Yields & Cost Savings

Every beef/pork is different and there are many variables that can affect the yield percentages. 

• Finish (select, choice, or prime)
• Muscle and bone structure.  Just like us, they are all built a little differently
• The way a customer has their meat cut can greatly affect the carry out weight.  Most of our customers prefer well trimmed steaks and roasts, along with lean ground beef, and boneless roasts.  If the fat and bone were left in, the carry out weight would go up, but the amount of edible red meat you take home would remain the same.

Our average beef walks into the plant at 1300 lbs. and will grade choice. After slaughter, that beef will hang at around 800 lbs. in the cooler.  Out of that 800 lbs. of hanging beef, you will carry home about 425 lbs. of packaged meat approximently 1/2 of that will be lean ground beef.  

If your needs are less than that of a whole beef or pork, beef can be split four ways and pork can be split two ways.  A fourth of a beef is a good way to get into custom processed beef, and the beef is often sold by the carcass weight. If the local producer is asking $3.00 per lb.  for his beef that dressed 800 lbs., like the sample from above,  you would pay $600.00 to the beef producer for that 25% stake in his beef. You would then owe the processor, hopefully Belschner Custom Meats, around $250.00 for the processing. This would make the total for the quarter of beef around $850.00 for approximately 106 lbs. of beef.  This figures up to be around $8.00 per pound for your meat. Of that meat approximately half of it is ground beef and the other half is steaks and roasts. If you have spent any time shopping for meat you know that $8 per lb. is kind of pricey for ground beef (lean ground beef is usually over $6), but the savings is in the other half, made up of steak and roasts. These choice to prime steaks often sell for $20-$25 per lb., depending on where you shop. The price falls even more if you take advantage of less popular products like heart, liver, tongue, oxtail, shank bones (for soups) or dog bones processed at no extra charge. These extras can add 10-15 lbs. to your carry home weight which brings your average price per pound down some.

It is important to remember comparing the price of custom processed beef to supermarket beef is like comparing apples to oranges.  Our beef is always choice or prime, (unless you prefer or ask for leaner beef such as grassfed beef, which is often select), dry-aged, locally raised, packaged for long term storage, and cut to your exact  specifications.  This is a huge bonus that costs less than supermarket beef.