A first time exhibitor in the RNA’s ‘Paddock to Palate’ Wagyu Challenge has taken out first phase of the competition.
During the weight gain phase of the highly regarded Ekka beef event, the Kuro Kin Wagyu, Scone, New South Wales entry of six F1 Wagyu steers averaged a solid 1.156kg a day during the long fed competition. Overall, the pen-of-six Wagyu had an impressive final average weight of 819 kilograms-a-head.
Kuro Kin Wagyu representative, Peter Bishop, said their Wagyu breeding herd contains a high Tajima bloodline content with enough infusions of the Shimane and Kedaka lines to capture size, balance and maternal qualities in their Wagyu herd.
“We also never losing sight of good temperament in our Wagyu cattle as well,” Mr Bishop said.
“It will now be very interesting to see how our Wagyu cattle hang up after processing.”
The Wagyu cattle in the Royal Queensland Show’s ‘Paddock to Palate’ competition have been fed for 367-days.
“Wagyu cattle need to go onto a long feeding program to help define their natural traits during later maturing that they are well known for, such as marbling,” Mr Bishop said.
“To come into this great competition and win the weight gain phase is fantastic, which contributes to 20 per cent of the overall score.”
Kuro Kin has been in the Wagyu game for the past 20 years and Mr Bishop said the business organisation’s breeding strategy is key to its success.
“The most important part of our Wagyu business is focusing on traits the market wants,” he said.
“Marbling is currently the top priority for the market plus Wagyu animals that will efficiently grow as well.”
“It’s also very important to not lose focus on the maternal traits in a Wagyu stud because there’s a lot of industry focus on the highly-marbled meat product.”
Mr Bishop added that the focus can change between breeding F1 bulls with a priority on carcase traits and full blood Wagyu bulls with a focus on maternal traits.
“I believe a key to successfully long feeding Wagyu cattle is always having their nutritional needs met from the day they are born,” he said.
The Kuro Kin Wagyu company focuses on pasture improvement across their properties to meet their cattle nutritional needs and ensure crops or supplements for the feed gap during winter.
Mr Bishop said the ‘weight gain phase’ winning pen-of-six were a random pick out Kuro Kin Wagyu mob of steers as to properly represent their company’s genetics.
“In the Hunter Valley district of New South Wales it’s very dry at present, so this is a very nice boost during the plain seasonal conditions,” he said.
