Some virtues of the Wagyu breed are undisputed by a pair of Kansas State University beef experts, but as in many subjects, there is always gray area to consider.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a breed that\u2019s got a lot of strong points, like its ability to marble,\u201d said K.C. Olson, a K-State beef cattle researcher.<\/p>\n
K-State meat scientist Travis O\u2019Quinn concurs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a greater ability to lay down a high degree of marbling,\u201d he said, which is why Wagyu beef ranks high in tenderness and juiciness.<\/p>\n
A lot of Wagyu cattle are a result of breed-up programs that include mostly crossing with Angus beef to get those genetics in the U.S., O\u2019Quinn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a breed with genetic capabilities, but in the Japanese production system, the animals are a lot older and they\u2019re fed special diets to allow for the deposition of greater marbling content,\u201d O\u2019Quinn said.<\/p>\n
While American Wagyu cattle are still known for taste and marbling, he said, \u201cthey won\u2019t reach the extreme levels of marbling like they do in Japan, due to the different feeding systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Quinn doesn\u2019t dispute that the Wagyu fat is a better fat, but that\u2019s true for most breeds.<\/p>\n
Most grain-fed beef fat doesn\u2019t impact cholesterol levels, O\u2019Quinn said, and Wagyu cattle \u201care not exclusive in that area.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Japanese cattle are far from perfect, though.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe breed has some weak points. Muscling would be chief of those,\u201d Olson said. \u201cWe\u2019re still in the red-meat yield business, and the Wagyu breed struggles a little bit in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless of breed, the ribeye area is an issue, he said, but it\u2019s generally smaller with Wagyu cattle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sell middle meats, the industry term for the ribeye roll, all over the world,\u201d Olson said, \u201cbut the biggest portions of the carcass are the end meats, the chuck and the round. We don\u2019t make many steaks out of end meats, but they do have tremendous utility as a consumer product, and red-meat yield per animal is one of the economic drivers of success in the feedlot and at the packing plant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cross-breeding Angus with a \u201clighter muscled, better-marbled breed like Wagyu will probably result in an animal with intermediate physical stature, intermediate carcass weight and intermediate muscling and marbling,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can make those middle meats more valuable, while still allowing competitive carcass weights.\u201d<\/p>\n
It still comes down to the size of the bull, said Mike Kerby, vice president of the American Wagyu Association, and there are Wagyu bulls that can compete in size with other breeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all depends on what you\u2019re breeding for,\u201d he said. \u201cYou might be going for milk, for calving ease, for ribeye size, or for growth. You\u2019re looking for that balanced animal. That\u2019s the holy grail. In reality, that\u2019s what every breeder is looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some virtues of the Wagyu breed are undisputed by a pair of Kansas State University beef experts, but as in many subjects, there is always gray area to consider. \u201cIt\u2019s a breed that\u2019s got a lot of strong points, like its ability to marble,\u201d said K.C. Olson, a K-State beef cattle researcher. K-State meat scientist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n