Buy Beef Direct: Bulk & Freezer Beef
Freezer beef is beef bought in quantity to stock a freezer, and it comes two ways: a share of an animal cut to your order, or a bulk box or bundle the producer has already packed. Both are bought from the producer, and both are cheaper per pound than buying cut by cut.
Bulk beef is a broad term, and producers use it for two different products. The first is a share of an animal: a whole, half, quarter or eighth, priced on hanging weight and cut to a sheet you fill in. The second is a bulk beef package: a box or bundle of a set weight, such as a 20 or 50 pound lot of ground beef or a mixed freezer package of steaks, roasts and ground beef, priced by the box or by the packaged pound.
A share gives you more choice and usually the lowest cost per pound, but it needs a harvest date, a cut sheet and room for a lot of beef at once. A bulk beef box is simpler: you order a known weight of known cuts and it is ready sooner. Many families start with a box from a producer, then move up to a quarter or half once they trust the beef and have the freezer for it.
Either way, freezer beef is about planning ahead. One cubic foot of freezer holds roughly 35 to 40 pounds of packaged beef, steaks and roasts keep their best quality for many months when properly wrapped and frozen, and a family bulk order bought once can cover months of meals.
A share means more choice and a lower price per pound. A bulk box means a set weight of set cuts, sooner and with less planning.
Allow about one cubic foot for every 35 to 40 pounds of packaged beef, and leave room for air to circulate.
Use your state page or the map, read the ranch's own site, and look for shares, bundles or bulk packages.
Shares usually take a deposit and a cut sheet. Boxes are usually ordered and paid for like any other purchase on the ranch's own store.
Producers deliver, offer pickup, or ship frozen in insulated boxes, depending on the ranch. Ask which, and plan to be home on delivery day.
A good producer is glad to answer every one of these. Ask before you put down a deposit, and compare producers on the same answers.
Each of these ranches lists shares, bundles or bulk packages on its own site. Order with the ranch; we never handle the sale.
Dewey, Arizona
Founded in 2007 by Tim Petersen, a third generation meat cutter and first generation cattle rancher. The cattle graze native Arizona grasses year round, and every cut is dry aged and hand cut in the company's own USDA inspected plant.
From the ranch's own listing: Build your own beef box and bulk boxes
Eloy, Arizona
Mark and Annette Smith are fourth generation Eloy area farmers who went back to their ranching roots in 2021 to raise American Wagyu. The herd eats alfalfa, corn, barley, bermuda, triticale and oats grown on the family's own ground.
From the ranch's own listing: Quarter, half and whole beef
Hampton, Georgia
Wayne, Charmaine and Jekhi Swanson run a 32 acre farm south of Atlanta raising Georgia Pineywoods cattle, hair sheep and heritage hogs on pasture and in the woods, with no commercial feed, steroids or hormones.
From the ranch's own listing: Eighth, quarter and half beef shares
Barnesville, Georgia
Ivan Minks raises cattle on rotated Georgia pasture, finished on native grasses and legumes with a free choice supplement, then dry aged into a craft product. The ranch also runs a store carrying local pork, chicken, eggs and seafood.
From the ranch's own listing: Whole animal and wholesale orders
Stonewall, Oklahoma
Roger and Nikki Callison are third and fourth generation Oklahoma ranchers who have grown a herd of 20 heifers into more than 350 cows. Every animal is raised on the ranch start to finish and the beef is dry aged 21 to 28 days.
From the ranch's own listing: Dry aged ground beef, sold in bulk
Meyersville, Texas
Tanner and Catherine left careers in oil and gas and pharmaceutical sales to restore a 1915 farmhouse on 57 acres and raise beef, chicken and heritage hogs on pasture. Beef is dry aged and cut by the farm's own butchers.
From the ranch's own listing: Half and whole animal reservations
Bullard, Texas
The Haughee family farms regeneratively near Bullard, Texas, raising 100 percent grass finished beef alongside pastured chicken and pork. Fields are never sprayed and the animals never receive hormones or pharmaceuticals.
From the ranch's own listing: 100 percent grass finished beef shares
Slaton, Texas
The ranch has been in the Forrest family for over 100 years and is raising its sixth generation. Amber and Casey Davis and their daughters run cattle on ranch pasture, finished on grass and grain, with no hormones or antibiotics.
From the ranch's own listing: Eighth, quarter, half and whole beef
Marble Falls, Texas
Beef from the original Samuel Ely Holland Ranch in Burnet County, established by the family's great great grandfather in 1848. Cattle are pasture raised and grass fed, and the beef is dry aged 14 to 18 days.
From the ranch's own listing: Whole, half, quarter and eighth beef
Wells, Nevada
A family ranch in Clover Valley, in the foothills of the East Humboldt range, started in 1947 and now in its fifth generation. Jordan and Kari Lyn Brough sell the ranch's Wagyu and Angus beef direct, from a single cut to a whole beef.
From the ranch's own listing: Custom quarter, half and full beef
Washoe Valley, Nevada
A family that has been ranching and farming in Nevada for more than 50 years, running a co-op of Nevada ranches and farms. The beef is grass fed, grass finished and dry aged, and customers pre-order and collect at one of five posted locations.
From the ranch's own listing: Beef shares, processed in the buyer's name
Wheatland, Wyoming
The Goertz family has raised cattle and wheat on the same southeast Wyoming ground since 1910, and started selling beef direct in 2004. The cattle graze prairie grass and cover crops, finish on grain raised on the family's own farm, and are dry aged 21 days.
From the ranch's own listing: Whole, half, quarter and eighth beef
Yoder, Colorado
Freedom Acres Ranch is a Marine Corps veteran family's ranch in Yoder, Colorado, founded in 2020 to bring healthy, farm fresh food to families who lack it. The cattle are grass fed and free range, every product is Certified Homegrown by Heroes, and the beef ships to every state.
From the ranch's own listing: Whole, half and quarter beef for the freezer
These are the producers with full written profiles. Many more farms and ranches are on the registry with a listing, and every one of them is on its own state page.
Every state has its own page listing the farms and ranches on record there, the nearest producers in neighboring states, and the ranches that ship. These states have at least one member today.
American Beef Direct is a registry of American beef producers. We help you find a farm or ranch and learn how it raises its cattle, then send you to the producer's own website, phone or store. We never take the order, the deposit, the payment or a commission, and the producer is always the authority on price, availability and pickup or shipping.
Search the map or open your state to find farms and ranches selling beef close to home.