There’s a lot of confusion running around on what you’re paying for, what you’re taking home, and what you’re paying per pound when you’re buying your beef, pork, etc. First, let’s clear up some terminology:

Live weight - Animal is still running around and mooing, oinking, bleating, fainting, etc.
Hanging weight - Animal has been slaughtered, bled out, and skinned. The offal (stomach & organs), head, tail, tongue, and feet up to the first joint have all been removed. Hanging weight is also referred to as “rail weight, dressed carcass weight, or carcass weight. There is still a lot of extra bone and things that most people wouldn’t want in your freezer when an animal is at its hanging weight. Hanging weight is a percentage of live weight.
Cut and wrapped weight - The carcass has been processed into primal cuts, and then into finished cuts of steaks, roasts, burger, ribs, or whatever your cut order (or the farmer’s cut order) has specified. Also referred to as “finished weight”, “pounds in your freezer”, or my favorite term, “actual meat”. Finished weight is a percentage of hanging weight. Cut and wrapped percentage is the ratio of cut and wrapped weight to hanging weight. A higher cut and wrapped percentage means you get more meat per pound of hanging weight.

Most producers sell freezer meat based on hanging weight, though some sell based on finished weight. If you are buying the animal based on hanging weight, ask the producer if the cost of butchering is included or is on top of the hanging weight charge! So, how do you estimate your cut and wrapped weight from your hanging weight? There’s a rough cut and wrapped percentage you can use to get a ballpark of where you will be. I say ballpark in bold because there is quite a bit of variability between producers, animal type and finish, and even between animals from the same producer.

There are also factors related to cut order that can greatly influence (increase or decrease) your cut and wrapped percentage. The following table summarizes approximate cut and wrapped percentages for various commercially sold animals.

Estimated hanging weight to live weight and cut and wrapped weight to hanging weight percentages.

Example: you bought a half beef from a farmer for $4/lb hanging weight. You are paying processing fees which are $75/half slaughter and $1.20/lb processing. Your beef half was 400 lb “hanging weight”. Your total cost is now:

400 lb hanging weight x ($4/lb to producer + $1.20/lb to butcher) + $75 slaughter to butcher
Or 400 lb hanging weight x($5.20/lb) + $ 75
Or $2155 total.

You can estimate your yield by using the following equation:

Estimated yield = hanging weight x estimated cut and wrapped %
Or Estimated yield = 400 lb x 0.60 = 240 lb of meat, cut and wrapped.

Your estimated cost per pound is now as follows:

Estimated cost/lb = Total cost / estimated yield
Or Estimated cost/lb = $2155/240 lb = $8.97/lb

So, even though “You paid $4/lb,” you need to ask more questions and do a little math to find out what your actual cost per pound of meat in your freezer is! I hope this article helps you! If it did, could you help us out and stop by our website, socials or maybe check out our ebook?

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Check out my Ebook called “Buying Beef from a Farmer” at https://a.co/d/gblENEy

Last, but perhaps most importantly, help us connect farms to their communities at www.thefarmdirectory.com.

-Kenny Smith

Owner/Operator of KD Farms, LLC

Owner/Operator of TheFarmDirectory.com

Aka the “Headless Hat Collector”

Sources:

[1] https://livestock.extension.wisc.edu/articles/how-much-meat-should-a-hog-yield/

[2] https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=B1168&title=meat-goat-production-in-georgia#:~:text=Although%20the%20introduction%20of%20the,%2D%20to%2023%2Dpound%20carcass.

[3] https://sapelofarms.com/purchasing-our-goat-meat#:~:text=So%2C%20a%2070lb%20goat%20would,or%20cut%20%22family%20style.%22