Purchase a Whole or Half Steer

With your live animal purchase, we arrange the slaughter or harvest of the animal from a local family farm, transportation to The Roaming Butcher for processing, and communication with our onsite butcher on your behalf. Your meat will generally be hung and dry-aged for 10-14 days to allow the natural enzymes to tenderize and enhance the flavor. Our onsite butcher will then call you and provide you with options for meat cuts (quantity of steaks, hamburger etc.). Your meat will then be custom cut and vacuum sealed to your order. Once your meat is chilled, it is ready for you to pick up at 1200 Marshall St in Shreveport, LA. We do not provide local delivery or shipping for orders of this size. 

Our current turnaround time is about 1-2 months from date of purchase (updated 10/30).

The turnaround times can vary and are an estimate. The actual time you will receive your meat may vary by a month or more. We process our animals when they have gained adequate weight and are fat enough. Weight gain and fat gain can be affected by climate and the amount of green grass available. During longer hot seasons, the cattle do not eat as much and gain less. This can extend the amount of time to get your whole/half cow ready. Should you have any questions about the date you will receive your whole/half cow, we are always happy to provide you with updates.

What's The Cost?

We typically harvest our animals at 16-24 months of age.

• The live weight is obviously the weight of the live animal.
• The hanging weight is how much the animal weighs "on the hook" or after it has been slaughtered and skinned. In short, the hanging weight is mostly meat but still includes a lot of bones etc. 
• The retail cut weight is the expected edible yield from a carcass. This yield can range from 60% to 70% of the hanging weight depending on the fatness and muscling of the animal as well as the cuts of meat chosen.

We are currently selling our wholes and halves for $3.75/lb of hanging weight. The hanging weight varies but is typically around 800 lb and the total cost usually ranges from $1500 - $3000. 

For example: If you were to purchase half of a 1300 lb steer with a total hanging weight of 800 lb (half the hanging weight = 400 lb) may yield about 240 lb of retail cuts with about 120 lb of that being ground beef. With this example the total cost per pound of what you will receive is $6.25/lb. 

The total weight of meat you will receive varies based on many factors but you can typically expect to receive 60-80% of the hanging weight.