How Much Is a Half a Side of Beef

Are y'all thinking of buying a cow? Accept yous decided how much?

Most people usually think well-nigh buying half a cow, only did you know at that place other options. You tin often buy a sixteenth, quarter, half, or whole cow from a farmer, then you need to do research and determine what quantity is correct for your family.

We've been selling beef directly off of our farm for decades. Without a dubiety i of the first questions people enquire before buying a cow is "how much beef will I actually get?" That question is usually followed by, "If I buy a moo-cow, what role am I getting? The forepart half or back one-half?"

The goal of this post is to show you how much beef you lot get when you buy a cow. We as well have a footstep-past-stride guide on ownership a cow from a farmer, including what questions to ask.

To put it in perspective, nosotros've made our domicile fridge the star of the video and photos.

We've taken these pictures twice, years apart. The first time we merely took photos and we had a standard 18.1 cu ft refrigerator with a freezer on top. The second fourth dimension we did this, we made a video and we had a newer fridge – a 22.1 cu ft fridge with french doors and freezer on the bottom. Hopefully, seeing the beefiness in two unlike refrigerators will help put information technology into perspective even more than.

Jump to:

• Is buying a moo-cow worth it?
• Buying a sixteenth cow
• Ownership a quarter cow
• Ownership a half cow
• Buying a whole moo-cow
• Cuts of beefiness included
• Freezer infinite needed
• How much beef do you actually get?
• Shelf life of frozen beef
• Packaging
• How practise you notice a local farm?

Is buying a cow worth information technology?

Aye! The benefit of buying a cow is that you lot volition relieve money and get college quality beef.

Every year, nosotros compare the price of beef from our farm to local St. Louis grocery stores. With Clover Meadows Beef, the price is approximately $five.45/pound for all cuts of grass fed beef. This is compared to $7.03/pound at Walmart, $vii.84/pound at a local St. Louis grocery store, and $ix.86/pound at Whole Foods.

Please note, every farm and beef processor prices beef differently. Yous will need to do your own math on determining the cost per pound if y'all're non in the St. Louis area and can't order from our subcontract.

Ownership a sixteenth moo-cow

Hither's what our 22.1 cu ft refrigerator looks like with a sixteenth of a cow. At our farm, a sixteenth is approximately 25 lbs of beef. This includes 13 lbs of hamburger, 2 Ribeye steaks, two Strip steaks, 2 Filet steaks, 2 Sirloin steaks, 1 Stew Meat, 1 Brusque Rib, 1 parcel Soup Basic, i package Beef Liver, and 1 Roast.

Buying a quarter cow

Hither's what our xviii.one cu ft fridge with freezer on pinnacle looks like with a quarter beef, which is 110 lbs of beef. Equally you tin encounter, it's a lot of beefiness, just it all fits in the freezer (without the freezer shelf or ice bucket).

So what comes with a quarter? That respond varies since every moo-cow is unique and weighs something different, but here is how it typically breaks out:

With a quarter you get about 50 pounds of ground beef, and the remaining 60 lbs of meat is in steaks, brisket, roasts, stew meat, ribs, liver, soup bones, etc. Please go along in mind that everything is based on the individual moo-cow and how the beef is cutting, but typical, the remaining threescore lbs works out to exist approximately 6-7 strip steaks, half dozen-7 ribeye steaks, 5-6 filets, 5-6 sirloin steaks, two short ribs, 4-v roasts, one-2 package of stew meat, 1-ii packages of liver, 1 brisket, and several packages of soup bones.

With a quarter, yous as well get the option of the one-per-animal parts like tongue, oxtail and heart. Since there'due south only i-per-animal, these are first-come up-showtime-serve based on the other who requests them first.

Here's what our 22.i cu ft refrigerator looks like with a quarter cow. Again, information technology's 50 pounds of ground beef, and the remainder of the beefiness comes in a variety of cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, and brisket.

Buying a half cow

So, what if you buy one-half a cow? What does that wait similar? With a half a cow, you'll go approximately 220 pounds of beefiness. Information technology includes 100 pounds of ground beef, and the residue of the beef are in cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, and tenderloin.

