Finishing A Wagyu

[Primal Farms NC]

I've only finished one steer (last year) in my life and it was a highland/angus cross that turned out pretty good.

I purchased three Wagyu/Angus steers (600 lbs) and wanted help from the veterans on the message board. Here are a few of my questions:

1. Should I finish a Wagyu the same way I would finish any other breed? Last year, I fed my steer grain (10 -20 lbs a day) and kept plenty of hay available for 90 days.
2. What finished weight should I shoot for? Someone has recommended 1,200 lbs which would take me a few months longer which is fine if recommended.
3. Is there any other insight or considerations I should consider with this breed?
4. Are there any helpful articles on the subject that you might suggest?

I live in central NC and please know that I genuinely appreciate any help that you might provide.

 

[sstterry]

I am going to let everyone else jump in here, but do not start them that high on grain. Start them low and work your way up. Plus, it will take a lot longer to properly finish a Wagyu than a normal beef steer. At a minimum, I would double the finishing time to get the proper marbling. But, the above is all just my opinion. @Mountaintown Creek Ranch should be able to give the best advice.

 

[greybeard]

I thought they, Angus and Corrientes were so good that none of the 3 or their crosses needed any finishing at all.

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

I not an expert but have had great success.

Basically Wagyu are finished like any other beef cattle.
No need for beer and massages.

Wagyu is not a breed.
There are 2 breeds of "Wagyu"- or Japanese cattle in USA.
Akaushi and Japanese black.

Depending on the breed and genetics of your steers, there will be less need to try and produce heavy marbling, size etc.

The other contributing factor is the % of "Wagyu" . Full blood are 100%. Anything less than that is either a Pure Blood or a % F1, F2, etc.

For example...Full blood Wagyu are not as easily finished as a F4 x Angus. FB will take an additional 3-6 months.
To me FB are sort of like barbecue it's done when it's done. My wife always makes fun of me for " feeling the steaks" when i am checking them. The very high end products are finished for up to 36 months. We target 24 months but have harvested as low as 18 months.

We finish on the same feed that we use for all cattle we just change amount / access. But I like the low and slow approach. Avoid too much grain too quick.

High quality 14% developer mix from Ky. 24% protein tub. The best hay I can afford. High quality forage ( when it rains) High quality mineral with salt. And FRESH water which I believe to be extremely important.

If you know anything about the pedigree of your cattle it helps a lot. Even though they're just steers that will be harvested, the pedigree helps you learn about ribeye eye size, marbling, carcass weight.

Keith

 

[Primal Farms NC]

I not an expert but have had great success.

Basically Wagyu are finished like any other beef cattle.
No need for beer and massages.

Wagyu is not a breed.
There are 2 breeds of "Wagyu"- or Japanese cattle in USA.
Akaushi and Japanese black.

Depending on the breed and genetics of your steers, there will be less need to try and produce heavy marbling, size etc.

The other contributing factor is the % of "Wagyu" . Full blood are 100%. Anything less than that is either a Pure Blood or a % F1, F2, etc.

For example...Full blood Wagyu are not as easily finished as a F4 x Angus. FB will take an additional 3-6 months.
To me FB are sort of like barbecue it's done when it's done. My wife always makes fun of me for " feeling the steaks" when i am checking them. The very high end products are finished for up to 36 months. We target 24 months but have harvested as low as 18 months.

We finish on the same feed that we use for all cattle we just change amount / access. But I like the low and slow approach. Avoid too much grain too quick.

High quality 14% developer mix from Ky. 24% protein tub. The best hay I can afford. High quality forage ( when it rains) High quality mineral with salt. And FRESH water which I believe to be extremely important.

If you know anything about the pedigree of your cattle it helps a lot. Even though they're just steers that will be harvested, the pedigree helps you learn about ribeye eye size, marbling, carcass weight.

Keith

BTW - I grew up in Gainesville, Ga. Really Murrayville. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

This might also be helpful .....
there's a whole lot of ways to get to the finish line.

 

[wbvs58]

I thought that was a good sensible answer from Mountaintown Creek. The main thing I think is to not get too carried away with them being wagyu, they are also angus so as MCR said, no need for the beer and massages.

Ken

 

[Dave]

I thought that was a good sensible answer from Mountaintown Creek. The main thing I think is to not get too carried away with them being wagyu, they are also angus so as MCR said, no need for the beer and massages.

Ken

Wait a second. As for the beer and massage. Drink the beer and get your wife to give you a massage. Way better than giving it to some stupid steer.

 

[Primal Farms NC]

I spoke with a lady who has raised/slaughtered these for years. Her number 1 piece of advice was to not slaughter the steers until they were 28 months old. She mentioned that it takes this long for the true marbling to fill into the meat.

I had not heard this before...

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Great article. Saved for my newsletter!!
Anyway.... if you read it, it tells you CORN is the best main ingredient. It also says PROCESSING (cracking, rolling, etc) adds COST. They said there is a 5-10% difference in digestibility - I always say 8% (that's what hubby taught me).
Unless you have an "in" in buying processed, bagged feed - you will be money ahead to feed whole shell corn, with a protein pellet added to make a 14% ration to begin with, then slowly lowering the amount of pellets closer to finish.
You cannot put a clock on when they will be finished. You have to LOOK at your animal to tell when he is finished. He will fill out in the brisket, his flank will drop and get thicker (fat), and he will get fat pockets around his tail head.
They are steers. Treat them as such.
How old are they? I've spouted on here numerous times that I finish my steers in 12-13 months old. But, I have heavy muscled, fast growing cattle and I start them on corn at around 6.5 - 7 months old.
Be sure to pay attention to starting them SLOW on grain. 1% means for 600# calf - 3# in am & 3# in pm of grain - slowing increasing to full feed (means all they can eat fed am & pm). I let mine eat pasture until the last 60 days - all the hay they want then.

