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Valley, NE | the Wagyu business has been growing significantly over the past 4-5 years, but like every other niche beef program, it has it's ups and downs. and like any other niche beef company out there, not every company's requirements are the same. For example, at Imperial, we require the bulls to be registered with the AWA, as that is how we back up our breed claim, other companies require DNA verification. our Beef company has all natural requirements that are pretty straight forward with the industry, but some companies have small quirks that rule cattle out of their program. My point is: know your end game before you get too far in.
There are 4 main parts of the Wagyu breed in America: Red/Akaushi, Black Wagyu, the Fullblood purest, and the F-1/cross guys. Most of the Wagyu Beef in America using fullboood/pureblood bulls to make F-1/50% cross beef hence the term "American Wagyu". the reds and blacks differ mostly on opinion of what side youre on and invested in, but with little actual data on who is better/marbles more/ grows better/finishes faster. So it really depends on your end game and who you're marketing to. Most of my producers come to Imperial because of 1 or 2 things: they went to town and had Wagyu off the menu for a special event and came back home and wanted to get their cattle to produce a similar eating experience, or they're producers that are tired of getting beat up at the sale barn and want to market their cattle direct without commissions and fees and add a premium on top. premiums for our calves range from $.20-$.35 over the current market. Which today on Nebraska Cattlefax 500 lb steers are $1.81 + $.25 = $2.06/lb or $1030/head for 500lbs steers.
The only thing worse than feeding out a holstein steer is a wagyu steer. They've been bred solely for marbling ability over the generations, their feed conversion and efficiency are not the greatest. Hence why most of the Wagyu in America is half bloods, because even the run of the mill- nothing special US bred cow has a ton of growth and performance bred into her. So its ideal to bring the two together. Our ideal animal are harvest is 27.5 months of age, 1550lbs live, 950-1050lbs hanging, YG4, and grading beyond prime. I have some groups of calves that will get over 600 DOF, so from a ration standpoint it is a low and slow model in the beginning to be able to get the cattle out to an extreme end point. We have seen most Wagyu cattle need to be harvested after 24 months to achieve the beyond prime market we aim for.
My email is good on my profile, I can send you some information about what we do, or we can run down through what your program looks like. I always tell my producers, I'm an open book because at the end of the day, if my producers are successful in the cattle business, I'll be successful at my job.
Edited by wurtzy 6/15/2021 07:56
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Wagyu
