A half beef, cut your way
This is half of one animal, raised here on our farm in Sparks and processed at a USDA-inspected facility. Not a box of assorted cuts from assorted cattle. One animal, one farm, and you decide how every pound of it comes back to you.
How it works
- Place your deposit. $400 reserves your share.
- We'll email you. We confirm your order and send the cut request form.
- Choose your cuts. Steak thickness, roast sizes, bone-in or boneless, ground package size, what you want done with the trim. Most of our bulk customers are doing this for the first time, so call us and we'll walk you through the whole sheet.
- Pick it up in Sparks. The balance is due once processing is complete and we know your hanging weight. Everything comes back vacuum sealed and frozen. *Shipping is available for an added fee.
Availability
We offer four to six half beef shares twice a year, which works out to about four animals.
We have fall/winter slots and spring/summer slots. Once animals go out of stock for one round, the next round opens up!
There's no deadline. It's first come until they're gone.
The numbers
| Next available | November and December 2026 |
| Average hanging weight | ~275 lbs |
| Average take-home | ~165 lbs |
| Price | $8 per pound, hanging weight |
| Average total | ~$2,200 |
| Deposit | $400 |
| Processing | Included |
*Every animal is different, so your share may come in over or under these numbers depending on how the beef weighs at harvest.
What hanging weight means, and why we'll show you both numbers
We price by hanging weight, which is what the animal weighs after harvest and before it's aged and cut. From there, bone, trim, moisture loss and the cuts you choose all reduce what actually reaches your freezer. A 275 pound side comes home as roughly 165 pounds of meat.
So the price on the tag is $8 a pound, and what you pay per pound of meat in the freezer works out closer to $13. We'd rather you saw both numbers now than worked it out afterward.
At that price you're getting ribeyes, filets, brisket, and short ribs at about the same rate as the ground beef. That's where the value in a share actually lives.
Why we price by hanging weight
Because it's the only number that's the same for everybody.
Your cut sheet changes your final poundage. Ask for bone-in ribeyes, T-bones and shanks and you'll carry home more pounds. Ask for everything boneless and you'll carry home fewer, though more of what you carry is meat.
If we charged by take-home weight, the person who chose bone-in would pay more for the exact same side of beef, because they'd be paying a meat rate on bone. Hanging weight is settled before any of that, so how you have your animal cut doesn't change what you owe us.
What you'll get
Every order is cut to your instructions, so no two shares come back the same. Here's an example based on one of our recent 1/2 beef share orders:
| Approx. Qty | Cut | Size |
|---|---|---|
| ~85 lb Ground | ||
| 85 | Ground Beef | ~1 lb packs |
| ~11 lb Stew & Braising | ||
| 8 | Beef Cubes | ~1 lb packs |
| 3 | Soup Meat | ~1 lb packs |
| ~30 lb Steaks | ||
| 12 | Boneless Ribeyes | ~10 oz each |
| 7 | Ranch Steaks | ~8 oz each |
| 7 | Boneless Sirloin | ~8 oz each |
| 6 | Filet Mignon | ~6 oz each |
| 5 | Denver Steaks | ~8 oz each |
| 5 | Flat Iron Steaks | ~8 oz each |
| 3 | Inside London Broil | ~1.5 lb each |
| 2 | Chuck Eye Steaks | ~8 oz each |
| 2 | Skirt Steak | ~12 oz each |
| 1 | Petite Tender | ~12 oz |
| 1 | Flank Steak | ~1 lb |
| ~8 lb Ribs | ||
| 4 | Flanken-Style Short Ribs | ~1.5 lb packs |
| 1 | Back Ribs | ~2 lb rack |
| ~20 lb Roasts | ||
| 2 | Boneless Chuck Roast | ~2.5 lb each |
| 2 | Brisket, Cut in Half | ~3.5 lb each |
| 1 | Rump Roast | ~3 lb |
| 1 | Sirloin Tip Roast | ~3 lb |
| 1 | Eye of Round Roast | ~2.5 lb |
| ~10 lb Bones | ||
| 3 | Cross-Cut Shanks | ~1 lb each |
| 2 | Marrow Bones | ~1.5 lb packs |
| 1 | Knuckle Bones | ~2 lb pack |
| 1 | Soup Bones | ~2 lb pack |
*Organ meats are available by request. Just tell us on your cut form.
Freezer space
Plan on 8 to 10 cubic feet for a half share. That's most of a chest freezer, so it's worth clearing the space before pickup day.
Pickup and shipping
Shares are picked up at the farm in Sparks, Maryland. If you need yours shipped, let us know and we'll arrange it for an added shipping fee.
Since 1890.
Meat you can trace to one family and one farm.
16548 Cedar Grove Rd, Sparks Glencoe, MD 21152
443-377-6283
Copyright © 2026 Watson & William Farm