Wagyu beef, I found this to be an intersting article

[Keren]

And this one sold for $13,500

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

The more I look at them, the more I think my ol Jersey bull has more bum than these bulls :help: :tiphat:

 

[RD-Sam]

Australia was ranked 3rd in beef quality with this breed, the US was 2nd, and naturally Japan was #1. They certainly don't look like a good quality angus or hereford, it's kinda like looking at some of the Brahman on the site. :lol2: As long as the beef quality is there and you get those big dollars, I don't guess it matters what they look like.

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

Personally I think the breed has a long way to go before they can even reach the standards of the Angus & Herefords that are pictured on these boards.
I did read an article in a paper here that said it costs Au$30,000.00 for each Wagyu from birth through to slaughter / sales

 

[Keren]

Australia was ranked 3rd in beef quality with this breed, the US was 2nd, and naturally Japan was #1. They certainly don't look like a good quality angus or hereford, it's kinda like looking at some of the Brahman on the site. :lol2: As long as the beef quality is there and you get those big dollars, I don't guess it matters what they look like.

RD Sam, the catalogue data for those top dollar bulls said they have 2 gene stars for marbling and 3 for tenderness. Well, my murray greys can do that and more stars, plus they carry more muscle = more of that high quality meat.

 

[RD-Sam]

According to this site, they are docile and there are no fertility problems. My bet is the crossbreds had some wacko bloodline, and semen that didn't produce may have been damaged in shipping. After talking to alot of different people I am finding out they do not check the semen before they inseminate their cattle, this is a bad mistake in my opinion, things happen and the semen can easily be damaged by handling or thawing, you should always check it. http://www.cattle-today.com/Wagyu.htm

 

[RD-Sam]

Australia was ranked 3rd in beef quality with this breed, the US was 2nd, and naturally Japan was #1. They certainly don't look like a good quality angus or hereford, it's kinda like looking at some of the Brahman on the site. :lol2: As long as the beef quality is there and you get those big dollars, I don't guess it matters what they look like.

RD Sam, the catalogue data for those top dollar bulls said they have 2 gene stars for marbling and 3 for tenderness. Well, my murray greys can do that and more stars, plus they carry more muscle = more of that high quality meat.

If that is the australian sires, that is why, they grade very low. The US doesn't even have a grade that comes anywhere close to the high end grade from Japan, our highest grade is on the lower end of their scale.

 

[Keren]

I think the breed needs to adress more than just quality of meat. The structure on a lot of the wagyu coming through this particular feedlot was so poor that a significant number were not making it through to the end of their feedout period.

And would it not make sound financial sense to improve the red meat carrying capacity of these animals, develop a real beef phenotype, and you will have more of the 'high quality, high dollar' meat?

 

[RD-Sam]

Nope, the highest grade Japanese beef is about 50% fat with extremely high marbeling, that is where it gets it's tenderness and great taste from. It has a different fat content than other breeds though, it has a ratio of 2:1 for the good fat type, so it is very low in colesterol.

I agree they could use some work on the structure, most I have seen look pretty sorry in that respect. But you wouldn't want to mess with the fat and marbeling, that's where the big bucks come from.

Have you seen pictures of the marbeling charts?

 

[Keren]

Yes, I have seen the marbling charts I have seen the top shelf beef in person and eaten it.

I am not talking about changing the composition of the beef itself. I am talking about adding red meat carriage to these animals - select them to give more butt, thicker tops, depth and length and that will give you more of that high marbling beef. The bull in the pdf link proves that there are some individuals in the breed that can do that.

 

[RD-Sam]

If you could get more of the same quality beef, I don't see how you can go wrong there. I saw the US stats on these, there are some that have up to 1.75 fat thickness.

I also saw where a breeder has been feeding his Limmy beer and selling as Kobe type beef overseas, that supposedly makes them have high fat content and high marbeling. The trick to the whole thing is probably what they are fed and the type of beer and sake they give them, and how much! :nod:

 

[Loch Valley Fold]

Some wagyu beef cuts taken off one of the websites that I listed earlier

 

[RD-Sam]

The marbeling isn't great on those, look at this site, they have a couple of pictures and a chart. http://www.sweetwaterplantation.com/wagyu.html

 

[Keren]

loch, the pics you posted are pretty typical of what australia will produce for the JapOx B2 and B3 market, the 2 and 3 referring to the marble grade - they come in at the low end of the Jap marble scores which I believe go up to 13.

the stuff they gave us was the 13 score stuff - you basically couldnt see individual marbling there was so much the cut of meat was just pinkish all over instead of red. It was beautiful - but after two or three bites, that was all you could eat because it was so rich. We took photos before we ate but I cant seem to find them.