What You Get From LGCM
Whether you're a farmer looking to have an animal processed for your customers or an individual who wants to fill your freezer with locally raised beef, we can help.
We process animals that you bring in, and we also offer 'house' animals, beef that we've sourced from local farms and matched to you.
Either way, you get the same humane, professional processing and the high butchery standards we're known for in our retail store.
Processing Pricing
| Size | Processing Price |
|---|---|
| Quarter (Half of half) | $1.30/lb dressed wt. |
| Half | $1.25/lb dressed wt. |
| Whole | $1.25/lb dressed wt. |
Half Beef Yield Breakdown
Here's what to expect from a typical half beef. Weights vary based on the animal and your cut preferences.
Steaks
Select bone-in or boneless steaks according to your preference. You will get either Bone-In Rib Steaks, T-Bone Steaks, Porterhouse Steaks, and Sirloin Steaks or Ribeye Steaks, Butt Steaks, New York Strip Steaks, and Tenderloin Filets.
Roasts
Chuck roasts, round roasts, rump roasts, and sirloin tip roasts are our most popular roasts. We can cut more or less roasts to your preference. Whatever isn't cut as roasts can be used as ground meat, stew meat, or turned into cube steaks.
Ground Beef
The amount of ground beef varies depending on how many roasts and other cuts you would like. If ground beef is your favorite thing, we can get you more. Our standard trim is 85% lean, although you can request leaner or fattier, and we can make 1#, 1.5#, or 2# packages for you. Please note custom lean / fat requests are only available for half & whole animal orders.
Short Ribs & Stew Meat
Perfect for braising, slow cooking, and hearty stews. If you don't like these, we can put it into ground beef.
Soup Bones & Organ Meats
Marrow bones, knuckle bones, liver, heart, tongue - if you want it, we'll save it!
Miscellaneous
Skirt steak, flank steak, kabob meat, and other specialty cuts are all available if you like them!
How It Works
The Processing Journey
From scheduling to pickup, here's how our beef processing works.
Contact Us
Contact us to get on our schedule. We have varying availability throughout the year. We work with farmers who bring their own animals and individuals looking for house animals that we source from local farms.
Choose Your Size
Getting a house animal? Choose whole, half, or quarter. Bringing your own? We can cut the whole animal for you, or break it up for your customers.
Tell Us Your Cut Preferences
Pick your preferred roast size, steak thickness, which cuts go into ground beef, which organs you'd like, and more. If it's possible, we can cut it for you!
We Age the Animal
Your animal arrives for its processing date and is humanely harvested. After dry-aging in our carcass cooler the old-fashioned way, we get to work.
We Cut & Wrap
We follow your cutting instructions and double freezer-paper wrap your cuts. Ground beef is packaged in shirrs. Everything is boxed and flash frozen.
Pick Up Your Beef
When it's ready, we'll call you. You have 10 business days to pick up. We'll load it right in your car.
Custom Processing FAQs
Find answers to common questions about our custom processing services.
Based on an average 1,350-pound steer, a half beef will yield approximately 240 to 285 pounds of packaged meat.
Here is the quick math for a half beef:
- Live Weight (Half): ~675 lbs
- Hanging Weight (Half): ~405 lbs
- Take-Home Yield: ~240 – 285 lbs (varies based on bone-in vs. boneless cutting preferences)
What's in the freezer?
As a general rule of thumb, your packaged meat will be broken down into:
- 50% Ground Beef & Stew Meat
- 30% Roasts (e.g., Chuck, Round, Sirloin Tip)
- 20% Steaks (e.g., Ribeye, Strip, Sirloin)
It can be surprising to see a 1,350-pound steer result in roughly 500 pounds of freezer-ready beef. However, this "loss" isn't missing meat; it's just the process of removing the inedible parts of the animal to get to the high-quality cuts you actually eat.
Here is a breakdown of where that weight goes during the two main stages of processing:
1. Live Weight to Hanging Weight (Approx. 40% Reduction)
When the animal is harvested, the inedible and unmarketable portions are removed before it goes into our cooler for dry aging. Items you lose include:
- The Hide
- Head and Hooves
- Blood and Internal Organs (digestive tract, lungs, etc.)
2. Hanging Weight to Packaged Meat (Approx. 35% Reduction)
Once the carcass has cooled and aged, it is broken down into your specific steaks, roasts, and ground beef. The weight drops further during this stage due to:
- Moisture Loss (Shrink): Carcasses naturally lose water weight as they hang and age in the cooler.
- Bone Removal: Unless you request heavy bone-in cuts, large bones (like the femur, chine bone, and blade bone) are removed and discarded.
- Fat Trimming: Excess external cover fat is trimmed away to leave a clean, retail-ready product.
- Cartilage and Gristle: Tough connective tissues are cut away and discarded.
The Bottom Line: You aren't losing edible beef; you are losing inedible parts of the animal.
If you want to maximize your final take-home weight, you can always request bone-in cuts, keep the soup/marrow bones, and ask for the usable organ meats, offal cuts, and beef head.
The dressed or hanging weight is the weight of the carcass after the hide, head, blood, organs, and feet are removed. Take-home weight is the weight of the packaged meat after all processing is complete.
Take-home weight is less than the hanging weight because of bone, trim loss, and water loss during aging and processing.
After we receive your animal, the whole process typically takes 2–4 weeks. This includes aging (7–14 days for optimal flavor), butchering (3–5 days), wrapping, labeling, and freezing. We'll call you when your meat is ready for pickup.
Absolutely! During the initial consultation, we discuss your preferences and build a custom cut list. Want thick steaks? Prefer ground beef to roasts? Like your ribs as short ribs or spare ribs? We'll work with you to maximize the cuts you want from your animal.
Either option works! If you own the animal and want it processed, bring it to us. If you'd like us to source a locally-raised animal for you, we can help arrange that too. Just let us know your preferences and budget, and we'll find the right fit for your family.
Here are a few dependable resources that you can use to learn more about beef & beef processing:
