FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
It’s easy to get confused about the difference between hanging weight and packaged weight.
When we sell in bulk the measurement we use to calculate cost is hanging weight, but there are actually 3 types of weights to be aware of: live weight, hanging weight and packaged weight.
Live Weight is how much the cow, pig or lamb weighs when it’s alive, on the hoof. Similar to how we weight ourselves, it’s pretty straight forward.
Hanging Weight is a weight the butcher gives us after the animal has been killed, blood drained, head, hide, feet, entrails & organs removed. The hanging weight is usually about 60% of the live weight. So if a cow weighs 1000 lbs live weight its hanging weight will be 600 lbs. A half share would be 300 lbs, and quarter would be 150 lbs (approximately). This is also the weight the butcher uses to charge us for cutting/wrapping fees. When you buy in bulk we cover all the standard butchering fees in the you pay us. The hanging weight is the most consistent way to measure the carcass before getting into customizing the cuts.
Packaged Weight or sometimes referred to as Final Weight or Take Home Weight is how much you, the customer, take home after it has been packaged. This is usually 60-65% of the hanging weight. The loss comes from 2 places: `water loss and bone loss. Water loss occurs during the dry aging process where the beef is allowed to hang for 10-14 days to tenderize. The second place you might loose weight is from cutting the meat off the bones. So the more boneless cuts the customer requests the less the packaged weight will be. It’s important to point out that lower weight doesn’t mean you are receiving less meat, but rather than you are receiving fewer bones. If you request marrow or knuckle bones for making broth you retain some of this weight.
This is a guide to go by, but always an approximation. The weights vary between individual animals and butchering style. While we try to use the same butcher to stay consistent, we occasionally use other butchers who offer a variety of cuts and more timely butchering appointments.
Regenerative Grazing
Humanity cannot out-engineer nature
Using the principles developed and established by Nature herself, we guide the land back towards its primacy in an ecosystem devoid of the massive herds that once washed across the landscape — the massive herds whose hooves and mouths created a savanna paradise lasting two million years. The American Mastodon is gone, but beef cattle remain. Direwolves and saber-toothed cats are now extinct, but we have electric fences and man to perform their role.
Regenerative grazing reestablishes the ancient balancing act where grazers, plants, microbes and fungi form a complete cycle, building carbon rich soil. Without a doubt regenerative grazing is the ONLY scalable solution to regenerating the natural world and feeding civilization.
3 steps
Our Mission
Regenerate the land by maximizing sustainable profit per acre
This succinct statement incorporates both the economic and ecological aspects of grazing. In order to maximize sustainable profit, we must move the landscape towards climax ecology.
“Per acre” is important because the vast majority of operations still measure success by maximizing production per animal (weaning weight). This is favoring cattle at the expense of the ecology. In order to accomplish our mission, we must bring balance and harmony to the cattle, the land, and ourselves.