Are Wagyu cattle any good?

[Davy_g]

Wagyu x Dairy Shorthorn cow sired by Wagyu bull.
We try to kill as near to 30 months as possible
Carcass weight 300-340kgs, we normally creep feed on Mum, then store them for year 2 & then start feeding concentrate for their last 100 days. I should feed more but I'm too tight! Feeding approx 5kgs of GLW beef finisher.
Ours seem to be very quiet & docile, need to push them out the way to get to the hay feeder.
We find the steak has to be cooked no more than medium/rare & hung for minimum 21 days.
We do not get as much marbling as many breeders but I guess we don't feed as much as most.
We sell a side of beef a week from home & the general consensus is that our Wagyu is a noticeable improvement on supermarket beef, however, a good local traditional butcher selling Hereford heifers has a very good following as well.
We price similarly to M&S & Waitrose premium Angus range but nowhere near the fancy London Wagyu prices.
I hope this helps, I still have an awful lot to learn but I do think the Wagyu will gain a greater market share in years to come

Thank you that's excellent. I suspect my temperament issues may be from the sire I used. Both myself and @GenuineRisk used the same semen from a reputable supplier and have had similar temperament minded calves from some very placid blondes (in my case) and blues.

There is a fair change in them from 24 months when they fill out their backs. I will see how my 3/4 Wagyu goes, but its a sideline and an interest on the farm whilst I still work away from home.

 

[Henarar]

our waggy cross steer is fine as regards temperament

 

[Exfarmer]

Wagyu cattle are scrubby little things which produce meat which no self respecting supermarket here, would look twice at.
I can see no possible reason for using them here unless one is trying to sell to top end chefs who understand that the best meat is produced by a concentrate diet.
The level of fat in the meat means the by cuts are only going to end up in low end cheapy burgers and sausages

Ps wagyu meat is certainly the best in the world but Joe Public does not value fat and flavour

 

[Danllan]

I really can't see why all the hype about wagyus is sustained, the meat is good but not the be all and end all. I've had it here and in Japan - I even know a butcher there who keeps them* - and it is certainly good, but I've had superb steaks that were every bit as good here in the UK, and in Africa too (and I've a chef friend who rates Argentinian steaks as high too).

*And the way they're kept in many places in Japan - most, for all I know - would make farmers over here ashamed.

 

[Roy_H]

Thanks WP, They are for me a guaranteed easy calving option on my pedigree heifers. An easy introduction to motherhood. They are nothing to look at - at any stage in their life - and need a lot of time to mature and fill out. They taste fine enough but no better than hung blonde beef.

Might be a better job on natives but would be exceptionally fatty. A niche market and a market one probably needs to grow them selves. I have no interest in them except one for the freezer now and again as a bit of a novelty. Ai'd one wagyu x blonde back to Wagyu when I found some unrelated commercially available and sensibly priced semen (and that took some doing). If the calf is a male it will end up in the freezer if its a female will breed it again to 7/8 Wagyu.

Taken to ai'ing heifers with speckle park, just as easy calving and very nicely marked with better confirmation. Don't have the attitude of the Wagyus either. Sell blooming well coming off the cow.

I had to look up "Speckle Park". You learn something new every day!

 

[GenuineRisk]

We have a speckled park breeder who shows a fair bit around our shows and his cattle are now extremely impressive. Never been quite sure why they should be classed as 'Native' having been formulated in Canada, though! However, this guy has stock in Canada and imports embryos etc and while the females are quite sought after, he does have a problem selling bull's for anything near decent money, so most go for kill. Temperament does seem to be good and I've also heard that crossed over ped blues or blondes you get an easily calved product! Very, very pretty cattle for sure - hides must be worth bothering with? Phil was judging AOB Nativd/Conti at New Forest Show couple of weeks ago and this breeder's bull went Champion with some ease..

 

[MeatEater]

Sorry to be a dissenting voice on this one, but unless you can market them on the fact that they are Wagyu crosses, think along the lines of the crappiest Angus crosses, and you won't be far off the mark!

Eat first, then talk, some of the UK crosses are significantly better than USA or Oz "pure breeds"

 

[som farmer]

kiwi farmer, on u'tube, has done 3 vids on wagyu farming, in Japan, its both interesting, and very very different.

handling facilities, don't really exist, all done by halter, and brute force

even over there, demand is 'iffy', he was filming an auction of y/s today, very different ! But only one strain of wagyu are making any money, as shown by the prices. No auctioneer, as we know, buyers all sat at desks, bid by pushing a button, price displayed on a board, calves are dragged in singly.

also filmed the registering of females, height carefully measured, length, body circumference, have to be a certain age, and in calf. Each hfr has a nose print taken, like a finger print here, to 'prove' identity in the future.

very very labour intensive system, in not what we would call, easy working sheds.

any wagyu beef in the uk, would be produced, in a very different way, nearly the polar opposite of Japan, if its judged on how it is handled, kept, over here, differing from Japan, it would be a zero score.

interesting to watch, but l shan't be doing it, its meant to be specially produced, with music, baths and other luxuries, to produce that special beef. Load of ballcocks.

