How to buy beef...

Processing and Pricing...
Buying beef can be a little confusing if you haven't done it before.  There are a number of different ways that beef is priced by producers.  Most will ask you to pay some price per pound based on pounds that will never make their way to your freezer, but will indeed become part of the scrap at the processor.  You may also be quoted a price that does not include 'processing' and will be asked to pay the processor in addition to the beef producer you choose.  We at Five Oaks Family Farm believe that you should only pay for the meat that ends up in your freezer and processing is reasonably part of our cost, not yours.

At Five Oaks Family Farm, we price our beef based upon 'Packaged Weight'.  This means that you pay based upon the actual weight of beef that you take home.  Sounds obvious, doesn't it... but as you comparison shop by price, you may be surprised!  Some local beef producers will ask you to pay based upon the 'Live Weight' of the animal.  Most will ask you to pay based upon the 'Hanging Weight' of the animal.  At Five Oaks Family Farm, we ask you to pay based upon the 'Packaged Weight', which is what you take home.  This is the most honest and  straight forward way to price!

So what does all this mean and why should you care? 

We’ve done the math to make it easier to comparison shop

At Five Oaks Family Farm, you pay based upon the weight of meat that you take home, the Packaged Weight. 

When comparing Five Oaks Family Farm packaged weight per pound pricing to other local beef producer’s pricing, remember:

If you are asked to pay based upon Live Weight, you will only be taking home 36% of the weight you are paying for.  This works out to a pricing factor of 2.78.

                                 Live Weight :        Quoted Price Per Pound   x   2.78   =    Actual Packaged Price Per Pound


If you are asked to pay based upon Hanging Weight you will only be taking home 60% of the weight you are paying for.  This works out to a pricing factor of 1.67.

                                 Hanging Weight :    Quoted Price Per Pound   x   1.67    =    Actual Packaged Price Per Pound

In conclusion
Firstly, before you buy beef we strongly recommend that you speak directly with all local beef producers you may be considering and compare their answers.  For your convenience we have a set of recommended questions and how we answer when we are asked these questions.  Please take a look at Questions to Ask before you buy.

We at Five Oaks Family Farm are proud of our herd.  We are proud of the way in which we care for them, creating an environment that is both safe and healthy.  We are proud of the way in which we humanely have our beef processed and most of all we are proud of the product, beef for your family, that we deliver.  Like almost all purchase decisions in life, buying beef comes down to Quality and Price.  We believe our beef quality is second to none and we know that after one bite you will agree.