Quote:
Originally Posted by Buehler445
Non grain supplement?  That would have to be hay or silage right?
What was it? iirc: Mixture of heirloom corn, barley, and soybeans and sometimes oats. He grew them on small plots that he said could have been set aside acres. (which he has some flood prone land in but didn't believe in) It has been 15 years but I remember it took a little time to ween them onto the mixture. He also grew a special hay mix that he fed only at the finishing barn/ lot. He claimed he got a better product and better taste.
I have to say they were some of the best "club steaks", (bone in strip) which are my favorites, I have ever eaten and had a distinct smell (funk) before cooking. A city boy may have thrown them in the trash.
It was rare to hear of him loading up to go to the Ft Scott sale barn as most of what he raised was sold privately. or contract basis, that he kept to himself.
He read some magazines, never owned a computer, cellphone yes, but did things the same way his fathers, father did it before him. To him it was passion vs profit. He would have been a great "boutique rancher" but decided to pass on all the BS Wagyu hype. Sometimes I question if he was crazy smart.
As I grew older, and no longer got a side of his beef every Christmas, now I realize how great it was.
Grain fed it typically cheaper than grass because it shortens the finish window by so much. The only reason not to would be if their frame can’t handle the weight. |
Not the only reason but I get your point.
It's been years since we looked at doing Wagyu as a pure breed and possibly integrating it with the angus herd and as I recall Wagyu didn't require the same finishing process as they naturally had great marbling but was more of restricting the activity as they got in their later months. I know there are some that finish it to get every last pound but that can be counter productive too...
Wagyu takes about 300 days to reach maturity (smaller when borm) and some push that to 250 by finishing but it does not need it. We were told that pure Wagyu would grade prime+ without it. Just pluck them form the pasture and load em up was a big selling point for an aging farmer. While everyone else is trying to get a few more lbs or go to market a few days earlier, my FIL didn't care about either. I bet the old man would have partially finished them his way anyway.
Most Wagyu beef is sold under contract but as seen below it an still be exposed to mass finishing operations.
Interesting note about Snake River Farms is they are a corporate breeder, AgriBeef, who basically leases the Wagyu embryo to ranchers then buys the calf's back and finishes it themselves and 85+% of Snake River Farm's American Wagyu that's sold is AgriBeef.