North American Wagyu beef producers are showing more interest in Australian products and the industry should grab the opportunity while its hot, according to one central Victorian farmer.
Susie Marro, Mount Bolton Springs, Learmonth, was one of 33 cattle breeders who toured 11 Wagyu operations in Canada and the US, organised by the Australian Wagyu Association (AWA).
The tour included visits to small and large farms in Vermont, Washington, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
"I did always want to go to Texas, but I wanted to see how Australian genetics were used there and see how highly sought they were," she said.
During the tour, Ms Marro, who manages the production of pure breeds premium Wagyu beef and purebred premium and commercial Angus, learned that the US is a massive consumer of beef and, as a result, is at a point where they do not age their Wagyu meat before consumption.
"They're selling frozen Wagyu straight into New York restaurants and they can't get enough of it," she said.
She said more assistance was needed to take advantage of the high demand, and it was time to "open some doors."
She specified persistent labour shortages in the processing sector, which has beset the wider livestock industry had hindered local Wagyu farmers' opportunities too.
"That's a supply chain issue and we just don't have enough workers in abattoirs to help us," she said.
"If we want a direct, vertical integration, we need to look at rectifying these issues to allow us to produce a good product."
AWA chief executive Matt McDonagh agreed that a considerable demand was out there in the US, and a project was underway with Meat & Livestock Australia to understand the US consumer and market dynamics around Australian Wagyu.
"We understand the US market value for Wagyu products in general is about $2.5 billion and is expected to be $3.5 billion by 2030," he said.
As well as visiting many US states, the tour crossed the border to visit Wagyu farmers in Ontario, Canada and ended their trip at the 2023 American Wagyu Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
Dr McDonagh said the trip showed the importance of the "scaling up" of the industry over the last decade, leading to Australia being a leading exporter outside of Japan.
He said Australia globally exported about 85-90 per cent of all local Wagyu beef produced, and the industry's focus on selecting heavily on improved performance had great benefits.
Back in April, the Association's 2023 Elite Wagyu Sale reflected such a demand, with 19 out of 22 heifers sold to a quarter of a million dollars with an average of $56,789, while 17 out of 18 bulls sold to $160,000 with an average of $46,588.
Semen had also been highly sought after, with a total clearance of 15 straws sold to a top of $13,000 with an average of $4770.
However seasonal and forage factors, plus regular supply and demand dynamics have influenced a downturn, much like the domestic market.
"The potential premium involved in producing Wagyu beef is much higher than normal domestic or export beef production, so the swings you see in Wagyu are much more severe than other categories of beef, but it's all relative," Dr McDonagh said
"For example, Wagyu prices are now about 400 cents a kilogram live weight for F1's live weight, and were about 1000c/kg this time last year live weight."
But Dr McDonagh said progress will continue locally in importing leading US and European genetics and then running herds next to Australian genetics.
"The opportunity there is to value add to the Australian Wagyu production system by including the best genetics from around the world into our Wagyu beef production systems," he said
He said tools like the Wagyu Feeder Check were also innovative for the industry.
The genomic test screens Wagyu cattle and gives genetic predictions for how an animal can perform in a feedlot for traits like growth, marbling and carcase weight.
"We encourage the industry to use this tool where they have Wagyu F1s that they are trying to target towards feedlot buyers so that they can support the sale of their animals with some data that would give the supply chain confidence to invest in that stock," he said.
