Explaining Beef Yield and Weights

One of the most common farm-direct beef questions is: “Where did all the weight go?” Processors can help producers and customers understand why live weight, carcass weight and packaged beef weight are different.

Live weight

Live weight is the weight of the living animal before slaughter.

Carcass or hanging weight

After slaughter and dressing, the hide, blood, head, feet, digestive tract and other components are no longer part of the dressed carcass.

This produces a substantially lower carcass weight.

Packaged weight

The final beef placed in the customer’s freezer is lower again because fabrication removes or separates bone, excess fat, trim and other material depending on the customer’s cutting instructions.

Aging can also affect weight

Moisture is lost during carcass chilling and aging. The amount varies with processing conditions and aging method.

The cut sheet matters

A customer requesting more boneless cuts will generally take home a different packaged weight than a customer keeping more bone-in cuts.

Trimming preferences and the products retained also affect the final amount.

Yield grade is something different

Canadian beef yield grades estimate the percentage of closely trimmed, boneless retail cuts from specific major primal areas of a carcass.

That grading measurement should not be presented as a guarantee of the total pounds of packaged beef a farm-direct customer will receive.

Good processors help explain the numbers

Providing carcass weight and clear processing information gives producers better information to explain yield to their customers.