What does it mean to order a whole goat?

An example of the meat you'd receive when ordering a whole goat.

What does ordering a whole goat mean? Are you literally getting the whole goat? No, not quite. Not sure if you have the freezer space? No need to worry, I’ll break it down for you here.

Essentially, you’re ordering your meat in bulk. But, if the thought of having a lot of meat is intimidating, don’t worry. I totally understand the concern. Buying goat in bulk is not as much as you might think. In fact, it fills up about a standard reusable grocery tote bag, just a little over 20 pounds of meat.

Why bulk? Bulk saves you money, and time by paying for all of the cuts of meats at once versus purchasing a few cuts of meat at a time, over time (I'm not a big fan of regular shopping, maybe you aren't either. I'd rather spend my time doing other things, like eating good food).

What does a whole goat include? What type of cuts can I expect? It will be cut into traditional meat cuts, the same as a lamb, this includes ground meat, leg, shoulder roast, shoulder steaks, chops, rack or rib chops, ribs, shanks, stew meat (curry cubes) and an option for organ meat (liver, heart, tongue and kidney), as well as bones. The picture on this blog post gives you an idea of the quantity of meat. All the meat is vacuum sealed and frozen for freshness.
 
How does the pricing work? You’ll pay a set price per pound based on the hanging weight, plus the processing fee from the butcher.  A deposit is required when placing an order. Final payment is due at the time of pick up.

(Hanging Weight x Price per Pound) + Processing Fee = Final Price

• What is hanging weight? Hanging weight is the weight taken immediately after harvest, but before the final trim made by the butcher. When buying a whole animal (similar to other proteins, such as buying beef, pork or lamb direct from a farmer) it’s standard practice to pay by hanging weight.
• Why does the hanging weight differ from how much meat I receive? Here’s a basic example, a live goat is 60 lbs., after harvest it’s hanging weight is about 30 lbs. (about 50% of live weight), and then coverts into about 21-22.5 lbs. of meat (about 70-75% of hanging weight). This final weight may vary based on how the meat is cut, if it’s bone-in or boneless, the leanness of the meat, and if you choose to keep the organ meats and/or bones. These percentages are based on Cornell University numbers for lamb, which lamb and goats tend to have comparable yield percentages.
• What does the processing fee cover? It covers the harvest, cuts and packaging of the meat. The fee may vary based on your requests. For example, the rate might be higher for custom sausage or cured meats vs. just traditional cuts.

When can I order? You can order your meat here. Typically, we have 3-4 order deadlines a season (October – March), with occasional order options outside of that timeframe.

To make sure you don’t miss out on ordering, sign up for our email list here.

How do I get my meat? We take care of picking up the meat from our processor. You’ll then pick up your order from our on-farm store on a prearranged time.

Still too much meat? That’s ok. You can always make purchase individual cuts of meat from our on-farm store here. Sign up for the email list to know when cuts are in stock, when there's sales and just to know what's happening on the goat farm.  

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