How to Sell a Beef Share Legally in California

Two legal paths

• Sell the live animal (custom-exempt): the buyer owns the animal (or a share) before slaughter. A licensed custom slaughterer kills and cuts it for the owners. Meat is stamped "Not For Sale" and goes only to the owners' households. You can't resell those cuts.
• Sell meat by the cut (USDA-inspected): slaughter and processing happen at a USDA-inspected plant (or an inspected mobile unit), and the labeled meat can be sold retail.

CDFA's one-page flowchart shows both paths.

Custom-exempt, step by step

1. Book a licensed custom slaughterer or mobile unit months ahead.
2. Write a bill of sale for the live animal or a fractional share, signed before slaughter.
3. Arrange the required brand inspection (California Bureau of Livestock Identification) for the change of ownership.
4. Collect a deposit, then the balance based on live or hanging weight as your contract states.
5. Owners give their own cut instructions to the processor and pay processing directly, or as your contract says.
6. Keep records of every sale and the brand inspection.

UC ANR's Whole Animal Sales for Custom Processing walks through this in detail. CDFA's custom slaughter page explains what can't be sold.

Pricing and selling

• Use the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network for pricing and cut-sheet help.
• Store platforms compared: Shopify vs GrazeCart vs Barn2Door vs Local Line.
• Get listed free on Eatwild and LocalHarvest.

Talking about nutrition with buyers

Customers often ask whether grass-fed beef is "healthier." Our Nutrition page sums up what the research shows and what it doesn't, how to test your own beef, and the label rules for claims like "grass fed." Short version: describe how you raise the animals, and don't make health claims you can't back up.