Question 1

How much does it cost and how do I pay?

Accepted Answer

Our beef costs $10.35Per lbs (for both whole and half). Price includes cut and wrap. This is based on the hanging weight. You can expect a 20%–30% shrink between your hanging weight and the final amount you take home. This will vary based on how you have your beef cut. Our hanging weight for a whole is 400–500 lbs and 200–250 lbs for a half. 
We require a $200 deposit to reserve your beef. You can pay cash, check, Venmo or Zelle – just contact us to confirm. You can place a deposit any time after the first of the year for the season in which you want to purchase beef. The earlier you place your deposit, the better. This ensures we have beef left.

Once you place your order, we will schedule you a butcher date. When your beef is ready, we will contact you with the final balance. You will receive an email invoice that can be paid through the website with a credit/debit card. Credit card does incur a 3.5% fee. Cash, check, Venmo, and Zelle have no additional fees.

Question 2

Do you offer payment plans?

Accepted Answer

Yes! We offer payment plans for periods of up to 6 months with a written contract. Let us know if you'd like to do this. We'll be happy to help you get it set up!

Question 3

Why do you charge based on the hanging weight?

Accepted Answer

We butcher our beef under a USDA license. To comply with these requirements, we charge an up-front deposit then bill you based on the “hanging weight,” the weight of the animal immediately after harvest after skinning and evisceration. Our butcher does not weigh for the final take home meat.

Question 4

What do I get when I buy a half or whole beef?

Accepted Answer

Here's what you get with a half beef (your individual cuts may vary depending upon the size of your animal and your cut and wrap instructions): 
Roasts (3-4 lbs each):
Shoulder roast: 3–4 Packages
Chuck roast: 6–8 packages
Sirloin tip roast: 3 packages
Rump roast: 1 package
Eye of round roast: 2 packages
Steaks (standard is 3/4" thick, 2 per package):
T-bone: 10–12 steaks
Rib eye: 12–16 steaks
Flank steak: 2 steaks
Round steak 8–10 steaks
Sirloin 6–8 steaks
Ground beef:
You will receive approximately 60 lbs of ground beef. The beef is packaged in 1 lb saddle packages. 
Other:
Stew meat: 4 packages
Short ribs: 3 packages (3–4 in a package)
Soup bones: 2 packages

*A whole beef comes with twice the beef of a half beef.

Question 5

Do you use growth hormones or antibiotics?

Accepted Answer

We do not give our animals any growth hormones, and antibiotics will only be given in a life-or-death situation. This sort of situation comes up every few years. We do take the health and well-being of our animals very seriously, and for this reason, when antibiotics are absolutely necessary, we will use them. 99% of the time antibiotics are not necessary and very rarely do we have any health problems in our herd. If an animal slated for butcher falls ill, they will be treated then removed from our herd. Our butcher beef is 100% hormone and antibiotic free. No medications are administered to butcher animals in the year prior to harvest.

Question 6

Do I pay the butcher at all?

Accepted Answer

You will not make a payment to the butcher. All payments will go through Fern Springs Beef.