Kobe Beef and Angus Cross Cattle
Cattle getting massages and being fed alcoholic drinks may sound funny, but the Wagyu breed of cattle known for producing melt-in-your-mouth Kobe beef in Japan is shrouded in eastern mystery, tradition and lore.
The breed was developed in 1868 by crossing Brown Swiss, Devon, Shorthorn, Simmental, and Ayrshire genetics. There are three strains of Japanese Wagyu — Tajiri, Tajima and Fujiyoshi. The breed is known for incredible marbling distribution and fat with a very low melting point to produce tender, flavorful beef. To be real "Kobe," the beef must have come from a very specific place in Japan from a very specific breed of cattle and processed in a very specific way. But, an Americanized version of the legendary beef has been developed in recent years using the Wagyu genetics that originated in Japan and crossing them with U.S. beef genetics. The result is a blend of the legendary marbling and increased production efficiency for American sized servings and tastes.
Gabriel Family Farms in Fairfield County became interested in adding Wagyu genetics to their cattle herd several years ago after Troy Gabriel was at a steakhouse in Florida and he tried a Kobe Beef steak.
"I'd never heard of Kobe beef before but I thought I would try it," he said. "It was the best steak I ever had. That is what did it."
From that point on, Gabriel was a believer, but the genuine Kobe Beef-producing Wagyu genetics were not easy to come by.
"The Japanese government has locked down the genetics. They let some out in the early 90s and then they stopped," Gabriel said. "They consider it a national trade secret. But, we are continuing to improve the American breed and we get some genetics from Australia. There are more head in Australia than anywhere in the world and they are primarily exporting it to Japan. It costs many times more to feed them in Japan than it does here."
The Gabriel family owns an equipment dealership — Franklin Equipment — and 500 acres where horses had been the livestock of choice for the family initially when they purchased the hilltop farm in 1995. But after Troy's daughters started showing cattle, horses were replaced by club calf production and today they have around 150 cattle, around half for raising club calves and half for Wagyu beef production.
"Six years ago we bought a couple of Wagyu bulls and started naturally breeding F1 Angus cows. We started keeping heifer calves and, after this year, we'll have 50% Wagyu in the cow
herd," Gabriel said. "Our quality has improved drastically. Now we are raising three-quarter-blood and we have developed a market for Wagyu. As the Wagyu percentage has gone up, we have seen the carcass quality drastically improve, but as the percentage goes up we are giving up size."
The Gabriel family worked with Henry Zerby and Francis Fluharty at Ohio State to develop feed rations and adjust management to improve the end product. The feed is all produced in the farm's corn, soybean, wheat and hay rotation. The cows are kept on pasture and they winter graze the corn stalks. After weaning, the calves are moved to a feedlot on the farm. The feed is ground onsite and the calves are started on a roughly 50%-50% hay-corn blend and finished on a roughly 10%-90% hay/corn blend.
With the Wagyu, the goal is not rapid weight gain, but slower growth to let the breed characteristics enhance the beef quality with age.
"There is something in Wagyu genetics that allows their carcass to improve as they get older. When a traditional Angus steer gets to 1,000 pounds, it is what it is in terms of quality, but there is something with Wagyu that lets them get better as they get older," Gabriel said. "We intentionally slow down their growth to get better quality and as a result we can get a higher price. We are shooting for processing them after 24 to 30 months. We want to consistently produce prime plus carcasses through the Wagyu genetics and we are doing that."
While slow growth is the name of the game, farm manager Seth Cooksey is trying to continually bump up the rate of gain to find the right balance between productivity and quality. Cooskey admits they are still somewhat "green" on the Wagyu learning curve, but they are making progress.
"Right now they are gaining two pounds a day," Cooksey said. "My goal is to keep bumping up the rate of gain — maybe to three pounds a day — without sacrificing the quality."
Cooksey has worked with cattle all his life and enjoys working with the Wagyu.
"They are a pretty docile breed. They usually have 40-pound calves so they have pretty easy calving," Cooksey said. "I come from a background of raising club calves and you're always worrying about first-calf heifers. The Wagyu calves are born so small it helps with first calf heifers on the Angus cows. They work really well with the Angus cows."
With clear signs of growing demand for the product, Cooksey is hoping to continue to expand the Wagyu production capabilities for the farm.
"I'd like to get more Wagyu bulls out to other farms, cross them with Angus cows and buy back the calves for a premium price," he said. "Then we can feed them out here based on what we have learned so far. We have room to grow our feedlot with the feed we are producing."
Just as Gabriel discovered with his initial experience eating Wagyu beef, his customers are now responding similarly.
"The response has been consistent. Everybody that eats it says there clearly is a taste difference and a tenderness difference. It is a rapidly growing breed. There is more demand for the product than there is supply," Gabriel said. "The reason people are buying it from us is that we are running an all natural program close to Columbus. People want no added hormones or antibiotics. A lot of the people buying the product from me are friends and business associates that are used to going to Whole Foods and paying a premium for beef already. They like the fact that they know the farm. The average consumer likes our story. When people see this farm they feel good about eating meat from here. The cattle only leave the farm one time in their lives. What the people like more than anything, though, is the taste. At the end of the day the most important thing is the quality. And, as people become familiar with Wagyu beef, they start to look for it."
Skyrocketing beef prices have not slowed demand for Gabriel's Ohio Kobe Beef.
"They can't get enough. Even with the higher prices we still command a premium," Gabriel said. "This goes to the very high-end market and there isn't as much price sensitivity as there is at the grocery counter. If you are getting a $60 steak, do you really care if it costs $65? It is probably on an expense account anyway."
The beef from the farm is processed locally and dry aged for 28 days. The steaks, roasts and hamburgers are then brought back to the farm and stored in a freezer for distribution. Most of the product from the farm has been sold privately over the farm's website and at Blystone Farm and Butcher Shop, and Gabriel Family Farms will be shipping the cattle to Nebraska for nationwide distribution.
And, though the Wagyu cattle in Japan are known for getting premium treatment to enhance beef quality, such as massages and being fed unique diets including Japanese sake and beer, going those extreme lengths doesn't happen on the Gabriel Family Farm.
"That stuff is all lore," Gabriel said. "Seth does sing to them, though."
For more about the farm visit ohiokobebeef.com, call or email 740-207-0835 or scooksey03@yahoo.com.
Source: https://ocj.com/2014/10/american-wagyu-cattle-blend-the-best-of-two-worlds/
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