Locally Grown Beef and Pork:

 

Prime beef and show quality pork comes to you from the farm of Tara and Tony Greene. The Greene family pride themselves on outstanding farm practices that produce the highest quality meat products. 

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The Greene family are award winning breeders of beef cattle and swine. Their support of 4-H and FFA with youth is admirable and their children's participation on the farm is proof of the tradition and heritage of family and agriculture.  Great agriculture practices and a dedication to remarkable production of meat products that anyone would be proud to serve their family. 

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Better than any products you could find in commercial grocers, a Kentucky born and bred delicacy.

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Meat shares come to you in a variety of ways:

  Pork shares arrive in either half or whole weights.

  Beef shares are available in whole, half, quarter and eighths.

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Beef and Pork shares will be delivered twice a year, once in Spring and then around August/September.  Deliveries will be scheduled and locations to be determined for pick up.

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As a consumer, I am sure you have many questions on the actual amount of meat and how the final costs are determined.  Let me give you the lowdown.

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If you’re new to buying beef in large quantities, or even if you’ve done it once or twice before, you may find this review of the process helpful. The following are some definitions and a basic description of the butchering process as it affects the quantity of beef you’ll receive.

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Live Weight vs. Hanging Weight

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Let's assume an average sized two year old steer weighs approximately 1,000 lbs;  that weight is called the “live weight”.  Some animals are a bit bigger and will probably weigh 1,200 lbs at harvest, but to keep the arithmetic simple we’ll assume a 1,000 lb. steer. Once the animal is slaughtered however, the skin, head, non usable organs, and hooves are removed and the carcass is split down the middle and weighed, giving the butcher the “hanging” or “carcass weight”, which is usually around 60% of the live weight. The two “sides” are then hung in a cooler for 10 days to two weeks to age. This improves tenderness, enhances flavor and also further reduces weight due to evaporation.

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Hanging Weight vs. Boxed Weight

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After aging, each side is fabricated into individual retail cuts. The weight after this process is called the “boxed”, “take home”, or “retail” weight. The boxed weight will be significantly less than the hanging weight. The percentage of the hanging weight that remains is called the “carcass cutting yield” or “yield” for short and is generally around 60% of hanging weight. This percentage varies based on a number of factors including:

• Bone-in vs. boneless – This will dramatically affect yield; the more boneless cuts that are made, the lower the yield. It will not however significantly affect the actual amount of meat you receive.

• The amount of fat remaining on the meat cuts – The yield will vary based on how much surface fat the cutter leaves on the cuts.

• Leanness of ground beef – If the ground beef is made very lean the yield will be less than if the ground is made with a higher percentage of fat.

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So How Is Price Determined?

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Traditionally, when you buy meat in this way the price is set based on hanging weight. This is because as noted above the actual boxed weight can vary significantly because of a number of factors, which are not a function of the animal being sold. Also, many butchers only give the hanging weight to the producer and not the take home weight. As producers, we look for a butcher who gives us back a good percentage of hanging weight. 

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As an example let’s say you are ordering a side of beef from an animal with a live weight of 1,000 lbs and a hanging weight of 600 lbs. The hanging weight of the side you are receiving is 300 lbs. Your total cost, assuming a $4.25 price per pound of hanging weight would be $1,275, (300 lbs x $4.25). Assuming a yield of 60% the actual weight of the beef you would receive would be 180 lbs (300 x .60).

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Now to complicate things more, the smaller the share, the greater the cost per pound hanging weight. Smaller shares complicates the quantity process, as we can't just harvest a portion of the beef, we need to be sure to sell the whole beef eventually. To calculate the boxed weight of any of the smaller shares, simply divide the whole hanging weight by each portion size.  Cuts of beef aren’t widgets so the actual weight of each of the shares will vary somewhat. After we find out the hanging weight of your cow, we will contact you with the exact cost of your portion. 

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To compare this with what you are paying for retail cuts of grass fed beef in the store, you can translate it to a price per pound of meat received by dividing the price per pound of hanging weight by the yield percentage. So in the case above the price per pound would be $7.08 ($4.25/.60). Since this includes everything from ground beef to more expensive steaks I think you will find it works out very favorably compared to most retailer’s prices for grass fed and finished beef.

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