Beef processing covers everything between the moment your animal steps off the trailer and the moment you load boxes of frozen, labeled beef into your truck. This page walks through each step the way we do it at Parker County Beef Company Processing, a USDA-inspected plant (Est. 2918) at 2127 E Hwy 199 in Springtown, Texas, northwest of Fort Worth.
We process beef only, and every animal is processed under USDA inspection. We take cattle from the public and from producers.
We're ranchers first. The Burtnett family has been in the cattle business in Springtown for four generations. We started Parker County Beef Company, then built this plant to fix the problems we had getting our own beef processed. Your cattle get the same care we give our own.
What beef processing includes here
One flat price covers the whole job:
- Harvest under USDA inspection
- A 72-hour chill
- Cutting to your cut sheet
- A 14-day wet age on subprimals
- Vacuum sealing, labeling, and freezing
- Patties and chili meat
A whole on one cut sheet is $850. A half is $450. Two halves on separate cut sheets are $900. There's no hanging-weight fee and nothing added at pickup.
There are two exceptions. Label claims that need USDA LSAS approval carry a small added charge. Private label design and GS1 barcodes are quoted separately for each project. See flat beef processing prices.
Step 1: Get on the calendar
Call (817) 404-7405 or stop by during business hours, Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm.
- One animal: usually the same week.
- Emergencies: usually the same week.
- Groups of 10 or more: usually 3 to 6 weeks to schedule. See group processing.
Step 2: Fill out your cut sheet
Your cut sheet tells us how to cut and package your beef. A whole goes on one cut sheet. If you split a whole into two halves, each half gets its own cut sheet. All cut sheets are due at drop-off, and any change to a cut sheet needs your signature.
Here's what you decide:
- Ribeye: boneless or bone-in steaks, or a boneless or bone-in rib roast.
- Strip loin: NY strip steaks plus tenderloin filets, T-bone plus porterhouse steaks (not available on animals over 30 months of age), or a whole strip loin plus a whole tenderloin.
- Sirloin: boneless sirloin steaks.
- Brisket: whole, halved into point and flat, or ground.
- Flank and skirt: kept as fajita steaks or added to ground beef.
- Cutlets and stew meat: 8 oz cutlets for chicken fried steak, and stew meat in 1 lb packs.
- Ground beef: you pick the lean-to-fat ratio, like 80/20. Patties are 1/3 lb, 3 per pack. Chili meat is a coarse grind. Patties and chili meat are included in the flat price.
- Ribs: short ribs, tablitas, half and half, dino ribs, or ground.
- Picanha and tri tip: whole, steaks, or ground.
- Chuck: chuck roast, chuck eye steaks, or Denver steaks.
- Roasts: Pikes Peak, rump, and arm roasts, or ground.
- Steak thickness and roast size: you set them.
- Bones and organs: soup bones, marrow bones, heart, liver, tongue, oxtail, beef cheek, and kidney fat, all at no charge. Organ availability is subject to USDA and food safety rules.
For help with each choice, read how to fill out a beef cut sheet.
Step 3: Drop off your animal
We take live cattle Monday through Friday starting at 6:30am. Please arrive before 8am.If that window doesn't work for you, call us and we'll talk about it.
What to bring
- Payment. We take cash, check, or card. Payment is due at drop-off.
- Your cut sheet (one per whole, or one per half).
- Supporting documents for any label claims you want on your packages.
That's all. You don't need brand papers or a health inspection. USDA does its own inspection of every animal before harvest.
Step 4: Harvest and a 72-hour chill
Your animal is harvested under USDA inspection. The carcass then hangs and chills for 72 hours before any cutting begins.
Step 5: Fresh cuts go first
After the chill, we cut the parts that don't need aging, like ground beef, roasts, ribs, and fajita meat. Those are packaged and labeled first.
Step 6: A 14-day wet age on subprimals
Seven subprimals are vacuum sealed again and wet aged for 14 days:
- Brisket
- Ribeye
- Strip loin
- Tenderloin
- Sirloin
- Picanha
- Tri tip
We wet age because it gives higher yields without giving up tenderness or flavor. We wet age all of our beef, including the several hundred of our own cattle we process each year. Read how long beef should hang.
Step 7: Packaging, labels, and the freezer
When the 14 days are up, the aged cuts are packaged, labeled, and put with the rest of your order. Everything is vacuum sealed, labeled, and frozen.
Step 8: We text you, and you pick up
When your order is ready, we send a text to whoever is responsible for picking it up. Pickup is Monday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm, at the plant, 2127 E Hwy 199 in Springtown.
From drop-off to pickup, plan on 2 to 3 weeks.
How much beef comes home
A 1,200 lb steer that's properly finished comes back as about 430 lb of take-home beef, which is about 36% of its live weight. See how much meat you get from a cow.
USDA inspected, so you can sell it
We don't do any custom-exempt processing. Because every animal here is processed under USDA inspection, you can sell the beef anywhere, including retail stores and commercial distribution. To see what USDA humane handling looks like at our plant, watch What USDA Humane Handling Actually Means. If you plan to sell, read USDA-inspected beef processing and processing for ranchers who sell beef. More videos are on our videos page.