Custom
wholes and halves
Your beef, your way
Embedded Files
Buy a whole or half cow!
*** As of January 1, 2025 we are switching from selling live weight to selling by the hanging weight. ***
Custom wholes and halves are USDA inspected and available ONLY for local pickup from the butcher.
$5/lb. hanging weight, processing INCLUDED
We know this can be a confusing process for you, especially if you've never purchased custom beef before. Therefore, we aim to make it simple.
The best thing about custom processing is that it is YOUR beef - YOUR way.
Butcher's terminology can be difficult to understand, and every butcher is different, so we have worked to make your life easier by finding the simplest solution.
And better yet, we will walk with you through each step of the way!
Quick links to sections on ordering beef:
Steps to ordering beef
Making the Reservation
How we sell our custom beef
How much meat you can expect to get back
Factors affecting meat yield
How to estimate the cost and yield of your beef.
Recap
Examples
Picking up Your beef
1) How we sell our custom beef
We sell our custom beef by the hanging weight of the animal.
This is also known as rail weight. There are different ways of selling beef, but this rate makes sense for us because this is how the butcher charges us to process it.
It is a very consistent figure across the board, regardless of how you choose to have the meat cut and wrapped. Whereas the total package weight (also known as boxed weight) can fluctuate significantly depending on cutting instructions.
The hanging weight is not the weight you bring home. The hanging weight is the weight of the whole carcass after the animal is killed, skinned and hung on a rail. It is the weight of the cow without the blood, skin, head, hair, guts, feet and hooves. This is also known as the carcass weight. It is not the weight you bring home to your freezer.
The carcass is then aged for a number of days on the rail in the butcher's cooler to develop flavors, and during this time it will start to lose moisture. This evaporation (also known as shrink) results in some added weight loss, as does the cutting and boning during process during packaging. Therefore, the hanging weight does not represent the actual weight that is vacuum sealed, frozen and brought home to your freezer.
The actual amount of meat you get back can vary quite significantly depending on how you choose to have it cut up. Please see "How much meat you can expect back" for more detail.
Our price includes the butcher's processing fees. This means there are no other charges or hidden fees. None of that you-pay-us-and-then-you-pay-the-butcher stuff.
Any Specialty Products ordered, such as hotdogs, beef sticks, brats, etc. are not included in our price. If you choose specialty products, these will be added to your invoice. We will include 10 lb. beef patties as a curtesy if you like!
2)How much meat you can expect to get back
How much meat you get back depends on two factors: (A) the size of the individual carcass and (B) how you choose to have it processed.
(A) Size. The size of the animal is affected by its age, breed, body condition, and feed consumption. For example, grain-finished animals will weigh and yield higher than grass (or forage)- finished animals. Dairy breeds will always yield lighter percentages than beef breeds.
Moderate sized animals. Since we specifically raise animals that are to be finished on forage alone, we have sought out moderate size Angus beef cows that have smaller frames and finish at lower weights than the average Angus cow. We aim for these to finish between 1000 - 1200 lbs live weight. You can expect our cows to have a dressing percentage of 55 -63%. This means the hanging weight of the animal will be around 60% of the live weight.
(B) Processing. How you choose to fill out the cut sheet will have a great impact on the final Packaged weight. Choosing to have everything ground up reduces the required space needed in your freezer, as well as lowering the overall packaged weight you bring home. However, requesting the soup bones and organs, ordering ribs, choosing other bone-IN cuts, and asking for extra fat to be packaged separately will yield higher take home weights and require more space to store in your freezer.
Therefore, you can expect to receive a range between 30-40% in yield of the live weight in boxed beef. A good average of this estimate should be about 36%. This means that a 1200 lb. animal could reasonably yield about 432 lbs. of boxed beef. A 1000 lb. animal could reasonably yield around 360 lb. of boxed beef.
How to estimate the cost and yield of your beef.
The percentage of hanging weight to boxed weight yield is important figure in determining cost per pound and how much meat you to take home. Again, this weight can fluctuate significantly depending on how you have your meat cut and wrapped. Our grass-finished hanging weights tend to average approx. 60% cut and wrapped yield.
Live weight X 60% = estimated Hanging weight
Estimated Hanging weight X $5.00 = Estimated cost of beef
Hanging weight X 60% = approximate boxed take home yield
Cost of beef/ approximate boxed take home yield= approximate price per take home pound.
To Recap:
Our beef hanging weights are averaging 54% - 63% of the live weight. Our hanging weight to boxed beef ratios are averaging 58-68%.
For a 1000 lb. animal, plan for a 540-610 lb. hanging weight.
For a 1200 lb. animal, plan for a 650-730 lb. animal.
Plan for freezer space to bring home approximately 61% of the hanging weight in boxed beef.
