Buying Beef by the Share: How It Works and What It Costs

You reserve a share with a 40% deposit today, based on average packaged weight. After the spring 2027 roundup, we email your exact packaged weight and final balance, you pay the balance when your order ships, and it arrives frozen with free shipping in the continental US. If we cannot deliver your full order, your deposit is refunded in full.

What "buying by the share" means

Buying by the share means buying a fraction of an animal rather than individual cuts. With Okmok you choose a 1/4 Beef share (about 100 lb), a 1/2 Beef share (about 200 lb), or the 80 lb Ground Box. Shares include a mix of steaks, roasts, ribs and ground beef cut to a standard list, so you get the whole range of the animal rather than only the most popular cuts.

Because the beef comes from a once-a-year roundup, shares are reserved ahead of time. That is why there is a deposit now and a balance later.

Packaged weight vs. hanging weight

This is the single most useful thing to understand before you buy beef by the share anywhere.

• Hanging weight is the weight of the carcass after slaughter, before it is cut. It still includes bone, fat and trim that will not end up in your freezer.
• Packaged weight is the weight of the finished, vacuum-sealed cuts you actually receive and cook.

When a price is quoted on hanging weight, the amount of beef you take home is noticeably less than the weight you paid for. Okmok prices are per pound of packaged weight. The pounds on your final bill are the pounds that arrive at your door.

The 40% reservation and the balance

Here is the sequence, from today to your freezer:

• Today: reserve with a 40% deposit. For quarter and half shares, the deposit is based on the average packaged weight. Your price is locked into your order, regardless of where the beef market goes.
• Spring 2027: the cattle are gathered at the roundup, then processed at our USDA-certified facility at Fort Glenn on Umnak Island: cut, vacuum-sealed and frozen.
• Before shipping: we email your exact packaged weight and your final balance.
• Summer 2027: you pay the balance when your order ships, and it is delivered frozen.

Since shares vary a little in size, your final balance reflects your share’s real weight. The Ground Box is exactly 80 lb, so its total does not change.

What it costs

Pricing is per pound of packaged weight. Founding Herd pricing is limited to the first 25 shares. Rather than print numbers that might go out of date, the table below shows current pricing pulled live from our shop. Share totals are estimates based on average weight.

Shipping

Frozen shipping is included free, anywhere in the continental US. We do not currently ship outside the continental US.

The delivery guarantee

Paying for beef that ships next summer is a reasonable thing to be cautious about. So delivery is guaranteed: if we cannot deliver your full order, your deposit is refunded in full.

Ways to pay

Checkout accepts card and Apple Pay, and also offers Affirm and Klarna if you would rather pay over time. Whichever you use, the structure is the same: 40% today and the balance when your order ships.

A practical tip: set aside the balance before summer 2027. Because we email your exact packaged weight and balance before anything ships, you will know the final number ahead of time rather than finding out at the door.

What you can and cannot choose

You choose the size of your share. For the first release, every share ships as a standard cut list, so every order is cut the same way. You can review the full list before you reserve on the 1/4 Beef and 1/2 Beef pages, or in How Much Beef Is in a Quarter Cow?.

The herd behind every share

Every share comes from one closed herd of Chirikof Island and Hereford cattle on Umnak Island, certified by the American Grassfed Association and USDA-certified organic. You can learn more about the island and the people running it on Our Ranch.

For a quick timeline and answers to common questions, see How It Works.