Beef Buying Guide
A beef share, bulk beef and freezer beef are three names for buying beef in quantity from a producer. Here is how each works and how to find one close to you.
A beef share is a portion of one animal, bought from the producer before it is processed: usually an eighth, a quarter, a half or the whole. You pay for your portion on hanging weight, and it comes back to you cut, wrapped and frozen.
You choose a share size and reserve it with a deposit. The producer assigns your share to an animal and a harvest date. The animal is harvested and the carcass weighed, and you pay your portion of the hanging weight at the agreed price per pound. The carcass hangs to age, is cut to the cut sheet, and is wrapped and frozen for you to collect.
Some producers sell shares of the live animal and use a custom exempt processor, in which case the packages are for your own use and are often stamped not for sale. Others sell from a USDA inspected plant. Either is legitimate, and the producer can tell you which.
It depends on the share size and how often you eat beef. As a rough guide, a household eating beef three or four times a week will get through a quarter in a few months and a half in six months to a year. Most buyers plan around one share a year, or one every six months.
On the freezer side, USDA's guidance is that beef kept frozen at 0 degrees Fahrenheit stays safe indefinitely, with the best quality for steaks and roasts within about 4 to 12 months and for ground beef within about 3 to 4 months. Vacuum sealed beef holds its quality toward the longer end.
Open your state page on American Beef Direct, which lists the farms and ranches on record in your state and the ones nearest to it, and check the Beef Shares page for producers whose own material lists shares. Shares book up around harvest dates, so contact producers a season ahead where you can.
Bulk beef is beef bought in quantity, and producers use the term for two things: a share of an animal cut to your order, or a bulk package, such as a 20 or 50 pound box of ground beef or a mixed box of steaks, roasts and ground beef. A share usually costs less per pound; a bulk box is simpler and quicker.
Freezer beef is beef bought to stock a home freezer, usually as a share or a bulk box, rather than bought fresh a few cuts at a time. It is frozen at the processor, typically vacuum sealed or paper wrapped, and labeled by cut and date.
Look for farms and ranches in your state that sell shares, bundles or bulk boxes. Your state page lists the producers on record, the Bulk and Freezer Beef page lists producers whose own sites sell beef in bulk, and producers in neighboring states, or those that ship, are worth a look too.
When you contact a producer, ask whether the price is per pound of hanging weight, per packaged pound or by the box, so you can compare like with like.
General guidance for buyers, not advice about any one producer. Weights, yields and freezer space are approximate and vary by animal and cut sheet, and every price is set by the producer. American Beef Direct sells no beef.
Every state page lists the producers on record there, the nearest ones next door, and the ranches that ship.