How does custom beef processing work?
Custom processing means the animal is harvested and cut to the owner's instructions. Under the federal custom exemption, an animal owned by its buyers before harvest can be processed at a custom exempt plant for the owners' own household use. The plant is subject to sanitation rules and periodic review, but each animal is not inspected by a USDA inspector, so the packages are marked not for sale and cannot be resold.
That is why many small producers sell shares of the live animal: you own your portion before harvest, and the processor cuts it to your sheet. Producers selling by the cut must use a USDA inspected plant, or a state inspected plant where the state runs its own program, which typically limits sales to inside that state.
How is a beef share or bulk beef processed?
The animal is taken to the processor on its harvest date. After harvest the carcass is weighed for the hanging weight, split into sides and hung in a cooler to age, usually one to three weeks. It is then broken down into primal sections, chuck, rib, loin, round, brisket, plate and flank, and cut into steaks, roasts and ground beef to each buyer's cut sheet. The cuts are wrapped, labeled, frozen and boxed for collection.
Bulk boxes are processed the same way, but the producer chooses the cuts and packs set boxes afterwards.
Can I choose the cuts in a beef share?
With a half or a whole, almost always: you fill in a cut sheet with the processor or producer. It asks things like steak thickness and how many per package, roast size, whether you want bone-in or boneless, how much goes to ground beef and at what package weight, whether to keep the brisket, short ribs, flank and skirt, and whether you want bones, organs or fat.
With a quarter or an eighth, it depends. Some producers let you choose, some agree one sheet between the buyers sharing a side, and some use a standard list. If it is your first share, ask the producer for their usual cut list and change only what you know you want.
Where is local beef processed?
Usually at a small processor near the farm or ranch: a USDA inspected plant, a state inspected plant, or a custom exempt shop. A few larger ranches run their own inspected plant. Processor capacity is limited in much of the country, which is why harvest dates book months ahead and why producers plan shares around the dates they can get.
Ask the producer which processor they use and under which inspection. The answer tells you whether the beef can be sold by the cut, shipped across state lines, or only bought as a share for your own use.
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.
