Meat processing has its own vocabulary, and knowing it is the difference between confidently buying a beef share and getting surprised at pickup. Here are the 20 terms that matter most, in plain English.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Live weight | The whole animal on the scale before slaughter. |
| Hanging / carcass / dressed weight | The carcass after hide, head, organs, and blood are removed. About 63% of live weight for beef. |
| Dressing percentage | Carcass weight divided by live weight, as a percent (~63% average for beef). |
| Take-home / packaged weight | The wrapped meat you carry home. Roughly 60-68% of hanging weight. |
| Yield grade | A 1-5 USDA scale estimating how much boneless, trimmed meat a carcass yields. |
| Quarter / half / whole share | The portion of one animal you buy: a quarter, a side (half), or the whole animal. |
| Cut sheet | Your instructions for how the animal is butchered. |
| USDA-inspected | Processing that lets meat be sold by the cut to the public. |
| Custom-exempt | Processing for the animal's owner only; cannot be resold by the cut. |
| Dry aging | Controlled aging that tenderizes and concentrates flavor, and lowers final weight. |
| Wet aging | Aging in vacuum packaging; tenderizes with little weight loss. |
| Primal cut | A large section of the carcass (chuck, rib, loin, round) later cut into retail portions. |
| Grass-finished | Cattle fed only forage through to harvest. |
| Grain-finished | Cattle finished on grain for marbling before harvest. |
| Slaughter / kill fee | The flat harvest charge, often around $100-$125 per animal. |
| Cut and wrap fee | Per-pound processing charge, commonly $0.55-$0.80 of hanging weight. |
| Marbling | Intramuscular fat that drives flavor and tenderness; the basis of USDA quality grades. |
| Offal / organ meats | Liver, heart, tongue, and other organs; yours to keep if you request them. |
| Mobile slaughter | A licensed on-farm harvest unit that comes to the animal. |
| Hot / cold carcass weight | Carcass weight measured right after harvest (hot) versus after chilling (cold). |
Keep this open the first time you fill out a cut sheet, and none of it will feel like a foreign language.
Put it to use: Browse verified butcher shops, processors, and beef-share farms near you on the Butcher Bud directory.
Last verified: July 2026 by the Butcher Bud editorial team. Figures are typical ranges from USDA and university extension sources; your farm and processor will quote exact numbers.