("bigsky-data-tools/usda-livestock-auction-prices").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "states": ["MT"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("bigsky-data-tools/usda-livestock-auction-prices").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "states": [
    "MT"
  ]
}' |
apify call bigsky-data-tools/usda-livestock-auction-prices --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,bigsky-data-tools/usda-livestock-auction-prices"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/0oh44Xz4jw2V1mZ02/builds/C81naBB2UzGZd80Hw/openapi.json