How long does it take you to consume a half cow? I can't fathom buying that much beef at one time. Aside from storage, it would take us years to eat it all, even if we switched all our animal protein consumption to beef.
But yeah, you need the space.
I think it’s usually a bigger family that goes in on it and spreads it out across their kids/nephews/nieces, etc.
I know I’m happy that someone coordinates it and just asks how much I want and here’s the price.
Most of the cow becomes ground beef.
My grandparents were part of what they called the meat circle. It was a bunch of farmers that took turns slaughtering a cow of their own to share with the group so they didn't have too much meat to deal with at home.