Beef Buying Guide
The three share sizes most producers sell, what each one actually is, how the purchase works, and what you can expect to find in the freezer afterwards.
A whole beef is the entire carcass of one animal, usually a steer or heifer raised for beef, cut and wrapped to your instructions. People call it a whole cow, though it is rarely a cow in the strict sense. You get every cut the animal yields, and you choose how it is cut.
It is the largest way to buy direct: a typical whole beef comes home as a few hundred pounds of packaged beef, so it needs a large freezer or a group to split it.
A half beef is one side of the carcass, split down the backbone. It carries half of every cut on the animal, and you normally fill in your own cut sheet for it. Half cow, half beef and half steer all mean the same thing.
A half is the share size most families choose, because it brings real value per pound and fits in a standard chest freezer.
A quarter beef is a quarter of the carcass. Many producers sell it as a split half, where two buyers share one side and each gets a mix of front and hind cuts. Others sell a forequarter, heavy in chuck roasts, ribs and brisket, or a hindquarter, heavy in loin steaks and round. Ask which kind you are buying.
A quarter is the easiest first purchase: enough beef to learn what you like, in a freezer most homes already have.
Whole animal buying means buying beef by the animal, or a share of one, rather than by the cut. Instead of choosing only the steaks you want, you take your portion of everything: the prime cuts, the roasts, the ground beef and the less familiar cuts like shank, short ribs and brisket.
It is how small producers can sell their whole harvest, and it is why shares are cheaper per pound than buying by the cut. The tradeoff is that you need freezer space and a willingness to cook the whole animal, not just its best known parts.
You find a producer that sells whole beef, reserve an animal with a deposit, and are given a harvest date. Before or around that date you fill in a cut sheet with the processor or the producer. After harvest the carcass is weighed, and you pay the producer for the hanging weight at the agreed price per pound, plus the processor's fees where those are separate.
The carcass then hangs to age, typically one to three weeks, before it is cut, wrapped and frozen. You collect the beef from the processor or the ranch, or the producer delivers it.
It works the same way as a whole, for one side. You reserve a half with a deposit, fill in the cut sheet for your side, and pay on your half of the hanging weight once the carcass is weighed. The producer either includes processing in the price or you pay the processor directly.
The other half usually goes to another buyer, so a half is often available on a harvest date when a whole is not.
You reserve a quarter with a deposit and the producer pairs you with the buyers of the rest of the animal. Because a quarter is often half of a shared side, the cut sheet may be a standard quarter list, or one you agree with the other buyer on that side.
You pay on your quarter of the hanging weight, plus processing where it is billed separately, and collect your beef frozen and labeled.
From a farm or ranch that sells whole animals direct. Your state page on American Beef Direct lists the producers on record in your state, and the Whole Beef page lists producers whose own sites say they sell whole beef. We do not sell beef ourselves: you buy from the producer.
From a producer that sells halves. Start with your state page, which lists the farms and ranches on record in your state, and the Half Beef page, which lists producers whose own material says they sell halves. Contact the producer directly to reserve one.
From a farm or ranch that sells quarters. Your state page and the Quarter Beef page are the place to start, and every producer listing links to the producer, not to a checkout of ours.
Everything the animal yields, cut to your sheet. From the rib and loin: ribeyes or a standing rib roast, New York strips, tenderloin or filets, T-bones or porterhouses, and sirloin steaks. From the chuck: chuck roasts, and often flat iron and Denver steaks. From the round: round steaks or roasts, rump roast, eye of round and sirloin tip. From the rest: brisket, short ribs, flank and skirt steak, stew meat, shanks and a large share of ground beef.
You can also ask for the extras many processors discard unless told otherwise: soup and marrow bones, oxtail, liver, heart, tongue and fat for tallow.
Half of everything on the animal: one side's ribeyes, strips, tenderloin, sirloins, chuck and round roasts, half the brisket and short ribs, flank and skirt, stew meat and ground beef. Because a half is a true side, you choose how it is cut, so you can trade steaks for roasts or more ground beef if that suits how you cook.
A split half quarter brings a mix of everything in smaller numbers: a few ribeyes and strips, some filets and sirloins, a handful of roasts, some short ribs or brisket, and a good share of ground beef. A forequarter leans to chuck roasts, rib steaks, brisket and ground beef; a hindquarter leans to loin steaks, round roasts and sirloin. Ask the producer which you are getting and whether you have a say on the cut list.
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.