 

[Primal Farms NC]

Great article. Saved for my newsletter!!
Anyway.... if you read it, it tells you CORN is the best main ingredient. It also says PROCESSING (cracking, rolling, etc) adds COST. They said there is a 5-10% difference in digestibility - I always say 8% (that's what hubby taught me).
Unless you have an "in" in buying processed, bagged feed - you will be money ahead to feed whole shell corn, with a protein pellet added to make a 14% ration to begin with, then slowly lowering the amount of pellets closer to finish.
You cannot put a clock on when they will be finished. You have to LOOK at your animal to tell when he is finished. He will fill out in the brisket, his flank will drop and get thicker (fat), and he will get fat pockets around his tail head.
They are steers. Treat them as such.
How old are they? I've spouted on here numerous times that I finish my steers in 12-13 months old. But, I have heavy muscled, fast growing cattle and I start them on corn at around 6.5 - 7 months old.
Be sure to pay attention to starting them SLOW on grain. 1% means for 600# calf - 3# in am & 3# in pm of grain - slowing increasing to full feed (means all they can eat fed am & pm). I let mine eat pasture until the last 60 days - all the hay they want then.

Our three steers are 7 months old and probably weigh 625lbs (best guess). To get them to a filled-out brisket and flanks dropped (finished) how many pounds are you getting your steers up to? Are your steers wagyu?

I so appreciate your wisdom and help. Thank you!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

My steers are PB registered Simmental. They weigh 1250-1300. Finished weight depends on frame and muscling. Wagyu is light muscled. Angus can be average. Your calves are a good weight.

 

[Travlr]

Full blood Wagyu are not as easily finished as a F4 x Angus. FB will take an additional 3-6 months.
The very high end products are finished for up to 36 months. We target 24 months but have harvested as low as 18 months.

Well with that kind of time and that amount of feed... how would any beef breed finish? Has anyone tried finishing their Angus/Sim/whatever for 36 months on 20 pounds of grain a day?

 

[Travlr]

BTW - I grew up in Gainesville, Ga. Really Murrayville. Thanks for the advice!

Ya oughta put your location on your profile.

 

[MurraysMutts]

BTW - I grew up in Gainesville, Ga. Really Murrayville. Thanks for the advice!

Who knew!! Murrayville....

Never finished a magoo.
Above advice is all great tho. It takes a lot of corn to get em there for sure. I've carried a bucket or three myself.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

@Travlr "Well with that kind of time and that amount of feed... how would any beef breed finish? Has anyone tried finishing their Angus/Sim/whatever for 36 months on 20 pounds of grain a day?"
I don't understand your question. (edited: I re-read your question and DO understand!! you were asking MCR - I cannot imagine feeding steers for 36 months-but do what you think you have to do)
If it was a Simm or SimmX, they would be HUGE at 36 months old and fat as a pig. Also, the older they get - the tougher they get. Young = tender.
I get mine up to about 25# max last ? 60 days. I have 5 born last September/October that will be harvested later this month. I will start a thread and report their results.
We struggled with our steers last year. Kept going off feed. Wouldn't eat as much as they "should" have. Finally, I called the grain supplier and asked if they had tested the corn for any micotoxins. "yes, we always test the corn". Next delivery, the truck driver told me it was out of a different bin. Steers immediately started eating more and never went off feed. Had to feed 3 steers a month longer. This year's steers have never missed a beat. Normally they average 750# hanging. I think these are going to be bigger. We'll see.

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

Actually yes we did finish an Angus for 36 months. It gave us a good comparison because it was raised in the same pasture/feed that the wagyu were raised.
It did have good marbling and she was 1550 but hung at 965 I believe. She had a tremendous amount of brisket fat and tail head fat but did not seem to get the IMF marbling that we do with the 18-24 grow out of wagyu.
I don't believe anyone needs to grow them for 36 months but the ranchers that enter the Wagyu steak contest every year most of those winners are always 30 months plus. I guess their goal is trying to achieve A5.
We usually get a BMS of eight feeding for 24 months. We've not had one processed yet that graded less than prime, always a BMS of at least 7.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I have finished mine the same way I finish all others. Nothing different. Great results and my step son raved on the steaks. "best I have ever had"

 

[Dave]

I do get a kick out of this thread. B has over 200 registered or purebred Wagyu cows. I have seen breeding bulls leave here literally by the semi load. He does ET and AI. The whole nine yards. But I have yet to see a Wagyu steer. They are all left as bulls and sold that way. He uses Wagyu bulls on his commercial heifers because of the calving ease. Those bulls all get castrated. And those calves (steers and Heifers) all leave when they are around 400-450 pounds. He never feeds a Wagyu steer.
The flip side the family is very involved in 4H. I have helped sort of 6 or 7 steer calves out of 300 to be 4H market steers. The majority tend to be Angus/Charolais cross steers. He told me that 6 out of 7 years his steers won the carcass class. There are some top of the line Angus and Hereford breeders in this community. They all sponsor a steer or three to the 4H kids. Funny how their steers get beat by some cross bred commercial steers.

 

[Stickney94]

Listen to what Jeanne says.

If you have a market for 28-36 month fed F1 wagyu that covers the additional year+ of feeding then feed away. But if this is just for freezer beef for friends and family -- F1 out of quality angus cattle can easily finish in 16-18 months at a very high quality. Also, listen to Jeanne on when to start feeding grain -- earlier and ramp it up.