Utah ranchers selling quarter and half beef
Beef share processing fees explained
A beef share price per pound is not always the whole bill. Some ranches fold the butcher's charges into their price, and others charge for the animal and send you to the butcher for the rest. This page shows what a processor charges for, what Utah processors publish, and which ranches in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming include it, all checked on November 11, 2026.
Short version: ask whether the price per pound is "all in." The four Utah processors below publish cut and wrap rates of $0.85 to $1.22 per pound of hanging weight, plus a flat kill or slaughter fee of $95 to $155 per animal. A ranch price that looks $1 to $1.50 per pound cheaper may simply leave those charges out.
Two bills, or one
MU Extension explains that buying an animal for processing usually means two separate charges: the producer is paid for the animal, and the processor is paid for slaughtering and processing the meat. Many share sellers simplify this. Some include the processing in their price per pound, and some collect one balance and pay the butcher themselves. Others tell you to pay the butcher directly when you pick up.
What is on a processor's bill
According to MU Extension, a processor bill typically has three parts:
- Processing (cut and wrap). Usually charged per pound of hanging weight, also called hot carcass weight, which is weighed after the head, hide, blood and internal organs are removed. Because it still includes bone and fat, you pay processing on more pounds than you take home.
- Slaughter and disposal fee. A flat fee that covers disposing of the head, hide, blood and organs that are not kept. Ranches and butchers often call it the kill fee or harvest fee.
- Extras. Specialty cuts and products. MU notes that vacuum-sealed packaging typically costs more than butcher paper, and that items like bratwurst, hot dogs and preformed burger patties often carry added charges, usually figured on the raw weight of the product.
MU Extension also warns that processors have limited storage, so storage fees may apply if your order is not picked up by the scheduled date.
What Utah processors charge
These are rates each processor posts on its own website, fetched November 11, 2026. They are processors, not ranches, and they handle animals you or your rancher bring in. The last column is our arithmetic for one example: a 600 lb hanging-weight whole beef with the basic per-pound rate and the flat fees shown, before extras.
| Processor | Flat fee per animal | Cut and wrap per hanging lb | Extras they list | 600 lb whole (our math) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skyline Meats Fairview, UT | $100 slaughter + $55 disposal | $0.90 paper, $1.22 vacuum sealed | Patties $1.50/lb (24 lb min); hang past 14 days +$10/day; late pickup $25/day | $695 paper, $887 vacuum |
| Bar-W Beef Nephi, UT | $100 harvest fee | $0.94 (all cuts vacuum sealed) | Says disposal, packaging and boxing are included; patties $1.50/lb (25 lb min); bricks $1.00/lb; cold storage $25/day after 14 days | $664 |
| Chuck's Meat Arcadia, UT | $95 slaughter and state brand inspection | $0.85 standard cut and wrap | Patties $1.00/lb | $605 |
| Dexter Meats Enterprise, UT (mobile) | $100 kill fee + $2 state tag | $1.00 | Brand inspection $21.75; mobile fee up to $150 (St. George, Cedar City); late fee $45/day after 2 business days | $702 |
For that example, the processor bill runs from about $605 to $887, or roughly $1.01 to $1.48 per pound of hanging weight once the flat fee is spread out. On a half, ask how the flat fee is split. If a whole-animal fee were split evenly, each half would carry half of it, but confirm that with the processor.
Two Utah details show up on these lists. Chuck's Meat bundles the state brand inspection into its slaughter fee, and Dexter Meats lists brand inspection separately at $21.75 and says it is required for cattle before the kill date. Our custom-exempt guide explains how this kind of processing works in Utah.
Which ranches include processing
Each row comes from the ranch's own page, fetched November 11, 2026. Prices are per pound of hanging weight.
