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Price comparison · Weight guide

Beef hanging weight, live weight, and what you take home.

Hanging weight is the carcass weight your bill is calculated on, and it is not what you carry home. A per-pound price is incomplete until the seller names which weight it uses.

Hanging weight is the carcass before final cutting and trimming. Packaged weight is the beef you receive. In the farm example below, 337 hanging pounds were expected to yield about 198 packaged pounds. Use the farm's own yield estimate when converting its rate to a take-home cost.

Convert your farm’s quote · Compare source-linked prices · Shop packaged beef boxes

One example, three different weights

  1. Live animal

    Not recorded

    Do not infer an exact live weight from a carcass.

  2. Hanging half

    337 lb

    The weight used in this published bill.

  3. Packaged beef

    About 198 lb

    The farm’s estimate after cutting and trimming.

Based on Brookford Farm's published example. The estimated take-home yield is about 59%; actual animals and orders vary.

The sequence

01 · Live
The animal on the farm, before harvest. For the optional live-weight estimate below, we assume a dressing range of 58–61% for grass-finished cattle and 62–64% for grain-finished cattle.
02 · Hanging
The carcass after the non-carcass parts are removed. This is the basis used by the bulk index.
03 · Packaged
What remains after cutting and trimming. The farm estimated that the example below would yield about 58.6% of its hanging weight as cuts.

Worked record

Brookford Farm, side number 2

“1/2 Cow Standard Package (Side #2) ... Each $3,117.25; body: 'Side number 2 hung at 337 lbs, you pay $3117.25 ($9.25 x 337) in total and receive about 197.54 of meat back in cuts.'”

Published source · Checked Aug 25, 2026. This published example is not confirmation of an available share.

Published bill$9.25 × 337 lb= $3,117.25

Packaged basis$3,117.25 ÷ 198 lb= $15.78/lb

Estimated live basis$3,117.25 ÷ 552–581 lb= $5.37–$5.64/lb

The bill never changes. Only the denominator does. The live-weight line is a range because the carcass dressing percentage was not measured for this animal; the packaged line is approximate because the farm described the take-home weight as an estimate.

Before ordering

Ask for the whole equation.

Confirm the rate, the named weight basis, the expected weight range, whether slaughter and cut-and-wrap are included, and whether a deposit comes off the final bill. Then ask for an expected packaged yield as a range, not a promise.

For the factors that change carcass and packaged yields, see Penn State Extension’s yield guide. The live-weight ranges here are planning assumptions, not measurements of this animal.

Cut instructions move the take-home number. Boneless steaks, close trimming, more ground beef, soup bones, and organ choices all change what enters the freezer without changing the original carcass.

Run your own numbers or estimate whole, half, quarter, and eighth shares.