I want to buy a half a cow from the butcher. How much on average does this cost, how long will it keep in a freezer, and how much freezer room will I need?

We just purchsed 2 steers from FFA students at the local youth fair auction (Polk County Youth Fair, Bartow Florida). There were over 100 steers sold at the auction. Price for the Grand Champion was $14.00/lb. Average price was $1.86/lb. We paid 1.60/lb for one steer (a Maine/Angus cross) and $2.00/lb for the other (a Shorthorn/Maine cross). The latter was a little more "finished" than the other. Our check was almost exactly $3600. for both. Each steer weighed almost exactly 1000 lbs on the hoof. We hauled them home in our own stock trailer (no cost to us) and continued to "finish" feeding them out over the next two months. Cost for 14% show chow and hay was $410. and they gained another 200 lbs and 240 lbs respectively. We again hauled them to the packing house in our trialer (no cost to us). A week later they were slaughtered and yielded an average 62% of the hoof weight. The packer/butcher/freezer charged us $.45/lb. to slaughter, butcher, wrap and freeze 720 lbs and 745 lbs of finished meat. Of course we recieved a large variety of very high quality steaks, (porterhouse, Tbone, sirloin, ribeye, etc.) cut to our specification of 1". We also recieved all the secondary cuts, (roasts, briscut,etc), high quality hamburger and all other parts (tongue, liver, heart, etc.)for our dogs. I figure we paid an average of $3.50/lb for everything. Decent quality Steak sells here for +/_$10./lb, hamburger $3.00 - $4.00/lb. so this was a good deal for us and a good deal for the students (break even price of $1.44 and $1.85/lb) who raised and showed the steer all year. They made a little profit and can do it again next year. The meat was mostly prime grade and it's all delicious. It's considered organic, but it's not certified. In my opinion, it's the best meat you could ever ask for. Great marbling, fantastic sweet flavor, particularly the shorthorn cross. I'd recommend this arrangement to anyone. Oh yea, you'll need 2 freezers to store that much meat. It'll keep over a year with no problem. At least that's our experience.

Which half are you after (front/back/split down the spine), do you want it pre-cut, so you don't have to do your own steaks/roasts? Do you want a regular beef cow, or an organic cow (or a fancy diet pampered cow)? Which country are you in as well (even the state may make a difference to the price)?
Red meat can be kept in the freezer for a few months, before freezer burn sets in (although the food will still be edible, just not as high quality).

I use a seal a meal food savor. It takes up a lot of time but it pays off in the long run. It vacuum seals the food and keeps it fresh for UP to three years. We are looking at purchasing a half cow as well. In Wisconsin, the butcher said to "beware, you get one bad slice of meat, there goes the whole lot." He suggested to get a package of meat. For example, 50 lbs hamburger, 20 lbs of steak, etc. My family sometimes will pitch in and get a whole cow, all of our money together and make a day out of sealing it. It lasts all year. Hope this helps.