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How to Determine the Live Weight of Beef

Fed cattle are priced according to live weight, but are increasingly being priced by dressed weight. This is sometimes referred to as "pricing in the beef". A consumer at home is likely to hear of neither of these prices and will, instead, be familiar with the price of the end products: the packaged meat. The amount of meat cattle will yield depends on the animal's size, but the percentage weight lost in each stage of the process stays roughly the same from animal to animal. It is possible to determine the approximate live weight of the beef using these typical values.

Things You'll Need

Calculator

Instructions

- 1
  Identify the cut of beef you are starting with, and use the following values to determine its percentage of the total carcass weight (its hanging weight):
  
  Chuck: Blade Roasts and Steaks - 4.74%
  
  Chuck: Ground Beef and Stew Meat - 11.65%
  
  Chuck: Arm Pot Roasts and Steaks - 4.97%
  
  Chuck: Cross Rib Pot Roast - 3.55%
  
  Round: Top Round - 4.84%
  
  Round: Bottom Round - 4.36%
  
  Round: Tip - 2.35%
  
  Round: Rump - 1.09%
  
  Round: Ground Beef - 4.67%
  
  Thin Cuts: Flank Steak - 0.5%
  
  Thin Cuts: Pastrami Squares - 0.41%
  
  Thin Cuts: Outside Skirt - 0.31%
  
  Thin Cuts: Inside skirt - 0.35%
  
  Thin Cuts: Boneless Brisket - 2.24%
  
  Thin Cuts: Ground Beef and Stew Meat - 12.21%
  
  Short Loin: Porterhouse Steak - 2.74%
  
  Short Loin: T-bone Steak - 1.37%
  
  Short Loin: Strip Steak - 2.1%
  
  Short Loin: Sirloin Steak - 2.14%
  
  Short Loin: Tenderloin Steak - 0.95%
  
  Short Loin: Ground Beef and Stew Meat - 3.17%
  
  Rib: Rib Roast - 3.34%
  
  Rib: Rib Steak - 1.29%
  
  Rib: Short Ribs - 1.2%
  
  Rib: Ground Beef and Stew Meat - 2.31%
  
  Miscellaneous: Kidney and Hanging Tender - 0.69%
- 2
  Divide the weight of the cut by its hanging weight percentage. The result will be the total weight of the carcass.
- 3
  
  The typical hanging weight of the carcass is about 60 percent of the live weight.
  
  Calculate the overall live weight from the hanging weight. The typical hanging weight of the carcass is about 60 percent of the live weight, so you can determine the live weight by multiplying the hanging weight (the total weight of the carcass) by 1.67. In equation form:
  
  (live weight) = (hanging weight of carcass) x 1.67

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