 

[Henarar]

interesting to watch, but l shan't be doing it, its meant to be specially produced, with music, baths and other luxuries, to produce that special beef.

with the weather of late a shower would not be hard a arrange

 

[Vader]

Anyone tried wagyu on any proper beef breeds instead of dairy?

 

[Exfarmer]

kiwi farmer, on u'tube, has done 3 vids on wagyu farming, in Japan, its both interesting, and very very different.

handling facilities, don't really exist, all done by halter, and brute force

even over there, demand is 'iffy', he was filming an auction of y/s today, very different ! But only one strain of wagyu are making any money, as shown by the prices. No auctioneer, as we know, buyers all sat at desks, bid by pushing a button, price displayed on a board, calves are dragged in singly.

also filmed the registering of females, height carefully measured, length, body circumference, have to be a certain age, and in calf. Each hfr has a nose print taken, like a finger print here, to 'prove' identity in the future.

very very labour intensive system, in not what we would call, easy working sheds.

any wagyu beef in the uk, would be produced, in a very different way, nearly the polar opposite of Japan, if its judged on how it is handled, kept, over here, differing from Japan, it would be a zero score.

interesting to watch, but l shan't be doing it, its meant to be specially produced, with music, baths and other luxuries, to produce that special beef. Load of ballcocks.

The Wagyu sheds I saw in Japan differed very little from any slatted sheds you see here. You can forget all the pampering, showers baths beer and massage, that is for the tourists

 

[som farmer]

The Wagyu sheds I saw in Japan differed very little from any slatted sheds you see here. You can forget all the pampering, showers baths beer and massage, that is for the tourists

on the vid, shovel and wheelbarrow.

the whole job looked labour intensive, didn't see a crush ! Weighing calves, drag them to the scales, a flat piece of board, with no sides, and try and keep 4 legs on it long enough to get a digital weight.

 

[slackjawedyokel]

kiwi farmer, on u'tube, has done 3 vids on wagyu farming, in Japan, its both interesting, and very very different.

Could you post a link to one of the vids please

 

[Exfarmer]

on the vid, shovel and wheelbarrow.

the whole job looked labour intensive, didn't see a crush ! Weighing calves, drag them to the scales, a flat piece of board, with no sides, and try and keep 4 legs on it long enough to get a digital weight.

I don't doubt at all that you will find many farms in Japan that are still working with such systems, everywhere you go you will find mini family run businesses which are run by often very old people still doing things as they have done it since time began. Restaurants which seat 3-4 people staffed by a couple in their 80's plus and so on. These places work alongside the very latest and most advanced you can imagine. fascinating place and well worth visiting

 

[Welderloon]

Anyone tried wagyu on any proper beef breeds instead of dairy?

@Davy_g does something with them.

 

[TelesnaAg]

I would prefer red devon steak any day over wagyu, if your going to reduce the wagyu affect with cross breeds, a good ruby red will do the same imo.

Ant...

 

[Exfarmer]

I would prefer red devon steak any day over wagyu, if your going to reduce the wagyu affect with cross breeds, a good ruby red will do the same imo.

Ant...

Wagyu will certainly help the fat content of the meat which unfortunately we have bred out of our traditional breeds , but if we are to get better eating quality we need to revert to more grain. feeding as they do in Japan and of course the USA

 

[Welderloon]

They taste O.K but no better than anything else & I certainly wouldn't want to be looking at a shed or field full of the ugly feckers on a daily basis

 

[Vader]

I certainly wouldn't want to be looking at a shed or field full of the ugly feckers on a daily basis

Was why I asking if anyone crossed them with beef breeds

 

[Whitepeak]

@Davy_g has used wagyu on blonde heifers, mainly as an easy calving first calf. The meat is very good, I'm always well fed whenever I visit

Was chatting to a girl who works for Warrendale a couple of weeks ago and the reason they want Wagyu cross dairy is for the consistency of carcass. They don't want them out of suckler cows as there would be too much variation in cow breeds/types, which would lead to inconsistencies in marbling, conformation etc.