Our total cost was $2940, which included the cost of the animal, the butchering, the kill fee, waste disposal fees, and all relevant taxes. We estimated 415-480lbs of meat take home from that animal.

We sold a live cow for a bit under $600 at wholesale auction late last year (It probably went to a feed lot).

I’d love to know what direct to butcher retail prices are.

How much did that animal weigh?

In talking shop with the rancher we deal with, he gets a lot less per cow at wholesale auctions than in individual sales. On the other hand, wholesale auctions cost him less to do. Per cow, it costs him a lot more time and effort to sell one cow at a time rather than 100.

That said, he did say that his highest profit margins are with individual sales rather than wholesale. And, like any professional in their field, he really enjoys the chance to educate ordinary people (particularly us city-slickers) about his business.