side of beef

A quarter took us a year and a half to get through, but we weren't huge beef eaters, we'd go through it in about a year now. DH says a half would need about 10 cubic feet of freezer space.

I've only had grass fed beef a few times but when we were stationed in south dakota we lived on local grass fed buffalo and elk. We really miss the strong flavor and dark red lean meat but it does take some practice to cook. I'd really like to get a 1/4 buffalo but it would work out to almost $9/pound for grain fed and over $10 for grass fed - not going to happen! I think the grass fed beef will be a nice substitute.

Ditto- you won't regret that purchase!

We just butchered a small steer which would be fairly equivalent to half a regular beef, one thing that will make a big difference in how much room it takes up is how it is processed, we deboned this entire animal, so only ended up with 175-200lbs of meat, however if the animal is cut and wrapped bone in, you will easily have half again as much weight/bulk to deal with. Just a thought!

We've raised some beef, hogs and lambs for ourselves and to sell.  A good sized half will fill an upright freezer.  Make sure you take the time to research the cuts available and what size packages you want and will work well for you.  One of the biggest complaints we here is "the roasts were soo big"  They can make them smaller you have to ask.  The person taking orders for how to cut usually working off a list and moves very quickly through the list of their standard cuts... you need to know what is important to you and what you really want.  Think about how thick you want your steaks and roasts. 

As Jess said the butcher/processor has a lot of control over the quality of the meat and cuts.  If you have a choice of processors visit their retail store and purchase a few items to see which you like better and ask for references.   We have a number processors around that do a fantastic job and some others that you do not want to go anywhere near.  The bad ones the quality of the meat is bad off taste, bone chips unevenly cut steaks to cuts that are not what they should be.