Meat, Poultry & Seafood Processing worked example

Cut Yield at 49% target cut yield: a worked example

Here is what the math looks like when conditions slip. We hold every other input steady and drop target cut yield to 49%, then walk the calculation through step by step. Calculate cut yield percentage from carcass, primal, or raw material weight to finished cut weight for beef, pork, poultry, or seafood products.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Finished saleable cut weight: 165 lb (held at the documented default)
  • Starting carcass or raw material weight: 250 lb (held at the documented default)
  • Target cut yield: 49 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 68)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Cut yield rate = finished cut weight / starting raw material weight x 100.
  • Cut yield rate works out to 66 % at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Gap to target yield works out to -17 points at these inputs.
  • Finished cut weight works out to 165 lb at these inputs.
  • Starting raw material weight works out to 250 lb at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where target cut yield sits at 68% and the headline result is 66 %, this scenario lands almost exactly on the baseline at 66 %.
  • The practical read: the gap between this scenario and the baseline is entirely attributable to target cut yield, so recovering it is worth quantifying in dollars before considering equipment or staffing changes. It is a weight-in, weight-out ratio and does not value the trim, bone or byproduct you recover, so two lines at the same yield can have very different net margins.

Results at a glance

  • Cut yield rate: 66 % (headline result)
  • Gap to target yield: -17 points
  • Finished cut weight: 165 lb
  • Starting raw material weight: 250 lb

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Cut Yield calculator, set target cut yield to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.