How a beef share works

The Wilsons sell their beef by the quarter or the half, straight to families. This is how a share works, as they lay it out.

How a share works

  1. Reserve a quarter or a half on their website.
  2. Caleb calls or texts to set up a planning call: cuts, how the family eats, freezer space and timing.
  3. Choose the cuts and processing instructions. Halves allow more choices than quarters, and a standard family cut is there for anyone who would rather not choose every detail.
  4. Caleb explains the processing timeline, which depends on where the animal is in its feeding cycle.
  5. He sets the date the animal goes to the processor. The Wilsons deal with the processor, so buyers never have to.
  6. Once the animal is there, the pickup window firms up.
  7. Pickup day. The beef comes vacuum-sealed, labeled, frozen and boxed. Pickup is local only; bulk beef is not shipped.
  8. A full freezer.

Notes

Beef is priced on hanging weight, the weight right after harvest. The packaged beef you take home is usually 60 to 70 percent of it. The Wilsons say a quarter usually comes to about 90 to 120 pounds of packaged beef and needs about 4 to 5 cubic feet of freezer space; a half comes to about 180 to 240 pounds and needs 8 to 10. Vacuum-sealed, it keeps its quality for 12 to 18 months. Prices and terms are on their site:

I built the order flow these steps run on. The rest of the work has its own page: