Chaston Livestock

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Chaston Livestock Custom Beef Information 

1. Custom beef orders are typically charged by the hanging weight (aka carcass weight), not the take home weight.  The amount of take home meat is approximately 65-70% of the hanging weight.  This is normal and is affected by the breed, moisture loss during hanging, butcher waste (cartilage and bone). 

2. I typically see carcass weights between 800 and 950 lbs.  Therefore, a half beef is about 400-475 lbs, and a quarter beef is about 200-250 lbs.  Keep in mind these are averages and yours may be slightly more or less.  Take home meat is typically around 65-70% of the carcass weight for the reasons stated above.

3. After the cow is harvested and weighed, it will typically hang in the locker for 10-14 days before being butchered. This is an ideal range and improves the taste.  So don’t expect your beef directly after the butcher date as it won’t be ready for a couple weeks. 

4. The butcher allows custom orders for each half, so if you order a half or whole beef you are able to completely customize your cutting and wrapping preferences.  A quarter beef has to be paired with someone else to make a half beef order, therefore quarter beef orders are typically standardized cuts, but you can often customize your wrapping preference.  I will give your contact information to the butcher and they will call you a few days after the harvest date to discuss your cutting and wrapping preferences.  Pickup will be at the butcher unless we have arranged anything different. The buyer pays the butcher bill directly to the butcher at time of pickup. 

5. Some preferences will change the amount of steaks, roast, and ground beef.  For example, if you want a brisket, flank steak, or rump roast, then you get less ground beef.  If you want a rib roast, then you get less ribeye steaks, etc.  Some examples of customization are: lean or fatty ground beef, size of roasts, thickness of steaks, # of steaks per package, and packaging size of ground beef.  In addition to meat, you have the option of requesting soup bones, dog bones.  If you would like the offal (oxtail, kidney, tongue, heart, tallow) you will need to tell them before harvesting as these are typically discarded. 

6. For those that request an all ground beef order; if I can find a buyer that would like all steaks and roasts to pair you with, I may be able to provide a discount for the all ground beef order.  Please let me know early if this is the case. 

7. You should expect a mix of steaks, roasts, ground beef, and stew meat. Roughly speaking, half of your meat will be ground beef, a quarter will be roasts (chuck, shoulder, rump, sirloin, etc.) and a quarter will be steaks (ribeye, T-bone, filet mignon, tenderloin, sirloin etc.).  People are usually surprised there are not more steaks, but that's just how it is.  There are only so many steak cuts in a beef. 

8. I request a ~25% down payment because I need to make sure there is a home for the meat so I am not stuck buying additional freezers when people go unresponsive.  Deposit amounts are:  Quarter Beef-$175, Half Beef-$350, Whole Beef-$700.   The remaining amount is due a couple days after harvest when I receive the carcass weight from the butcher.  I accept cash, check, or Venmo as payment options.  If  the buyer chooses to use the Venmo Protection Program, an additional 2% will be charged to cover the fees.  The customer will pay the butcher bill directly to the butcher at the time of pickup.