Butcher Shop: Carcass Yield And True Cost Per Pound

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A side of beef bought at four dollars a pound does not cost four dollars a pound. Bone, trim and shrink come off between the rail and the case, and every pound that leaves has to be paid for by the pounds that stay.

Quick formula: Yield is a ratio; true cost divides by what you can actually sell:

=ROUND(C2/B2,3)

247 saleable pounds off a 380-pound side is a 65.0% yield, which turns $1,140 into $4.62 a saleable pound.

Functions used (tap for the full reference guide):

ROUND SUM

The example

Three carcasses, each with a hanging weight, the saleable weight that came off it, and what the carcass cost.

	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	Carcass	Hanging lb	Saleable lb	Cost	Yield	Cost/lb sold
2	Beef side	380	247	$1,140.00	65.0%	$4.62
3	Hog	190	137	$456.00	72.1%	$3.33
4	Lamb	62	43	$310.00	69.4%	$7.21

The formula

Two short divisions, each rounded to the precision it deserves:

=ROUND(C2/B2,3) // saleable / hanging = yield; then =ROUND(D2/C2,2) for cost per saleable pound

How it works

The second formula is where the money is:

C2/B2 is cutting yield. Hanging weight is what came in on the rail; saleable weight is what went into the case after bone, fat, trim and aging shrink.
ROUND(...,3) keeps a tenth of a percent, which is enough to notice a bad cutting week.
D2/C2 is the number that should drive pricing: total carcass cost spread over the pounds you can sell, not the pounds you bought.
ROUND(...,2) puts it in cents, ready to sit next to a case price.

Set retail prices off the cost-per-saleable-pound column. Pricing off the purchase price silently gives away every point of yield loss.

Try it: interactive demo

Interactive

Enter the hanging weight, saleable weight, and carcass cost.

Hanging weight (lb)

Saleable weight (lb)

Carcass cost ($)

Variations

Retail price at a target margin

Mark the true cost up to hit a gross margin.

=ROUND((D2/C2)/(1-0.35),2)

Pounds lost in cutting

Show the shrink in pounds rather than percent.

=B2-C2

Blended yield across the week

Sum both columns before dividing so heavy carcasses weigh more.

=ROUND(SUM(C2:C4)/SUM(B2:B4),3)

Pitfalls & errors

Do not average the yield column to get a weekly yield. A 62-pound lamb and a 380-pound side count equally in a simple average; divide the summed weights instead, as in the last variation.

Hanging weight and live weight are different animals, arithmetically speaking. Dressing percentage takes live to hanging, and cutting yield takes hanging to saleable — mixing the two produces a yield figure that looks alarming and means nothing.

Trim, bones and fat are not always waste. If you sell ground, stock bones or render fat, add that revenue back before judging a low-yield carcass too harshly.

Practice workbook

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Download the free Butcher Shop: Carcass Yield And True Cost Per Pound practice workbook

Edit the yellow weight and cost cells; yield and cost per saleable pound recalculate.

Frequently asked questions

What is a normal cutting yield?

Roughly 60–68% for a beef side depending on how closely it is trimmed and how much bone-in product you keep, around 70–75% for a hog, and high sixties for lamb. Your own cutting style moves it several points.

Does dry aging change the number?

Yes, and materially. Two to four weeks of dry aging can cost several percent in moisture loss plus the trimmed crust, so age-and-sell programmes need their own yield figure rather than the fresh one.

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Function references: ROUND SUM