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Getting started · September 2026
About 24 lb. Half the box. Here's the package math, how an eighth compares to a quarter, and why the burger pile is the feature.
People hear “eighth cow” and picture steaks.
A little stack of ribeyes. Maybe a roast for Sunday. Ground is the leftover they mention so the freezer still sounds like a steakhouse.
Then the box shows up.
Half of it is burger.
Not a rounding error. Not the butcher sneaking you the cheap stuff. A typical Field & Cattle eighth is about 50 lb take-home. About 24 of those pounds are ground. That's the Tuesday pile. That's most of what you'll actually cook.
The steaks are real. About 14 lb. We already counted those. This post is the other half of the box.
Expect about 24 lb of ground beef from a typical ~50 lb eighth. That is roughly half the box.
Want the bigger, customizable version? A quarter cow is 70–80 lb of ground — and you fill out a cut sheet.
Steaks are why people click. They are not most of the box. On a typical Field & Cattle eighth, ground is about half. The steak count lives in how many steaks in an eighth cow. Same box. Same numbers. Different question.
| What's in the box | Approx. lb | Share of take-home | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground beef | ~24 lb | ~half the box | Tacos, chili, smash burgers. The weeknight pile. |
| Steaks | ~14 lb | ~28% · 13.62 lb typical | Ribeye, strip, filet, T-bone, plus specialty |
| Roasts + other | ~12 lb | Rest of the box | ~10.78 lb roasts, ~1.2 lb other |
| Take-home total | ~50 lb | 100% | Fixed mix. Animal and processor still vary a little. |
If you only wanted steaks, you'd buy steaks. The eighth works because the ground covers the other five nights of the week.
Weight is abstract. Bags in a freezer are not.
You don't fill out a cut sheet on this share. The mix is already set. What you can still care about is how the ground shows up: bulk packs, some patties, or both.
| How it's packed | From ~24 lb | Best for | Watch-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 lb packs | ~24 packs | Weeknights, tacos, two people | Easy to thaw. Easy to lose track of in the drawer. |
| 2 lb packs | ~12 packs | Chili, meatballs, a couple plus leftovers | Sweet spot if you cook a little extra on purpose. |
| Bulk + some patties | The practical mix | Grill nights with zero prep, plus Tuesday skillet meals | You don't customize a sheet. You can still ask for some formed. |
Meal math, two people
One pound is about four burgers, or tacos for two. A couple cooking ground two or three times a week is using 2–3 lb a week. Twenty-four pounds is eight to twelve weeks of Tuesday dinners from the ground alone. Then the steaks. Then the roasts. You will not run out in a month.
A quarter cow is the custom path. You get 70–80 lb of ground out of 100–125 lb take-home. The cut sheet moves that number. Grind the chuck and the burger pile grows. Keep it as roasts and the pile shrinks. Same animal. Different freezer.
An eighth skips that form. The Field & Cattle eighth is a fixed mix: ~24 lb ground in a ~50 lb box. Less homework. Still months of weeknights.
Full package math for the bigger share is in how much ground beef in a quarter cow. If you ever do graduate to a quarter, the cut sheet guide is the form that actually changes your ground number. An eighth doesn't have one.
Our eighth cow is about 50 lb of 100% grass-fed beef, $749 all-in with shipping. Fixed cut mix. ~24 lb of ground already in the box.
Buy the eighth cow share →Couple. Ground two or three nights a week. Tacos. Chili. Smash burgers. A skillet hash on Sunday.
That's two to three months of Tuesday from the ground alone. Stretch a pack into leftovers and you're looking at most of a season. You won't get bored if you rotate the meals.
Sample eighth-cow ground rotation (~24 lb)
That's before the ~14 lb of steaks and the roasts. At $749 all-in for ~50 lb, you're around $15/lb across the whole mix — shipping included, ribeyes in the average.
Half the box sounds like a bait and switch if you thought you were buying a steak sampler. It isn't. Most households go through ground faster than steaks. Steaks are Friday. Ground is the rest of the week.
If your household already buys grocery ground every week, an eighth is that habit with better beef and a number you can do in your head. $749 for ~50 lb. About $15/lb across everything. The ground is what makes the steaks affordable. The steaks are what grocery ground never ships with.
If 50 lb still feels like too much freezer, this is already the small share. If you want a ranked list of farms first, that's the report below. If you already know you want the box, skip the browse.
The Freezer Report is a $4.99 ranked shortlist of farms in your area. Not a concierge call. One page. The farms worth looking at, in order.
Get the Freezer Report →$6.99/month unlocks the full catalog of farm beef near you. Or skip the browse and grab the eighth.