| 37 Black Origin is all about perfection NZ Wagyu Cattle Oamaru. Richard Loader From genetics to dinner plate, true Wagyu meat is all about perfection, says NZ Wagyu’s Production Manager Grant Leigh. “Japan is the birthplace of Wagyu cattle and the Japanese are very selective as to what defines Wagyu. The Japanese have more than one hundred and fifty years of research on how to grow Wagyu. The way the Japanese feed the cattle is quite different to what typically happens outside of Japan, but NZ Wagyu is trying to replicate that as much as possible in the New Zealand environment.” Many people may associate Wagyu meat with marbling fat, but Grant says true Wagyu meat is so much more. “It’s also very much about the flavour, the aroma and the texture, and that, along with the marbling is how it’s scored in Japan, where, along with China, our key market is. While we may never reach the highest A5 Japanese standard simply because we’re dealing with dairy cross Wagyu, we do have many top chefs and even Japanese Wagyu related people in Japan saying our Wagyu is near the top in terms of quality. New Zealand beef farmers are used to efficiency, doing things quickly and low cost. But with Wagyu it’s a very different mindset, you have to grow the animal the right way.” NZ Wagyu’s cattle are grazed across 177 farms New Zealand wide. To achieve the operating scale required some farms are owned and some leased, while other farmers work under contract to NZ Wagyu. “In total we currently have 43,000 mixed age Wagyu cattle across the country. In New Zealand we are crossing the Wagyu genetics with Friesian cows from the dairy industry and transforming bobby calves into a high-quality meat, based on a grass diet, and finished in an environmentally friendly composting barn.” The cattle are grazed on high quality New Zealand grass to about 450-500 kilograms before being finished in a composting barn for 420 days where they are pampered and fed a traditional Japanese diet, bringing them up to about 850 kilograms, before being sent for processing. NZ Wagyu is a part of Black Origin Group which owns a range of related business that complete the end-to-end supply chain, with a focus on producing traditional Wagyu products, based right in New Zealand. MEAT & WOOL » Black Origin • To page 38 QUALITY from start to finish Vetlife are proud to support Black Origin as their exclusive animal healthcare partners. Find out how we can help you at vetlife.co.nz Finishing Barn in Canterbury.
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