From Our Pasture To Your Freezer, Step By Step
Buying beef by the share is not complicated, but it is unfamiliar if you have never done it. Here is the whole process, start to finish, with the farm jargon explained as we go.
What Happens After You Call Us
No surprises, no guesswork. We will tell you what is coming next at every stage.
Reach Out
Call or text us, or send the reservation form on this site. Tell us roughly what size share you are after, or tell us you have no idea, which is just as welcome. We will help you figure out the right size for your family and your freezer.
Pick Your Share
Quarter, half, or whole. We will talk through how much beef each one is, what it costs, and how much freezer space you need to clear before it arrives.
Place Your Deposit
A deposit holds your beef. It is $100 for a quarter, $150 for a half, and $200 for a whole. Once that is in, that beef is yours and nobody else can claim it. The balance is due before your beef goes to the processor, along with finalizing your pickup or delivery.
Fill Out Your Cut Sheet
A few weeks before processing we send you a cut sheet so you can tell the processor exactly how you want your beef. Halves and wholes get to customize theirs. Quarters use our pre-made standard sheet, which covers a good balance of steaks, roasts, and ground beef.
Processing & Aging
Your animal goes to a Kentucky processor, where it is aged, cut to your sheet, vacuum sealed or paper wrapped, labeled, and frozen. This is the part that takes the longest, and it is the part that makes the beef good.
Pick Up Or Get It Delivered
When your beef is ready we let you know. Pick it up from the processor, pick it up here at the farm, or we can deliver it to you — get in touch and we will give you a quote.
What Is A Cut Sheet?
A cut sheet is simply the form where you tell the processor how you want your beef broken down. It is the difference between a freezer full of exactly what your family eats and a freezer full of what somebody else guessed you wanted.
On it you will decide things like:
- How thick you want your steaks cut
- How big your roasts should be, and how many
- How much goes to ground beef, and what package size
- Whether you want stew meat, soup bones, brisket, and organ meats
Buying a half or a whole? You fill out your own sheet and we will help you through it.
Buying a quarter? You do not have to think about any of this. We use a standard cut sheet we have already put together, balanced for steaks, roasts, and ground beef the way most families use them.
Three Ways To Take It Home
Whatever is easiest for you. We will confirm the details once your beef is ready.
Pick Up At The Processor
Collect your beef straight from the processor in Smiths Grove when it is ready. No fee.
Pick Up At The Farm
Come out to the farm in Sonora and collect it from us. No fee, and you get to see where it came from.
We Deliver To You
We deliver within about a 5-hour drive of Sonora. Cost depends on where you are, so get in touch for a quote.
Everything Folks Ask Us First
If your question is not here, call or text. We would rather answer it than have you wonder.
Three weights matter. Live weight is what the animal weighs on the hoof — we aim to finish ours at around 1,200 lbs, and processing is priced on this number, from $0.40 per pound. Hanging weight is the carcass after dressing, roughly 62% of live weight. Take-home weight is what actually reaches your freezer once bone and trim come out.
The processing figure is an estimate: the processor sets the rate and it can change, and extras you choose on your cut sheet — smoking, jerky, snack sticks, summer sausage, patties — cost more. We will confirm the rate with you before your beef goes in.
Roughly 4 cubic feet for a quarter, 8 for a half, and 16 for a whole.
A quarter will fit in the freezer above a standard refrigerator if you empty it out first. A half or a whole needs a dedicated chest or upright freezer. If you are not sure, call us and describe what you have.
It depends on where you land in our schedule and how booked the processor is. Once your animal goes in, aging and cutting typically take a few weeks.
When you reserve, we will give you the actual expected timeframe for your share rather than a guess.
Absolutely, and people do it all the time. Two families splitting a half each end up with a quarter’s worth of beef.
One thing to sort out ahead of time: you will be working from one cut sheet, so agree between yourselves on steak thickness and roast sizes before you send it in. And decide who is picking it up and dividing it.
No, the deposit is non-refundable.
We want to be upfront about that rather than have it come as a surprise. Once your deposit is in, that share is off the table for everybody else and we plan our processing schedule around it, so we are not able to give it back if plans change.
If you are unsure about the size or the timing, call or text us before you put a deposit down. We would much rather talk it through first.
We deliver within about a 5-hour drive of Sonora, Kentucky. We price it case by case depending on how far we are going, so ask us for a quote. That covers most of Kentucky and reaches into Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, and beyond.
Pickup at the farm or at the processor is always free. Not sure if you are in range? Ask us.
Cut, wrapped, labeled, and frozen by the processor. Ground beef comes in packages sized to your cut sheet. Most families go with 1 lb packages, but you can ask for larger.
Every package is labeled with the cut, so you are not guessing at a frozen brick six months from now.
Properly frozen and well wrapped, your beef will be good for a year or more. Most families work through a quarter well inside that.
Keep it at a steady 0°F, and pull packages from the back forward so nothing gets forgotten in a corner.
Then you are exactly who this page is for. Most of our customers had never bought a share before they called us.
Call or text and just say so. We will walk you through it in plain language, and there is no such thing as a question that is too basic.
Still Have Questions?
Call or text and ask. We would rather spend ten minutes on the phone with you than have you guess at any of this.
Or call or text us: 270-766-9041 · 270-268-4394