Merely for fun, nosotros included a dozen eggs and a half gallon of milk in this movie then y'all would have some additional perspective 🙂

Buying a whole cow

With a whole cow yous would get approximately 440 pounds of beef. Information technology will be approximately 200 pounds of basis beefiness, and the other 220 pounds are in cuts similar steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, tenderloin, etc. On average, we've found that a whole is corking for families of 3 or more that eat beef with four or more than meals a week.

Cuts of beef included

When you lot buy a cow, you become a variety of cuts such every bit

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

Freezer space needed

The rule of thumb is ane cubic human foot of freezer space for every 30-35 lbs of cutting and wrapped meat.

That means yous'll definitely want a stand-alone freezer when buying a cow. If you don't have ane withal, yous can normally get a good deal at a warehouse store similar Sam's or Costco. We accept both chest and upright freezers at our house and we like both of them.

Our biggest piece of communication when buying a stand-solitary freezer is to become one with a lock and primal.  This is very important for child safety reasons and because a physical lock will make sure your freezer is securely closed. You tin can besides purchase an aftermarket lock.

How much beefiness practice you lot actually go?

When you buy a moo-cow, yous 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 it's all-inclusive – nosotros tell you lot how much beef yous'll get for a specific price. Our pricing includes all processing fees and free commitment to a specific selection-up locations in the St. Louis surface area.

A quarter cow is 110 lbs, half is 220 lbs, and whole cow is 440 lbs. We've chosen to sell our beef this way considering we call back it's easier for our customers and there are no surprises – you know exactly what you're going to get.

The other way to figure out how much beef you'll put in your freezer, is to explicate it with agriculture manufacture-lingo like 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 moo-cow weighs when it's alive and walking around. This includes meat, basic, blood, etc.
• Hanging weight (or "on the rail") is after the brute is slaughtered and all the unusable parts are removed (like caput, peel and hooves), Hanging weight includes bones and meat. Typically, the hanging weight is most sixty% of the alive weight.
• Boxed weight (or packaged weight) is the weight of all the packages of individual cuts of meat that y'all will put in your freezer This is typically about sixty per centum of hanging weight.

So, what does this mean in plain-terms? If you're told information technology'south $3.75 per pound hanging weight, then wait to pay approximately $6.25 per pound ($3.75 / 0.lx)  PLUS the butchering fee, which is usually about $600.00 for the entire moo-cow (you'll split up this fee if you lot're sharing with some other family).

No matter who you buy from, brand sure you know exactly what you'll be taking home earlier 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 will be shorter if information technology is packaged in paper or shrink wrapped.

Packaging

Nearly farmers will requite you an option betwixt newspaper, shrink wrapped, or vacuum sealing packaging. We recommend vacuum sealing because it will keep the beef fresh for longer.

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

How do you find a local subcontract?

And then, do you notwithstanding want to buy a cow? If you're in the St. Louis expanse, let united states of america know. We are happy to respond any questions you may have.

If you're exterior of St. Louis, read our step-past-step guide on how to buy a cow from a farmer. Information technology will tell you how to notice a farmer, the correct questions to inquire, and how to know if you're getting a good deal on beef.

1 More Thing!

Do you lot want to learn more about beef? Bring together our weekly e-newsletter where we share farm happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-up and get a cheat canvass with 9-must-ask questions before buying beef directly from a farmer. Or, nosotros have an entire ebook virtually beefiness 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 about beef cuts
• Buying a Cow. How Much Beef Is Information technology?
• vii Steps to Grilling a Steak to Perfection
• How Nosotros Raise Our Grass Fed Beefiness
• Easy Beef Brisket Recipe (oven-roasted)
• The All-time Farm Books for Kids

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means if yous click on the link and buy the item, nosotros volition receive an affiliate commission at no actress cost to yous. All opinions are our own and we only recommend products that we truly believe in.

We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an chapter advertising programme designed to provide a means for us to earn fees past linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. See our disclosure policy for more details.

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We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for united states of america to earn fees past linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Encounter our disclosure policy for more than details.

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

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