The three numbers
Answer these before you compare share sizes.
- Household size and beef meals per week
- How many people you’re feeding and roughly how many meals a week include beef. This sets your target pounds per week, not the farm’s.
- Usable freezer capacity in cubic feet
- Empty interior space you can dedicate to this share, not the appliance’s nominal rating. See the freezer space guide for how to measure it.
- Total you can commit at pickup
- The full expected bill, not the deposit. A deposit reserves a spot; it is rarely the final charge. See what a share costs for how the bill is built.
Planning assumption: Turning “meals a week” into pounds is a planning assumption, not a recommendation. This guide uses the same two planning rates shown in the table below — one for lighter beef eaters and one for heavier ones — to estimate how long a share lasts. Your household’s actual rate may fall outside that band.
| Share | Household guideline | Packaged pounds | Freezer space | Estimated total cost | Weeks at 2 lb/week | Weeks at 4 lb/week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole | Larger households, or two households splitting. | 395.1 lb | 11.3 cu ft | $4,953.90 | 198 weeks | 99 weeks |
| Half | Three to five people, or two people who eat a lot of beef. | 197.5 lb | 5.6 cu ft | $2,476.95 | 99 weeks | 49 weeks |
| Quarter | Two to three people with a small chest freezer. | 98.8 lb | 2.8 cu ft | $1,238.48 | 49 weeks | 25 weeks |
| Eighth | One to two people trying a farm for the first time. | 49.4 lb | 1.4 cu ft | $619.24 | 25 weeks | 12 weeks |
The household-guideline column is a starting point, not a rule — actual fit depends on how often your household cooks beef and how much of each cut you use. Replace the packaged-pound and cost columns with the farm’s own expected weight and current quote before you commit. The weekly columns are planning scenarios, not consumption advice.
Read this before choosing an eighth
The eighth-share price above is a scenario, not a quote.
The eighth row uses the same assumed $7.35 per hanging pound as every other scenario, applied to a smaller estimated weight. This does not establish an eighth-share offer or a minimum price. Ask the farm whether it sells that share and request its exact rate.
Availability and rates depend on the seller. These rows show how changing the assumed weight changes the budget; none is a minimum price. Confirm the cut mix, expected packaged pounds, and total cost before choosing.
Match the size to the household
Use the guideline as a starting point.
- Eighth — A one- to two-person household trying a farm for the first time. Small enough to test cut quality and communication before committing to more.
- Quarter — Two to three people with a small chest freezer. Enough variety to cover regular meals without needing much dedicated freezer space.
- Half — Three to five people, or two people who eat a lot of beef. The most common size for a household that cooks beef several times a week.
- Whole — Larger households, or two households splitting the animal and the cost. Requires the most freezer space and the largest single payment.
Going in together
Splitting a half or whole with another household.
- Agree on the cut sheet together, before the farm asks for it. The cut sheet determines what each household actually receives; deciding it after the farm has already submitted it to the processor is too late to change.
- Split by cut groups, not just total weight. An even pound split can still leave one household with mostly roasts and the other with mostly steaks. Agree up front on how steaks, roasts, ground beef, and bones divide, then let weight settle around that.
- Designate one person as the farm’s point of contact. One name on scheduling, payment, and pickup logistics avoids duplicate or conflicting messages to the farm. That person still owes the other household a copy of every confirmation.
Related guides
Continue planning.
Freezer space — turn the packaged-pound estimate into cubic feet.
What a share costs — the full bill math behind the cost column above.
Hanging weight — why the same animal prices differently depending on the weight basis.