How Much Meat Do You Get From a Bison?

The weight of a live bison is not the amount of packaged meat that goes into a freezer. Several stages of processing reduce the weight, and final yield varies from animal to animal.

Live weight is the starting point

Live weight includes the entire animal. It should never be treated as an estimate of packaged meat weight.

Carcass weight is different

After slaughter and dressing, the carcass no longer includes parts removed during processing. This produces a substantially different weight from the live animal.

Packaged meat is different again

Deboning, trimming, cutting and other processing decisions further affect the amount of packaged meat.

There is no universal yield percentage

Animal size, age, body condition, fatness, carcass characteristics, bone-in versus boneless cutting and trimming choices can all change final yield.

Ask which weight is used for pricing

A price per pound means little unless you know whether it refers to live weight, carcass weight or packaged product.