How To Buy A Half Cow

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

Most people usually think about buying one-half a moo-cow, but did yous know there other options. You can often buy a sixteenth, quarter, half, or whole moo-cow from a farmer, so you demand to exercise enquiry and decide what quantity is right for your family.

Nosotros've been selling beefiness directly off of our farm for decades. Without a doubt one of the first questions people ask before ownership a moo-cow is "how much beef will I actually get?" That question is usually followed by, "If I buy a cow, what office am I getting? The front one-half or dorsum half?"

The goal of this mail service is to show you lot how much beef you go when you buy a cow. We also have a step-by-step guide on buying a cow from a farmer, including what questions to ask.

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

We've taken these pictures twice, years apart. The first time we just took photos and nosotros had a standard 18.one cu ft refrigerator with a freezer on top. The second time we did this, we fabricated 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 two unlike refrigerators volition assist put it into perspective even more than.

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 infinite needed
• How much beefiness do you actually get?
• Shelf life of frozen beef
• Packaging
• How exercise you find a local farm?

Is buying a moo-cow worth it?

Yep! The benefit of ownership a cow is that you will save money and go higher quality beefiness.

Every year, we compare the toll of beefiness from our subcontract to local St. Louis grocery stores. With Clover Meadows Beef, the toll is approximately $v.45/pound for all cuts of grass fed beefiness. This is compared to $7.03/pound at Walmart, $vii.84/pound at a local St. Louis grocery shop, and $9.86/pound at Whole Foods.

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

Buying a sixteenth cow

Here'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, 2 Strip steaks, 2 Filet steaks, 2 Sirloin steaks, 1 Stew Meat, 1 Short Rib, i package Soup Bones, 1 packet Beef Liver, and 1 Roast.

Buying a quarter cow

Here's what our 18.1 cu ft refrigerator with freezer on top looks similar with a quarter beefiness, which is 110 lbs of beef. As you can see, it's a lot of beefiness, but it all fits in the freezer (without the freezer shelf or ice saucepan).

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

With a quarter you get about 50 pounds of ground 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 cow and how the beefiness is cut, but typical, the remaining 60 lbs works out to be approximately 6-vii strip steaks, six-7 ribeye steaks, 5-six filets, 5-6 sirloin steaks, two brusk ribs, iv-5 roasts, 1-2 package of stew meat, one-2 packages of liver, one brisket, and several packages of soup basic.

With a quarter, you also get the option of the one-per-animal parts similar tongue, oxtail and center. Since there's merely one-per-animal, these are first-come-first-serve based on the other who requests them showtime.

Here's what our 22.1 cu ft refrigerator looks like with a quarter cow. Again, information technology's 50 pounds of ground beef, and the rest of the beef comes in a variety of cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, and brisket.

Ownership a half cow

And so, what if y'all buy half a moo-cow? What does that expect like? With a half a cow, y'all'll get approximately 220 pounds of beefiness. It includes 100 pounds of ground beef, and the balance of the beef are in cuts like steaks, roasts, ribs, brisket, and tenderloin.

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

Ownership a whole moo-cow

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

Cuts of beef included

When you buy a cow, you get a variety of cuts such as

• Steaks similar filet, sirloin, ribeye, strip, brim and flank
• Brisket
• Roasts like chuck, sirloin, arm
• Basis 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 foot of freezer infinite for every 30-35 lbs of cut and wrapped meat.

That means you'll definitely desire a stand-alone freezer when ownership a cow. If you don't have one yet, you tin usually get a good deal at a warehouse store like Sam'southward or Costco. We have both breast and upright freezers at our business firm and nosotros similar both of them.

Our biggest piece of advice when buying a stand-lonely freezer is to become ane with a lock and central.  This is very important for kid safety reasons and because a physical lock will make sure your freezer is securely closed. You can also purchase an aftermarket lock.

How much beefiness practice you actually get?

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

Our farm is somewhat unique in how nosotros price our beef considering it's spread-out – nosotros tell you how much beef you'll get for a specific toll. Our pricing includes all processing fees and gratuitous delivery to a specific option-up locations in the St. Louis 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 mode because we think it's easier for our customers and in that location are no surprises – you know exactly what you're going to get.

The other way to effigy out how much beef yous'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 moo-cow weighs when it'due south alive and walking effectually. This includes meat, bones, claret, etc.
• Hanging weight (or "on the rail") is after the fauna 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 about 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 almost 60 percent of hanging weight.

Then, what does this mean in patently-terms? If you're told it's $3.75 per pound hanging weight, then expect to pay approximately $6.25 per pound ($3.75 / 0.60)  PLUS the butchering fee, which is usually most $600.00 for the unabridged moo-cow (you'll split this fee if yous're sharing with another family).

No matter who you lot buy from, make sure you know exactly what you'll be taking home earlier you purchase then yous take adequate freezer space.

Shelf life of frozen beef

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

Packaging

About farmers will requite you an option between paper, shrink wrapped, or vacuum sealing packaging. Nosotros recommend vacuum sealing because it will keep the beefiness fresh for longer.

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

How practise you find a local subcontract?

So, do you still want to buy a moo-cow? If you're in the St. Louis area, permit u.s. know. We are happy to answer any questions you may have.

If you're outside of St. Louis, read our step-past-step guide on how to buy a moo-cow from a farmer. It will tell you how to notice a farmer, the right questions to ask, and how to know if you're getting a expert deal on beef.

I More Thing!

Practise y'all desire to larn more nearly beef? Join our weekly e-newsletter where we share farm happenings, recipes and beef availability. Sign-up and get a crook sheet with nine-must-ask questions before buying beef straight from a farmer. Or, we have an entire ebook near beef that goes through purchasing and preparing beef from a cattle farmers perspective.

Here are a few other links yous may like:

• Do Cows Take Teeth?
• What everybody ought to know nigh beefiness cuts
• Ownership a Moo-cow. How Much Beefiness Is It?
• 7 Steps to Grilling a Steak to Perfection
• How Nosotros Raise Our Grass Fed Beef
• Easy Beef Brisket Recipe (oven-roasted)
• The Best Subcontract Books for Kids

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We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Assembly 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. See our disclosure policy for more than details.

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

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