Average Price for Hanging Weight of Beef

Are you thinking of buying a moo-cow? Have you decided how much?

Most people usually think nigh buying half a cow, but did yous know in that location other options. You tin often buy a sixteenth, quarter, half, or whole cow from a farmer, then yous need to do inquiry and determine what quantity is right for your family.

We've been selling beef directly off of our subcontract for decades. Without a doubt one of the starting time questions people inquire earlier ownership a cow is "how much beef will I actually become?" That question is usually followed by, "If I buy a cow, what function am I getting? The front half or back one-half?"

The goal of this post is to show you how much beef you become when you buy a cow. We also accept a step-by-stride guide on buying a cow from a farmer, including what questions to ask.

To put it in perspective, we've made our dwelling refrigerator the star of the video and photos.

We've taken these pictures twice, years apart. The first time we just took photos and we had a standard xviii.1 cu ft refrigerator with a freezer on elevation. The second time we did this, nosotros made a video and we had a newer refrigerator – a 22.ane cu ft refrigerator with french doors and freezer on the bottom. Hopefully, seeing the beef in ii unlike refrigerators will help put it into perspective even more.

Jump to:

• Is buying a cow worth it?
• Ownership a sixteenth moo-cow
• Buying a quarter moo-cow
• Buying a half cow
• Ownership a whole cow
• Cuts of beef included
• Freezer space needed
• How much beefiness practice you really become?
• Shelf life of frozen beefiness
• Packaging
• How do you find a local farm?

Is ownership a moo-cow worth it?

Yes! The benefit of ownership a cow is that you will save money and get college quality beef.

Every year, we compare the cost of beef from our farm to local St. Louis grocery stores. With Clover Meadows Beef, the cost is approximately $v.45/pound for all cuts of grass fed beef. This is compared to $7.03/pound at Walmart, $7.84/pound at a local St. Louis grocery shop, and $9.86/pound at Whole Foods.

Please note, every farm and beef processor prices beefiness differently. You will need to practise your own math on determining the price per pound if you're not in the St. Louis area and can't order from our farm.

Buying a sixteenth cow

Here's what our 22.ane cu ft fridge looks like with a sixteenth of a moo-cow. At our farm, a sixteenth is approximately 25 lbs of beef. This includes 13 lbs of hamburger, 2 Ribeye steaks, ii Strip steaks, ii Filet steaks, 2 Sirloin steaks, 1 Stew Meat, ane Short Rib, one bundle Soup Bones, ane bundle Beef Liver, and ane Roast.

Ownership a quarter cow

Here's what our 18.1 cu ft refrigerator with freezer on peak looks similar with a quarter beef, which is 110 lbs of beef. Equally you can come across, it's a lot of beef, but information technology all fits in the freezer (without the freezer shelf or ice bucket).

Then what comes with a quarter? That answer varies since every cow is unique and weighs something dissimilar, but here is how it typically breaks out:

With a quarter you get about 50 pounds of basis beefiness, and the remaining 60 lbs of meat is in steaks, brisket, roasts, stew meat, ribs, liver, soup bones, etc. Please proceed in mind that everything is based on the individual moo-cow and how the beef is cut, but typical, the remaining 60 lbs works out to be approximately 6-7 strip steaks, 6-7 ribeye steaks, five-6 filets, five-6 sirloin steaks, 2 short ribs, 4-5 roasts, 1-2 package of stew meat, one-ii packages of liver, 1 brisket, and several packages of soup bones.

With a quarter, you also get the option of the one-per-animal parts like natural language, oxtail and centre. Since at that place's just i-per-animal, these are first-come-get-go-serve based on the other who requests them offset.

Here's what our 22.1 cu ft refrigerator looks like with a quarter cow. Again, it'due south 50 pounds of basis beef, and the balance of the beef comes in a variety of cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, and brisket.

Buying a half cow

So, what if y'all buy half a cow? What does that look like? With a half a cow, you'll get approximately 220 pounds of beef. It includes 100 pounds of footing beefiness, and the rest of the beefiness are in cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, and tenderloin.

But for fun, we included a dozen eggs and a half gallon of milk in this picture so you would take some additional perspective 🙂

Buying a whole cow

With a whole cow you would get approximately 440 pounds of beef. It will be approximately 200 pounds of footing beef, and the other 220 pounds are in cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, tenderloin, etc. On average, we've found that a whole is smashing for families of iii or more than that consume beef with iv or more than meals a week.

