Wagyu cattle production in Canada and the United States will never match the growing Australian herds that supply most of the lucrative Japanese market, said a member of the American Wagyu Association.
Australian cattle producers find it profitable to raise Wagyu cattle, which are prized in Japan for their marbled beef, Charles Gaskins told producers at the recent Canadian Wagyu Association annual meeting in Camrose.
Australian livestock producers can make twice as much money selling F1 Wagyu-Angus cross animals to Japan as they can from beef raised for other markets, said Gaskins, who recently toured Wagyu herds in Australia.
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“F1s are worth two times the domestic value. The producers are not interested in Wagyu, but in animals that can make money.”
While some large Australian stations are privately owned, others are owned in partnership with Japanese and Philippine multinational companies or North American associations like the Mormon Church.
Many of the larger stations use artificial insemination and embryo transplants to speed production. About 85 smaller Australian producers recently formed a co-op to help them market their cattle.
Gaskins said he doesn’t expect the North American Wagyu herd to reach the high number required to compete with Australian exports to Japan.
He believes North American numbers will grow, but only enough to fill domestic niche markets.
“I see it slowly growing. There’s a little more interest. I don’t see a lot of breed business. If you can make money, it will be in meat,” said Gaskins.
“Is it really going to take off? It’s hard to know.”
There are about 1,500 Wagyu and Wagyu-cross cattle in Canada, and about 4,000 registered Wagyus in the U.S.
In Australia, there about 100 registered herds with about 4,000 cattle, but several of the large stations don’t register their animals, said Gaskins. He estimates the number of Wagyus in Australia is 50 times larger than the number in North American.
Gaskins said one large Australian cattle station has 6,000 cows and is expanding to 8,000 so it can maintain a steady supply of Wagyu cross animals for sale to Japan.
“In Australia, the Wagyu business is not for the small producer or the poor producer.”
Historically, 80 percent of Australia’s cattle have been exported overseas.
“They have a psyche of selling outside of their country. They have a knack for figuring out how to deal with the Japanese,” Gaskins said.
And with plenty of inexpensive grass and no harsh winters, Australians have low production costs.
Alberta Wagyu producer Brian Story said it’s difficult to create interest in Wagyu here because there aren’t many around.
“We think we’ve found something, but we don’t know how to tie it all together. Part of our problem is we’re all farmers, not marketers,” he said.
“It’s a product that has to be marketed,” said Gaskins.
Pat McCarthy, president of Wagyu Canada Inc., said once North Americans discover the taste of Wagyu beef, there will be a strong market.
He said the association plans to build its industry by first creating a desire for the high quality meat and then building herds to fill the demand.
