Premium Wagyu Beef by the Side
Nothing beats the tenderness and taste of grain fed American Wagyu. Our beef is Alabama raised and Iowa finished.
Our Story
Alabama Born
From Our Ranch to Your Freezer
Iowa Finished
Whitesell Farms Wagyu has been raising cattle in Jones Chapel, AL for over 25 years. The exquisite Wagyu breed became our focus in 2011 and remains our passion today.
Iowa Finished
From Our Ranch to Your Freezer
Iowa Finished
Wagyu cattle require careful management to produce consistent world-class marbling. No one does that better than our partner, A to Z Feeders in Atlantic, Iowa
From Our Ranch to Your Freezer
From Our Ranch to Your Freezer
From Our Ranch to Your Freezer
We offer our beef to the public by the side (that is, half of an animal) through our retail/wholesale business entity, North Alabama Wagyu, LLC. (gr8wagyu.com is our catchy new URL for billboards!)
How about a Freezer Full of Wagyu?!?
Putting a side of beef in your freezer is a tradition that dates back to our very homesteading roots.
Our beef is raised on our family farm in Jones Chapel, AL, expertly finished in Iowa, and then brought back home to Alabama for processing and packaging to YOUR individual specifications by a local butcher.
More info...
Have Lots of Questions? We have Answers!
What exactly is a side of beef?
A side of beef is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. You are buying an entire half (think: left side/right side, not front/back!) of an animal that is ready for slaughter. The options for how the resulting cuts of beef are packaged for your freezer are practically limitless. Our expert butcher shop partners can produce anything you have ever seen in a supermarket or restaurant.
How is it sold?
Purchasing a side of beef requires a little more planning than grocery shopping. First off, we have to sell the "other" side to someone else! You are technically purchasing "half interest" in a live animal, and because of that, in Alabama there is no sales tax collected in the transaction. A side of beef is traditionally sold by "hanging weight" - this is a measure of the carcass after slaughter but before processing/packaging. It is the fairest price point for the consumer since it is not affected by external factors (like how full or hydrated the animal is).
Our sides of beef will typically have hanging weights between 350-500 lbs.
Note: one quirk to this method of selling is that we cannot provide a firm, final price at the time of reservation since there is no way to know the hanging weight while the animal is still alive.
How much beef do I get?
This depends on your preferences, but we tell people to reasonably expect to receive 50% of the hanging weight to come back as packaged beef. In other words, a 400 lb side will put 200 lbs of packaged beef in your freezer. There is some variation on actual yield from one animal to another, but this is a safe estimate.
Most of our customers take 9-12 months to go through a side of beef and contact us for the next one.
If you want to "geek out" on carcass yield check out this great publication we found that was produced by the University of Tennessee System.
What cuts can I get?
On to the fun part!
A side of beef includes at least one of every imaginable cut you have ever seen. You work directly with the butcher to decide what the final product looks like. Want bone-in ribeyes? 3 inch thick filets? a whole competition style brisket? You are in the drivers seat!
Some typical steaks: ribeye, filet mignon, New York strip, sirloin, flat iron, skirt, hanger, cube
One of a kind cuts: tri-tip, brisket, picanha, mock tender
And the rest: ground beef, roasts (rump, sirloin tip, chuck eye, shoulder), stew meat
Of course, there are some trade-offs. If you want a Prime Rib Roast, there will be less ribeye steaks. We encourage a lot of discussion with the butcher to understand your options.
Where do I put it all?
You are going to need a chest-style deep freezer. It does not have to be a huge one - a 7 cubic ft. model is plenty if it is dedicated to your beef. A recent check on Amazon shows lots of available models for less than $300. Of course, the more room you have, the easier it is to find the cut you are looking for.
What are the steps for purchase?
Step 1: Get Informed and Comfortable
If you are a newcomer to purchasing in bulk like this, we want you to be COMPLETELY comfortable with the process before making a commitment. Please contact us with any and all questions.
Step 2: Reserve a Side
Use the Reserve Today page to select a delivery window and any options offered. A deposit is required at this point. We will stay in contact during the waiting period to confirm the timing and processor.
Step 3: Plan & Anticipate
Wagyu beef done right takes time. We schedule loads to and from Iowa approximately 4 times a year. At worst case, your delivery could be 3 months out. Trust us, it is worth the wait. Take the time to research your options and dream a little!