Estimate:
(live wt.) X 60% (hwt) X 60% = boxed beef take home yield
1200 X 60% (720) X 60% = 432lbs. boxed beef take home yield
Cost $5/lb hwt(720 X 60% )/432 = $ 8.33/per lb. boxed beef take home yield
Examples
Actual example: #69 - 1405 Jersey/Angus steer we harvested. He had a 712 lb hanging weight; dressing percentage was 51% (note the lighter percentage influenced by dairy breed). Separate cut sheets for each side. Based on processing order Customer A had a 67% yield of the hanging weight in take home boxed beef. Customer B had a 56% yield in take home boxed beef.
Customer A ordered bone-IN cuts, all extra fat and bone, with minimal ground beef and had a reported take home yield of 240 lbs.
(712 X $5.00/lb. hwt.)/2 = $1780 cost of 1/2 beef
$1780/240 = $7.42/per pound actual take home boxed beef
Customer B ordered bone-LESS cuts and had most of the meat ground up into burger and had a reported take home yield of 200 lbs.
(712 X $5.00/lb. hwt.)/2 = $1780 cost of 1/2 beef
$1780/200 = $8.90/ per lb. actual take home box beef
Actual example: #200 - 963 lb. Angus we harvested. Hanging weight was 525 lb. Dressing percentage was 55%. Separate cut sheets for each side. Both had bone-IN cuts and about 50% ground beef.
Customer A asked for all extra fat and soup bones, and brought home 165 lbs. Her yield was 63% of the hanging weight.
(525X $5.00/lb. hwt.)/2 =$1312.50 cost of 1/2 beef
$1312.50/165= $7.95 /per lb. actual take home boxed beef
Customer B didn't want soup bones or extra fat and brought home 152 lb. Her yield was 58% of the hanging weight.
(525X $5.00/lb. hwt.)/2 =$1312.50 cost of 1/2 beef
$1312.50/152 = $8.63/per lb. actual take home boxed beef
Actual example: # 72- 1120 live weight; 681 hanging weight. Dressing percentage was 61%. Cost of beef was $3405. Customer ordered almost all of it ground, but wanted fat and bone back. She did not weigh the take home boxed beef. Therefore, we estimate a
60% hanging weight yield which would provide approximately 408 lbs boxed beef at an estimated price of $8.35/lb. of take-home boxed beef.
Estimated Hanging Weight to Live Weight %
54-61%
Estimated Cut and Wrapped Weight to Hanging Weight %*
55-65%
Fatter animals have lower cut and wrapped percentages. Skinnier animals have higher cut and wrapped percentages. Boneless cut orders yield lower lbs. in your freezer. Bone-in cut orders yield more lbs. in your freezer.*
* Used with permission from Kenneth of KD Farms.
Estimate hanging weight from a 1000 lb. animal
550 hanging weight (55%)
Estimate % yield of hanging weight
63%
Estimate packaged and boxed weight
(take home yield)
346.5 lbs of beef
3) Reserving your beef
Get your name on the list! We pre-sell our beef, often months in advance, so get with me as soon as possible to reserve your place in line!
Making the reservation.
A non-refundable deposit is due when you reserve your beef. Reservations are filled in the order they are received. When we reserve a beef for you, you will be given an approximate date you can expect your beef to be ready for pick up. If there is a conflict with the schedule, please let us know. Your beef is officially reserved when we receive your deposit.
Whole cow - $500 deposit
Half Cow - $250 deposit
Selecting your beef cuts.
Once your deposit is received, we will give you a cut sheet and guide you through the process of filling it out. You will also be given the date your cow is to be processed. Please put this date on your calendar: Approximately 2 weeks after this processing date, your meat will be ready for pick up.
Paying in full.
On the day it is processed, we will receive the hot carcass weight and contact you with your final total, less the deposit paid. Once you are notified, your balance is due to be paid within 7 days. Your balance must be paid before you can pick up your meat.
4) Picking up Your beef
You are responsible to pick up your meat from the butcher when you are notified that it is ready. Approximately 15 days after the scheduled processing date, your frozen meat will be ready to pick up from the butcher!
Be sure to bring a couple large coolers and/or boxes in which to transport your meat. The butcher will generally allow a couple days for you to pick up your meat once it is ready, but please be respectful he has limited freezer space and needs you to pick up at your earliest convenience.
The butcher is located in Casey County, near Liberty, KY. You will be provided with location and address when you make your reservation.
If possible, I would love for us to coordinate so that I can meet you there and help load out and make sure all goes smoothly!
Summary of steps to ordering beef
Step 1 - Contact us to reserve your beef.
Step 2- Pay deposit to hold it. (Whole beef- $500; Half beef- $300)
Step 3- Processing date you will be given the Hanging weight and total less deposit. This is approximately 2 weeks before pick-up.
Step 4- Pay for beef in full. Stop by farm, or drop check in mail.
Step 5- Pick up your beef from the butcher. Bring coolers and boxes to transport back to your freezer.
Step 6- Enjoy experiencing our local, healthy, fresh-from-the-farm, grass-fed/grass-finished BEEF!
Call me today to reserve your side of beef!
call Monica at: 606.235.1473
email: Monica@FireflyFieldsKY.com
Google Sites
Report abuse