USDA data
The retailer takes 42 cents of your beef dollar. The packer takes 4.6.
Beef prices are the subject of a federal antitrust investigation and a lot of political noise about meatpackers. USDA's own spread data tells a more awkward story: the packer's slice has nearly vanished, and the part that never moves is the one at the supermarket.
6 min read
Tom has been buying half and whole cows from local farms for his own family since 2009. He spent 15 years working with small-scale cattle operations and now helps families find and evaluate farm-direct beef suppliers through Half a Cow Club's directory of 1,200+ producers.
Quick Answer
In 2025 the farmer took 53.5% of the retail beef dollar, the retailer 42%, and the packer 4.6%. The farmer's share has risen from 37.3% in 2020; the packer's spread has fallen from a peak of 21.7%. In July 2026 the farmer's share was 51.1%.
What that means if you buy direct: a half cow removes the wholesale-to-retail spread, which has averaged about 44% and is the largest steady margin in the chain. It does not remove processing, and it moves freezer space, collection and months of prepayment onto you.
Every beef dollar, split three ways
- FarmerThe net farm value of the cattle
- PackerThe farm-to-wholesale spread
- RetailerThe wholesale-to-retail spread
The numbers
| Year | Farmer | Packer | Retailer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 37.3% | 18.3% | 44.4% |
| 2021 | 36.8% | 21.7% | 41.5% |
| 2022 | 40.5% | 11.9% | 47.6% |
| 2023 | 47.8% | 8.9% | 43.3% |
| 2024 | 50.2% | 6.7% | 43.1% |
| 2025 | 53.5% | 4.6% | 42% |
Farmer = net farm value. Packer = farm-to-wholesale spread. Retailer = wholesale-to-retail spread. Rounding means rows may not total exactly 100%.
What actually changed
Between 2020 and 2025 the packer's share of the retail dollar fell from 18.3% to 4.6%. Over the same period the farmer's share rose 16.2 points. The retailer's share moved from 44.4% to 42% — which is to say, it barely moved at all.
The driver is cattle supply. The US herd is at roughly its smallest in 75 years, so cattle are worth far more than they were, and the farm value at the bottom of the stack has grown faster than anything above it. Packers are paying a lot for animals and have not passed all of it on, which compresses their spread from both sides.
What this does not prove. A share is a ratio, and this one rose partly because the number underneath it grew. A thin packer spread in 2025 also says nothing about 2020 and 2021, when it ran 18.3% and 21.7% — the years the antitrust arguments are actually about. And a spread is not profit: it pays for slaughter, chilling, transport, packaging, shrink and labour.
Where a half cow actually saves you money
This is the useful part for anyone weighing a bulk purchase. If you buy beef at a supermarket, roughly 44 cents in every dollar pays for the leg between the packing plant and the shelf: distribution, cutting, trays, refrigeration, the store's staff and its rent. That is the largest steady margin in the chain, and it is the one buying direct from a farm removes.
It is not free money, because those costs do not disappear — they move to you. You buy a chest freezer and run it. You drive to a farm or a locker plant. You pay for 200 lb of beef three months before you eat any of it. And you still pay the plant to cut it, which is a bill the supermarket price already included.
Whether that trade is worth it depends on how much beef you eat and which cuts. Our bulk vs grocery comparison calculator runs it against current prices, and hanging weight vs live weight explains how to read a farm's quote so you are comparing like with like.
Method and limits
- These are USDA estimates, not audited accounts. ERS models the spreads from reported prices; the methodology has been through a published data product review and its authors are explicit that the series measures margins in aggregate, not any company's books.
- Choice beef only. The series tracks a Choice-grade steer through the chain. Grass-finished, organic and premium programmes behave differently.
- Spreads are gross, not net. Every stage pays real costs out of its share. None of these numbers is a profit margin.
- National averages. Regional prices and spreads vary considerably.
The underlying data is public domain and rebuilds monthly from ERS and BLS. Journalists and researchers are welcome to reproduce these figures with a link, and we will share the parsed series on request via our contact page.
Frequently asked questions
How much of the price of beef does the farmer get?
In 2025 the farmer's share of the retail beef dollar averaged 53.5%, according to USDA's Economic Research Service. That is up from 37.3% in 2020. In July 2026 the figure was 51.1%. The rest is split between the packer, who took 4.6%, and the retailer, who took 42%.
Are meatpackers taking most of the money from beef?
Not according to USDA's own spread data. The farm-to-wholesale spread — the packer's slice — fell from 21.7% at its peak in this period to 4.6% in 2025. The wholesale-to-retail spread, which is the grocery retailer's slice, has been the largest and steadiest component throughout, averaging about 44%. This does not settle whether packers behaved competitively in earlier years, when their spread was several times wider.
Does buying a half cow cut out the meatpacker?
It mostly cuts out the retailer, which is where the larger and steadier margin sits. Buying farm-direct removes the wholesale-to-retail spread — roughly 44 cents of every retail dollar on average over the last six years. It does not remove processing: your animal still goes through a slaughter plant and you usually pay that bill directly. It also moves real costs onto you, including freezer space, a trip to collect, and paying for 200 lb of beef months before you eat it.
Why is beef so expensive if the farmer is getting a bigger share?
Because the whole pie got bigger. The US cattle herd is at its smallest in about 75 years, which has pushed cattle prices to records. Ground beef averaged $6.88 a pound in July 2026, up 10.1% in a year and 61.5% since July 2020. A rising farmer's share reflects that the cattle themselves are worth much more, not that the meat got cheaper.
What is the farm-to-retail price spread?
It is the difference between what a farmer receives for cattle and what shoppers pay at the till, expressed per pound of retail-equivalent beef. USDA splits it into a farm-to-wholesale portion (packing) and a wholesale-to-retail portion (distribution and grocery). The spread is not profit: it also covers slaughter, cutting, chilling, transport, packaging, shrink, labour and store overhead.
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