| Ranch | Price per hanging lb | Processing | Other fees the ranch mentions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lockhart Cattle Company Jackson, WY | $7.00 (half or whole) | Included. The ranch says all processing costs are included and it butchers at its own plant. | None listed |
| Thomas Cattle Company Idaho, Boise-area pickup | $6.75 (half) | Included. The ranch says all cut and wrap charges are in the price per pound. | Idaho sales tax; box fee $20 quarter, $40 half, $60 whole unless you bring your own containers; optional $100 Treasure Valley delivery |
| Pratt Family Beef Blackfoot, ID | $5.25 (half) | Included in the approximate totals, which the ranch says cover Idaho sales tax and cut and wrap harvesting costs (half about $2,000). | None listed |
| Idaho Food Coop (Red Star Ranch) Hazelton, ID | $6.00 | Cut and wrap included. | Kill fee extra. Its half example uses $60 and says it depends on the processor and animal weight |
| Fold of Liberty Farms Lake Shore, UT | $7.50 (half) | One balance paid to the farm, figured from hanging weight. The farm says nothing is left to pay at pickup. | Utah sales tax on the final balance; ground beef bricks +$1/lb; patties and some specialty items may carry added processing charges |
| Bennion Beef Vernon, UT | $5.00 | Not included. The ranch lists processing at about $1.25/lb and says a half runs $2,400 to $2,600. | Processing |
| Bond Ranch Co. Scipio, UT | $5.00 | Not included. The ranch says additional processing fees may be paid directly to the butcher. | Processing |
| Diamond D Beef Morgan, UT | $4.00 | Not included. The ranch says you pay the cut and wrap. | Cut and wrap |
| Wagon Wheel Farms Bliss, ID | $5.25 (half) | Not included. Butcher fees are covered by the customer. | Cut and wrap $0.95 per hanging lb plus a $37.50 kill fee; the ranch puts an average half at $2,207.50 |
| CDA River Ranch Kingston, ID | $5.00 to $7.50 (half, by type) | Not included. You pay the butcher separately at pickup. | Cut and wrap plus a kill fee, which the ranch says varies between butchers |
| High Plains Beef Delivers to Laramie, Cheyenne and other towns, WY | $4.75 | Not included. Priced as hanging weight plus processing. | Its own example puts a 700 lb whole at roughly $4,350 with processing |
| Big Horn Mountain Farms Buffalo, WY | $6.75 (half) | Not included. You pick a processor and pay it directly. | Processing, paid to the processing facility |
More ranches and prices are on the Utah, Idaho and Wyoming price comparison.
A worked example
Wagon Wheel Farms publishes every number needed to check its own math on a half: $5.25 per hanging lb, an average hanging weight of 350 lb, cut and wrap at $0.95 per hanging lb, and a $37.50 kill fee.
- Animal: 350 lb x $5.25 = $1,837.50
- Cut and wrap: 350 lb x $0.95 = $332.50
- Kill fee: $37.50
- Total: $2,207.50, which matches the ranch's own average. That is about $6.31 per hanging lb all in, not $5.25.
Bennion Beef works the same way: $5 per hanging lb plus about $1.25 for processing comes to about $6.25 all in. Compare that with Thomas Cattle Company's $6.75 or Lockhart Cattle Company's $7.00, where processing is already included. Once you add the butcher's charges, the gap between ranches is often much smaller than the headline prices suggest.
To get the cost per pound of meat in your freezer, MU Extension says to divide the total cost by the pounds you take home. Take-home weight is less than hanging weight. Bond Ranch Co. says packaged weight is usually 60 to 65 percent of hanging weight, and Fold of Liberty Farms says to plan on roughly 40 percent less. At 60 percent, the Wagon Wheel half above would be about 210 lb of beef, or about $10.51 per packaged lb. Our guide to what a quarter beef really costs goes deeper on yield.
Try your own numbers
The defaults are Wagon Wheel Farms' published half numbers with a 60 percent yield. Change them to match the ranch and processor you are considering.
Questions to ask about fees
- Is processing included in the price per pound? If not, about how much per pound, and who do I pay, the ranch or the butcher?
- Is there a kill, harvest or disposal fee? How much, and how is it split on a half or quarter?
- Paper or vacuum sealed? Skyline Meats, for example, charges $0.90 for paper and $1.22 for vacuum sealed per hanging lb.
- What do extras cost? Patties, ground beef bricks, organs, tallow and extra aging days are often priced separately.
- When must I pick up? Bar-W, Skyline and Dexter all list daily charges for beef left past the pickup window.
- Is sales tax included? Fold of Liberty and Thomas Cattle Company both add sales tax to the final balance.
- Any box or delivery fees? Thomas Cattle Company, for example, charges a box fee unless you bring your own containers.
Our full questions to ask before you buy checklist covers the rest, and the cut sheet guide explains the choices that can add charges.
Find a ranch
Browse Utah, Idaho and Wyoming ranches, or see when to order and quarter vs half vs whole.
Sources fetched November 11, 2026: University of Missouri Extension, Buying Meat Direct From the Farm (MX3001); processor rate pages for Skyline Meats, Bar-W Beef, Chuck's Meat and Dexter Meats; and each ranch's own page linked in the table. The 600 lb processor example, per-pound all-in figures and the 60 percent yield example are our arithmetic. Rates change, so confirm with the ranch and processor before you pay. No ranch or processor paid to be listed.
See something wrong? Email brad@uofyou.org.