A half cow from a local farmer costs about $2,500 to $3,000 in 2026, all in. That buys roughly 220 to 250 pounds of packaged beef, which works out to $10 to $12 per pound for everything from ground beef to ribeyes. The farm's share of that is typically $5 to $6.50 per pound of hanging weight, and the processor takes another $400 or so for slaughter, cutting, and wrapping.
Those are national averages, not a quote. The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service surveys grass-fed producers every quarter, and in the second quarter of 2026 the 84 farms reporting charged an average of $5.76 per pound of hanging weight for a half, or $7.71 per pound with processing folded in. Prices at the farms listed in this directory run above and below that, and the difference is mostly geography, breed, and how the animal was finished.
The rest of this guide explains what "hanging weight" means, why you pay for more pounds than you take home, what the processor charges, and how to compare two farms' prices honestly.
The three weights
Every quote you get will be anchored to one of three numbers, and the single most common mistake is comparing a price quoted on one weight to a price quoted on another.
Live weight is the animal on the hoof. A finished beef steer typically weighs 1,100 to 1,350 pounds. You will almost never be quoted on live weight when buying a share.
Hanging weight, also called carcass weight or dressed weight, is what the carcass weighs after slaughter, with the hide, head, hooves, and organs removed. It runs about 60 to 63 percent of live weight, so a 1,200-pound steer hangs at roughly 740 pounds. A half is therefore 340 to 400 pounds hanging. This is the weight most farms price on, and it is the weight the USDA survey reports.
Take-home weight, or packaged weight, is what actually goes in your freezer. The carcass loses moisture while it ages, and then the processor removes bone and trims fat. Take-home is usually 60 to 65 percent of hanging weight, so a 375-pound half yields roughly 225 to 245 pounds of beef. Ask for more boneless cuts and the number drops. Keep the soup bones and it climbs.
Put together: about 1,200 pounds of steer becomes 740 pounds hanging becomes 450 to 480 pounds in freezers. Half of that is your half.
Where the money goes
Using the USDA's Q2 2026 averages and a 375-pound half:
- Beef, paid to the farm: 375 pounds hanging at $5.76 per pound, $2,160.
- Cut and wrap, paid to the processor: 375 pounds hanging at $0.94 per pound, $353.
- Slaughter fee, split with the other half: half of $125, about $63.
- Total: about $2,575.
Divide that by 240 pounds of take-home beef and you are at roughly $10.70 per pound. That is the honest number to hold in your head: a half cow is ten or eleven dollars a pound for the whole animal, every cut included.
The same USDA report puts grass-fed ground beef at $10.67 per pound for the 80 to 89 percent lean grade, ribeye at $28.50, and strip steak at $25.91 when bought as individual cuts direct from farms. A half share is how you get the ribeye at the ground-beef price. The trade is that you also get the shank, the brisket, the roasts, and a great deal of ground beef, and you have to be the kind of household that will cook them.
What moves the price
Finishing. Grass-finished beef generally costs more per pound than grain-finished beef from the same kind of farm, because grass-finished animals take longer to reach weight and finish lighter. Some producers in this directory do both, and the price difference between the two programs on a single farm is one of the clearest signals of what finishing actually costs. Both are honest ways to raise a steer; the guide on grass-fed versus grass-finished covers the difference.
Region. Processing capacity is the quiet driver. In parts of the West and Northeast, small USDA-inspected processors are booked months out, and farms pass that scarcity through in their prices and their timelines. The USDA's survey averages $125 for slaughter and $0.94 per pound for cut and wrap, but individual processors range well above that.
Deposits and timing. Almost every farm takes a deposit to hold a share, and the USDA survey puts the average half deposit at about $449. Many operations sell shares seasonally. Canyon Meadows, a three-generation ranch in Utah's Uinta Basin, lists quarter, half, and whole shares from June through December with a $100 deposit to start the order, according to its published ordering terms. If you want beef in the freezer by fall, the reservation often happens in spring.
Cutting instructions. Bone-in cuts weigh more, so a half cut mostly bone-in will yield more pounds at the same price. Boneless everything yields fewer pounds of a more convenient product. Neither is wrong, but it changes your per-pound math.
How to compare two quotes
Ask every farm the same four questions and write the answers down:
- What weight is the price based on: hanging or take-home?
- Is processing included, or paid separately to the processor?
- What is the slaughter fee, and is it per head or split by share?
- What was the average hanging weight of last season's halves?
With those four answers you can put any two farms on the same footing. A farm quoting $6.50 per pound hanging with processing included may cost less than one quoting $5.25 plus a processor who charges $1.40 per pound and a $200 kill fee.
One more: ask whether the farm sells by the half or by the "split half." A split half is a quarter with cuts from both the front and back of the animal, which is different from a true front quarter or hind quarter. The words matter because the cut mix is different.
Do you have room for it?
A rough rule is 35 to 40 pounds of packaged beef per cubic foot of freezer space. A half cow needs about 6 to 8 cubic feet. A typical kitchen refrigerator's freezer compartment is not enough. A small chest freezer, 7 cubic feet, will hold a half with some room to spare, and costs a few hundred dollars new. Frozen beef, wrapped well, holds quality for about a year, which is roughly how long a half takes a family of four to eat.
Is it worth it?
If you buy steaks regularly, yes, and comfortably. If you mostly buy ground beef, the savings are thinner, because ground beef is the cheapest thing the animal produces and you are paying an average price across the whole carcass. The people who get the most out of a half are the ones who cook the roasts and the shanks, not just the steaks. If that is not your household, a quarter is a smaller commitment with the same math, and buying individual cuts direct from a farm is still a good way to get pasture-raised beef without a freezer.
Every producer listed in this directory sells direct in some form. The state pages show who sells shares, who ships, and who does farm pickup, drawn from each farm's own published description.
Sources: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, National Grass Fed Beef Report, second quarter 2026 (84 reporting producers). Yield ranges are the standard figures published by university extension services. Producer terms are as published on the producer's own website at the time of writing; confirm current pricing and availability directly with the farm.