Wagyu...

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Jeanne Thank you for the compliment. I guess that I just talk more than most, but I also spend a fair amount of time trying to explain to people who have little or no "cow interaction" some of the things about the dairy industry and then it gets transitioned over to beef too. If someone really seems interested I will try to spell it out to them so they really do get a grasp of it. And I think that WestTNguy really wants to learn and understand. You know as well as I do how many "one shot questions" we get where the poster never comes back.... the one and done kinds. Sometimes I really don't want to take the time but then I remember when I would ask questions and really appreciated someone taking time to explain to me. What I know about showing cattle could fit on the head of a pin...... but I like to look at some of them; and know that there is a ton of time and effort put into the "behind the scenes" of it.
 
Yes, many of us can answer BEEF questions, but you have that extra knowledge of beef/dairy/sale barns that really boosts the information people can get on here.
I have made MANY mistakes over the nearly 50 years of breeding cattle, and if I can help just one more person NOT make my mistakes, I gladly take the time to help out.
 
I think a lot of the folks have answered a lot of what's wrong with niche breeds, but I'd like to add a couple of things I have learned along the way. Pure greenhorn when we started, now probably a duller greenhorn. We started with longhorns b/c they were cheaper, pretty and we were told you could sell the offspring for breeding stock, hides, skulls and people would pay more b/c of the "heart healthy" aspects of LH beef (from one study once that everyone quotes on their LH website).

1) Know your market. I live in a poorer county. My customers don't care what kind of beef it is, as long as it tastes good and has value. I have worked slowly to increase my customer base, and most of the folks I've sold to want to buy again. That being said, they're willing to pay the $3/lb hanging weight I charge. They're not looking to pay the $8-10/lb hanging weight "you can get with Waygu."
2) Just because someone on their website says it can be done, doesn't mean it can be done by you. How long have they been doing it? How profitable are they? How hard do they work at it? How much do they travel to accomplish their goal? Are you willing to copy all of that? CAN you copy all of that? Will you have the same success even if you do everything they did?
3) Restaurants usually mark food up 2/3. So, a $105 steak costs them about $35. Big difference for the guy selling the steak to the restaurant.
4) If you want to sell the cuts yourself you'll have to have it slaughtered at a USDA facility (do you have one of those nearby), probably a license, a way to transport them and keep them cool, refrigerators and a system to constantly check temps with the ability to prove it. We looked into it and while it pays a decent chunk, it's a lot of work for my wife and I with two full time jobs on top of things.
5) We've looked into selling to restaurants. They want all of your stock, and a lot of them. You have to be prepared to bring the beef to the table. Nothing worse than saying "I can do that" and underwhelm.
6) With niche breeds there's less breeding stock overall. So you're traveling to get stock. Paying more to ship semen/embryos. With my Angus I've got several bigger breeders within 20 minutes of the house. Plus, I can AI through ABS and Universal very easily.
7) This is the biggest one for me: Slower growing cattle require more feed. I slaughtered a full LH at 32 months that weighed the same as a 3/4 Angus x 1/4 LH at 17 months. I've got a 8 month Angus bull that is bigger than my last LH on the place, and she's 12 months older.

I'm not saying don't do it. I'm saying be careful before you jump in thinking you'll become rich. It takes location, timing and luck. Good luck!
 
I know little about cattle really.

But i remember some guy waffling on to me about Wagu down here in Australia about 5 years ago, story went on about how much the meat was worth, and each animal etc, in the next breath the cattle owner was going to give a decent calf for next to nothing...we were in no drought back then :)

Angus and some others were the market then, and if I go to sales tomorrow, will be the same, Wagu ? Your wagging my tail, never seen one in last 10 sales I been too, and there were some real mongrels in some sales...lol.

Gina with many thousands of Wagu ? Maybe, but she has the muscle to put them into Tokyo harbour...

Good luck changing older Cockies down here, or, even the younger gen, they wont bet the farm on such things.

I had to lol, Jersey meat is prob better, and the markets are finicky about that meat, is prob true, and Jersey x Angus are more viable, but see what happens when you try and sell it too everyone.

So, unless some smarty comes up with a real good marketing angle and talks Mc Dons etc into taking it up, it wont happen in my lifetime, and, I know nothing about cattle really.

Now, maybe your the Warren Buffet of the cattle business, do you have the bank account ?
 
We just received the final report on the Florida Bull Test. I found it interesting that a Wagyu bull was the 2nd highest indexing bull on test. I just would not have thought they had that much grow in them. I don't know if its online yet but should be up in the next day or so. Consignor on the Wagyu was listed as Larry and Kurt Enfinger, so congrats to them.

gizmom
 
Basically index is the bull that gains the most on test. But a lot factors into that, a 6 frame bull is not going to gain as much as a 7 or 8 frame bull. A bull that arrives on test in body score 4 is going to gain more than a calf that starts the test in body score 5 or 6, All bulls are managed together so indexed as a group. The bulls have to index at least 90 to make the sale. They have over 100 bulls on the test so it give breeders a good idea of how their bulls preform against other bulls.

https://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/media/nfrecifasufledu/docs/pdf/2019-RULES-FOR-FLORIDA-BULL-TEST.pdf

I attached the rules because they probably explain it better than me.

Gizmom
 
I just fed about 120 Wagyu calves around 2 hours ago. They are February/March calves. They spent the summer on great irrigated pasture with their mothers. They have been weaned for about 45-50 days. They are eating a TMR of alfalfa, corn silage, and corn at 4% of their body weight. They are ugly and small. They don't average over 450 pounds.
 
Full bloods are slow growers for sure. When they're mature they look great, except a little slim in the butt.

There's a lot of flesh on this guy. My bull's sire.
 
Olive Wagyu

https://www.crowdcow.com/ranch/olive-wagyu?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpcnb&utm_campaign=B_S_EC_NB_RLSA_Wagyu&utm_term=olive+fed+wagyu&utm_content=71880692439688&msclkid=79a42835ef191d27e82675dfb49be0dd&gclid=79a42835ef191d27e82675dfb49be0dd&gclsrc=3p.ds
 
Ebenezer

I probably phrased that wrong, they can gain as much but a 7 or 8 frame bull when done should outweigh a smaller frame bull. No data just a personal opinion. You have actual data to dispute I would like to see if you can change my mind. You know I'm pretty hard headed but I am not to old to learn.

Gizmom
 
The pen next to those Wagyu calves I have been feeding is a pen of Angus/Char cross calves. They were born and raised on the same ranch. They are the same age. The Wagyu went to flat irrigated pasture for the summer. The Angus/Char calves went to rugged dry range land for the summer. Those cross calves have 300 pounds on the Wagyu. They are thick, soggy and gaining weight like crazy. The Wagyu are..... well they are alive. There better be one heck of a premium on those Wagyu to make up for all the feed it will take to grow them up.
 
Dave said:
The pen next to those Wagyu calves I have been feeding is a pen of Angus/Char cross calves. They were born and raised on the same ranch. They are the same age. The Wagyu went to flat irrigated pasture for the summer. The Angus/Char calves went to rugged dry range land for the summer. Those cross calves have 300 pounds on the Wagyu. They are thick, soggy and gaining weight like crazy. The Wagyu are..... well they are alive. There better be one heck of a premium on those Wagyu to make up for all the feed it will take to grow them up.
Click to expand...

That's why I don't see Wagyu becoming a real mainstream widely accepted animal anytime soon. They would seem to me to be a good niche market though on a small scale. On the subject of the Angus X Charolais, reckon how they would finish and grade out? I have always figured that was a real good cross for an all around beef animal.
 

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