Your Deposit

A $250 deposit will reserve your half calf with the balance due when it’s ready for processing.  We typically have calves available for processing twice a year in the Fall and Spring, please call us for availability. Total beef cost is currently $6.00 per pound based on hanging weight, but we expect the price will increase periodically to reflect market changes. You’ll pay the butcher their processing fees, depending on the weight and your processing choices (tenderization, vacuum vs. paper packaging, etc.). We use local processing plants either in Lampasas, or Westphalia. Packaged beef is ready for pickup about 3 weeks after processing begins.

If you want a whole calf, the deposit will be $500, and the same process with more beef to take home. Whole or half calves (half sometimes called a “side of beef”) are available at $6.00 a pound, based on hanging weight, plus processing costs.  We’ll deliver your calf to a locally owned butcher shop where it will be custom processed for you to pick up. We currently accept payment by Venmo (preferred @Kathryn-Voss-1), check, cash, or credit card through PayPal. If you have any questions at all, please contact us and we’ll be glad to help!

New slaughter appointments for steer calves in July and August 2025. Click reserve your beef now or email Dan at dsvoss81@gmail.com to reserve your beef. Slaughter cow appointment available on 1/14/25 if you want only hamburger, email Dan at dsvoss81@gmail.com to reserve.

Short summary of how it works

Your deposit reserves your beef and you simply wait for the calf to reach optimal size in Fall or Spring. When the calf is ready, we’ll take it to the butcher and contact you with the hanging weight of the calf which determines the final cost of your half or whole calf.  You’ll make the payment for the balance owed and contact the butcher to let them know how you want the calf prepared (Something called a cut sheet that the butcher provides will be completed by you).  The beef is ready for you to pick up about 2 weeks after it’s delivered to the butcher.  You pay the butcher their processing costs and they will help you pack the beef for home.

From Our Ranch To The Butcher

As your calf nears the best size for processing, we’ll contact you so you can start organizing your freezer space.  When its size and condition are right, we’ll take it to the butcher.  The next day we’ll call the butcher and get the hanging weight (the Beef Weight section below explains “hanging weight”), which determines the price of the beef.  We’ll contact you and you pay the balance of the beef cost.  We’ll then call the butcher and have them assign you as the new ‘owner’ of that beef and give them your phone number.  You call the butcher and let them know how you want the beef cut (Click here to see two different cut sheets.).  You can ask them to save bones for making bone broth or for your dogs.  The butcher can also package extra beef fat for rendering into tallow.  If you want a standard cut scheme and would rather we talk to the butcher, we’ll call them and also tell them the packaging you want.  The calf will ‘hang’ and dry age for about 2 weeks before they start the cuts and packaging.  The dry aging adds tenderness and flavor.  This is a special benefit of privately processing your beef with a smaller local butcher.  After packaging, the meat is frozen for a couple days.  The whole process takes a little more than 2 weeks.

From the butcher to your home freezer

The butcher will call you when the beef is frozen hard and ready for pickup.  Within a few days, you’ll visit the butcher and pay their processing charge and pack the beef into ice chests you bring.  One medium size (48 quart) ice chest can hold about 40 pounds of beef.  It will be frozen very well, so if you pack the ice chest tightly you don’t need ice.  It will stay frozen hard several hours at least. Freezer space for beef is typically about 1 cubic foot per 25 pounds. A large chest freezer is typically 20 cubic feet, an upright around 16 and the freezer compartment in a typical kitchen refrigerator is around 3 to 4 cubic feet.

Beef Weight - live, at the butcher, in your freezer

Calves are commonly weighed 3 ways – live, hanging, and packaged.  The live weight is the ‘on the hoof’ animal completely intact.  The hanging weight is the reduced weight after initial processing.  The hide, head, entrails, have been removed and calf hangs in a refrigerated space for several days before final processing.  Packaged weight is the weight of processed ‘in your freezer’ cuts.  In processing and packaging, excess fat is trimmed, some bones are removed, etc.  The most convenient time to weigh the calf is in the ‘hanging’ stage.  All butchers do this and they base their processing cost on this weight.  Some also weigh live or at packaging, but not always.  Weight is removed during processing and packaging.  The amount varies depending on the type of cuts desired, whether bones are left in, etc.  Generally, you can expect the hanging weight to be 55-60% of the live weight, and the packaged weight to be 60-65% of the hanging weight. Doing the math hypothetically if the calf weighs 1000# live weight, the hanging weight will be around 600#, and the packaged weight around 360# (or 180# for half calf).

Processing Cost

In addition to the cost of the calf itself, there is a fee for the butcher’s work.  This is typically between $1.00 to $1.20 per pound of hanging weight and depends on paper vs. plastic packaging, tenderizing, etc.  Since all butchers weigh at ‘hanging’ and base their costs on this weight, it’s easiest to price our beef according to this weight.  You tell the butcher how you want the meat cut and packaged with a cut sheet, so the final ‘packaged’ cost varies for each customer.

Typical cost of beef per pound

Typically, your final packaged cost per pound will range from $10.00-$12.00 per pound depending on meat cuts and packaging choices. This price is less than you would pay at the grocery store. You also have the peace of mind knowing it is locally sourced Central Texas home raised beef.

Typical cuts of beef

You can specify exactly how you want your beef cut.  If you’re new to the process and want to get a typical selection of cuts, here’s what to expect:

Steak (sirloin, ribeye, New York strip, and tenderloin) 20%
Roasts/Slow cook (chuck, rump, meaty soup bones, stew meat) 20%
 Cutlets (for chicken fried steak or stir fry) 8% 
Brisket 6% 
Fajita (flank and skirt steaks) 6% 
Ground beef 40%.

Too much meat?

If a half calf is more than you can store in your freezer, consider splitting your half with a friend.  The half calf will have several packages of every beef cut – roasts, steaks, soup meat, fajitas, stew meat, hamburger, etc. and can be evenly divided quite simply.  Of course, if you choose to process the calf differently, your cuts will vary.  For example, you may want only roasts and steaks and have all else ground for hamburger.  There would still be several packages of each of your chosen cuts which can be divided easily with a friend.

Want Hamburger Meat Only?

If you want only hamburger, then please contact me and we can arrange for slaughter of a cull cow. Cow’s make good hamburger, but not good steaks, etc.