Why Japanese Black Wagyu?
We understand you may have never raised Wagyu. Since other breeds will give you beef of decent quality, you may be wondering if it’s worth it to have Japanese Black Wagyu in your herd. The short answer: Yes!
Japanese Black Wagyu will truly improve your herd more than any other commercial cattle breed. Our Wagyu are docile, easy calvers that thrive in various locations across the United States. Wagyu calves are smaller and grow more slowly, which gives you more time to raise them for even better beef.
If you’re selling on the grid (at a USDA facility), this matters even more. A 50% Wagyu crossbred feeder will grade prime or higher if fed properly 70-80% of the time! And even if you achieve quality over poundage with smaller cattle, you’ll make the same profit with a higher-quality product (and happier customers).
Our Focus
As we mentioned earlier, our ultimate goal is to produce the best beef experience for you and your family or customers. Whether you’ve bred Wagyu in the past or are new to the practice, you’ll have a healthy and profitable herd with our Wagyu cattle genetics.
When it comes to breeding, we believe that growth and marbling in our cattle go hand in hand. We offer uncompromised marbling by selecting the best animals, so you can breed the same female ten times with the same male—helping your herd grow with Wagyu calves.
Breed Specifications
In addition, here is a guide to the SCD, tenderness, and recessive traits you’ll find on each sire’s page:
SCD, or Stearoyl CoA Desaturase, is a gene family that distinguishes the healthy fat marbling in Wagyu beef from other beef. SCD testing identifies cattle with the dominant Japanese genotype that produces a certain fat composition.
- Stearic acid and the amino acid valine (V) make deposited fat harder.
- Oleic acid and the amino acid alanine (A) make deposited fat softer (and more flavorful).
- The genotypes for SCD testing are VV, VA, and AA — AA is the most desirable.
Tenderness describes the amount of force it takes someone to cut or chew a piece of meat. Wagyu beef has been documented to be significantly more tender than the beef resulting from any other breed of cattle.
The IGENITY Tenderness test is a genetic profile analysis which evaluates a given animal's DNA and attempts to rank the expected resulting meat tenderness. The IGENITY Tenderness values are assigned from 1 to 10.
It should be noted that no Wagyu cattle have been used to validate the claims of this genetic test, and one should therefore use the test cautiously when comparing Wagyu animals.
Wagyu can be affected by, a carrier for, or free from a recessive trait (or genetic condition).
B3
Spherocytosis (B3) is one of four recessive genetic conditions that the Australian Wagyu Association recognizes. B3 is a disorder of the red blood cells’ surface membrane that causes anemia and severe retardation in Wagyu growth.
CHS
Chediak Higashi Syndrome (CHS) is the second recessive genetic condition. CHS is a macrophage (white blood cell) disorder that compromises Wagyus’ immune systems and makes their blood slow to coagulate, giving them an unusually pale color.
CL16
Claudin 16 Deficiency (CL16) is the third recessive genetic condition. CL16 is a gene disorder on Chromosome 1 that causes terminal kidney failure. The onset can occur anytime in Wagyu starting in late adolescence, and cattle with CL16 are unlikely to live more than six years.
F11
Factor XI Deficiency (F11) is the fourth recessive genetic condition. F11 is an autosomal disorder associated with prolonged bleeding time and abnormal coagulation. However, this is a non-fatal condition, and affected Wagyu can live and breed normally.