Step 4: Delivery to the Butcher
When your animal comes back from Iowa, we will deliver it to the agreed processor. Within a couple of days, we should know the exact hanging weight. Once we know this, we will make the introduction to your butcher and transfer control of the side to give you authority to specify the processing options. A minimum of half of the remaining balance is due at this time.
Step 5: Specify Packaging Options
Once the side is assigned to you, it is time to work with your butcher to specify how you want it cut and packaged. Some shops have a cut sheet on-line, others will take your information over the phone, and a few will do a form over e-mail. At this point, we are not directly involved, but can provide guidance and answer any questions you might have.
Step 6: Pick Up Your Beef
After the side has completed its dry aging period and has been cut, packaged, and frozen, it is time to pick it up! Full balance due to us MUST be paid prior to pick-up.
Step 7: Enjoy!
Saw that one coming, didn't you?!? Please send us some feedback on the beef and the process in general. We hope you can recommend us to family and friends.
Contact Us
Keep scrolling if you want to read more frequently asked questions and our answers, but at this point, a lot of you are ready to talk to a real person. E-mail is our preferred means of communication - it can be hard to answer the phone in the middle of farm life!
Contact Us
Even More ... Frequently Asked Questions
So, that's a good question. Whitesell Farms Wagyu is a family farm that has been in operation since 1999. When we started selling directly to the public, our accountants wanted us to do it via a "real company" so we created North Alabama Wagyu, LLC. In 2024, with "life changes", we needed to simplify and we stopped selling at Farmers Markets. This website is part of the transition to the much less complicated process of offering sides of beef. The idea of billboard came up, and we needed a URL that would fit on the sign and be memorable. So here we are on www.gr8wagyu.com. (The other websites are still available and have their own areas of focus.)
Wagyu is a breed of cattle just like Angus or Longhorn or Hereford. It originated in Japan and is known for marbling and tenderness. Beyond that, there are too many other places that do a good job of explaining Wagyu for us to repeat it here. Check out the breed history page on the American Wagyu Association website for starters.
The simple answer is that only cattle whose ENTIRE pedigree can be traced back to the original Wagyu imports from Japan can be identified as Fullblood (100%) Wagyu. Anything else is a Percentage Wagyu.
In practice, by the time you get to 75% Wagyu genetics, a second generation cross, (i.e. one of 4 grandparents was not Wagyu), the quality of beef is extremely high. The pictures of steaks on this website came from Percentage Wagyu.
Fourth generation crosses, (i.e. one of 16 great, great grandparents was not Wagyu), are known as Purebred (93.75%) Wagyu. This is actually a little important because it is the only way to breed a Wagyu without horns (which is safer for cowboys and other cattle alike). A polled Wagyu has an ancestor in its pedigree from a polled breed like Angus that passed that gene done through the generations. Most breed associations consider a 15/16 to be "close enough" but the American Wagyu Association continues the distinction with its own label (Purebred).
Certainly. Friends or family work best. Some processors will actually divide it up for you if you ask. If you don’t have anyone to split with, and are looking for help finding a match, let us know. If we get two or more interested parties, we can make the introductions.
First off, congratulations on selecting a side that can be dry aged in the first place. Our Wagyu sides have a great fat cap that allows for dry aging without a lot of loss due to drying out.
We find that anything from 14-21 days is good. By the time you get to 28 days, the flavor profile starts to change and may not be something you like anymore.
A google search turned up this tidbit from the USDA. I have personally eaten beef that was in the freezer for over 3 years that was as fresh as the day it went in when the vacuum seal packaging was undamaged. If packaging is damaged or somehow loses its seal, you will start getting freezer burn within a month.
Most processors/butchers will save and package items like the ox tail, tongue, heart, kidneys, and liver if you ask for it. One small issue is that some items are hard to split between two different customers (Side A and Side B) if they both want it, but we drop off multiple animals at the same time, so it can often be worked out.
It is certainly available. Wagyu cattle have an abundance of "kidney fat", aka "Beef Suet". This can be rendered into tallow which has many uses (including making great fried potatoes in any form!). It is not a hard process to find with a Google search. Some processors will package this for you for free, others may charge an extra fee.
Well, that's what we do! It improves the heck out of venison. Once again, this may be an extra charge from the butcher shop, so just check with them.
North Alabama Wagyu, LLC
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