You take home the finished cuts or “yield”. The percentage of the hanging weight that remains is called the “yield” and is typically 65% of hanging weight.

Hanging Weight– also known as dressed weight or carcass weight – is what you get when you remove the parts that are inedible like the hide, feet, head, some of the bones and most of the innards.

If you buy a whole or half, you get to decide how the beef is cut and packaged, according to your tastes and needs. It might sound overwhelming at first, but we will walk you through the cut selection and help you fill out your cut request with the butcher.

Plan on approximately one cubic foot of freezer space for every 15-20 pounds of meat. The interior of a milk crate is slightly more than a cubic foot. For a 1/2 a beef, you will need a 7-cu ft. freezer. Hop over to this link from OSU - Buying Beef for the Freezers. For pork, figure 1/4th the size of a whole beef.