Cuts of beef included

When you buy a moo-cow, you get a variety of cuts such every bit

• Steaks like filet, sirloin, ribeye, strip, skirt and flank
• Brisket
• Roasts like chuck, sirloin, arm
• Basis beefiness
• Ribs
• Stew meat
• Kabob meat
• Soup basic
• Organ meat (if desired)
• And the list keeps going on and on!

Freezer infinite needed

The rule of thumb is 1 cubic pes of freezer infinite for every thirty-35 lbs of cutting and wrapped meat.

That means you'll definitely want a stand-alone freezer when buying a cow. If you don't have one yet, you can normally become a skillful bargain at a warehouse store like Sam'southward or Costco. We accept both breast and upright freezers at our house and we like both of them.

Our biggest piece of advice when ownership a stand-alone freezer is to get ane with a lock and primal.  This is very important for kid prophylactic reasons and because a physical lock will make sure your freezer is securely closed. You tin also purchase an aftermarket lock.

How much beef do you really become?

When you buy a cow, you lot want to know exactly how much beef you'll put in your freezer.

Our farm is somewhat unique in how we price our beef because information technology's all-inclusive – we tell you how much beef you lot'll become for a specific price. Our pricing includes all processing fees and complimentary delivery to a specific pick-upwardly locations in the St. Louis area.

A quarter cow is 110 lbs, half is 220 lbs, and whole cow is 440 lbs. Nosotros've chosen to sell our beef this way because nosotros call back it'due south easier for our customers and there are no surprises – you know exactly what you're going to become.

The other way to effigy out how much beef you'll put in your freezer, is to explain it with agronomics industry-lingo similar hang-weight and package-weight. If these terms are new to you, here are quick definitions:

• Live weight (or "on the hoof") is how much a cow weighs when information technology's alive and walking effectually. This includes meat, bones, claret, etc.
• Hanging weight (or "on the rail") is after the animal is slaughtered and all the unusable parts are removed (like head, skin and hooves), Hanging weight includes bones and meat. Typically, the hanging weight is well-nigh 60% of the live weight.
• Boxed weight (or packaged weight) is the weight of all the packages of individual cuts of meat that you will put in your freezer This is typically nigh sixty percent of hanging weight.

So, what does this mean in plain-terms? If yous're told it'due south $3.75 per pound hanging weight, then expect to pay approximately $6.25 per pound ($iii.75 / 0.60)  PLUS the butchering fee, which is ordinarily almost $600.00 for the unabridged moo-cow (you'll divide this fee if you're sharing with another family).

No affair who you purchase from, make certain you know exactly what y'all'll be taking abode before you buy so you have acceptable freezer space.

Shelf life of frozen beef

Approximately 1-year if frozen and vacuum sealed. The amount of fourth dimension volition exist shorter if it is packaged in paper or shrink wrapped.

Packaging

Most farmers will give you an option between newspaper, shrink wrapped, or vacuum sealing packaging. We recommend vacuum sealing because it volition keep the beef fresh for longer.

Hither's an example of what a vacuum sealed steak looks like.

How exercise you find a local farm?

And so, do you yet want to purchase a cow? If you're in the St. Louis area, allow u.s. know. Nosotros are happy to answer whatsoever questions yous may have.

If you lot're exterior of St. Louis, read our step-by-stride guide on how to buy a cow from a farmer. It will tell yous how to find a farmer, the right questions to inquire, and how to know if you lot're getting a good deal on beef.

ONE More THING!

Exercise you desire to learn more most beef? Join our weekly due east-newsletter where we share farm happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-upwardly and get a crook canvas with 9-must-ask questions before ownership beef directly from a farmer. Or, we have an entire ebook about beef that goes through purchasing and preparing beef from a cattle farmers perspective.

Here are a few other links you may like:

• Do Cows Have Teeth?
• What everybody ought to know virtually beefiness cuts
• Ownership a Cow. How Much Beef Is It?
• 7 Steps to Grilling a Steak to Perfection
• How We Raise Our Grass Fed Beef
• Piece of cake Beef Brisket Recipe (oven-roasted)
• The All-time Farm Books for Kids

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the detail, nosotros will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions are our own and we only recommend products that we truly believe in.

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Nosotros participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for usa to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. See our disclosure policy for more details.

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Source: https://www.clovermeadowsbeef.com/buying-half-a-cow/