How Wagyu beef cattle found a home on American farms

The Wagyu story can be a little complicated. Translated literally as Japanese beef, Wagyu is any one of four breeds of cattle that are considered indigenous to Japan – black, brown, shorthorn and poll. Then there are full-bloods (100 per cent), purebred (greater than 93.75 per cent) and crossbreeds (greater than 50 per cent). And amazingly, the entire population of Wagyu outside Japan can be traced to fewer than 200 exports to the United States. In another twist, Japanese Wagyu was not even available in the US until 2012. Before 2009, slaughterhouses in Japan where Wagyu was processed had not been certified for export by the United States Department of Agriculture, and between 2009 and 2012 there was a US ban on importing Japanese beef to protect against foot-and-mouth disease. Today, there are around 40,000 Wagyu in the US. Only diehard purists will insist on having full-blood Wagyu, with everyone else being pretty happy (and unlikely to be able to tell the difference) with purebred Wagyu. American meat lovers can order Wagyu-quality beef from Idaho, not just Japan Check out how three places are rearing their own Wagyu cattle. A herd of cattle ... and a team of sommeliers In Aspen, Colorado, The Little Nell, a 92-room luxury hotel owned by Aspen Skiing Company, tends to go above and beyond when it comes to the guest experience. It has, depending on the season, 50 certified sommeliers (levels 1-4, which includes everyone from members of the events team to the director of purchasing). The hotel has an exclusive partnership with Emma Farms CMC Wagyu to manage a 100-head herd of purebred Wagyu cattle. The herd – which is even treated to performances by musicians from time to time – is located about 100 miles (160km) away in Olathe, Colorado. The programme was introduced by Matt Zubrod, the hotel’s executive chef, who uses the famed beef in a number of ways including torta, burgers, tartare, hot dogs, tacos and, of course, cooked simply as steaks. Only diehard purists will insist on having full-blood Wagyu, with everyone else being pretty happy with purebred Wagyu Animals fed special Japanese vegetarian diet More than 1,000 miles east of The Little Nell and Aspen is Joseph Decuis, an upmarket restaurant, farm, and inn in Roanoke, Indiana. It opened in 1996 as a corporate dining facility to entertain clients (co-owner Pete Eshelman was a sports and entertainment insurance underwriter), but space and concept proved so popular that it was opened to the public in 2000. In 2004, Eshelman and his wife, Alice, tasted Wagyu for the first time and were hooked. That autumn, Pete bought Alice 20 pregnant heifers for her birthday. Today, they are raising mostly full-blood Wagyu with some of them 75-per-cent Wagyu. A self-described farm-to-fork destination, Joseph Decuis is almost certainly one of the only restaurants (quite possibly the only one) in the US that raises its Wagyu using traditional Japanese husbandry practices. Eat like a local in Kuala Lumpur: tuck into a juicy Ramly burger or frog legs noodles While claims of massages and feeding cattle beer abound, they are most likely not true, but what is true is that in Japan farmers are secretive about their husbandry practices. The Eshelmans met Shogo Takeda, a master Wagyu breeder, on a trip to Japan and he taught them his methods including his special Japanese vegetarian diet. Joseph Decuis even designed its farm facilities based on the Japanese style. At Joseph Decuis, Wagyu is typically served in 5-to-6-ounce (142-gram-to-170-gram) portions and usually as steak. The restaurant has found that its Wagyu is so rich and tender that it can serve cuts such as chuck steak – called braising steak in Britain and elsewhere – as steak. While claims of massages and feeding cattle beer abound, they are most likely not true, but what is true is that in Japan farmers are secretive about their husbandry practices Steak that’s just a step from farm to table Devil’s Thumb Ranch is a mountain resort and spa in the small town of Tabernash, Colorado, just outside the skiing town of Winter Park, which is 65 miles from Denver. It has also decided to cut out the middleman and breed its own herd of Wagyu cattle. The luxury-meets-rustic resort has 6,000 acres (2,430 hectares) of land, at an altitude of just over 8,300 feet (2,530 metres) above sea level, with the main lodge looking out over the grazing land for the herd. In fact, the herd can also be seen from the stables, in front of the lodges and on the drive into the property, possibly giving Devil’s Thumb the right to lay claim to offering the shortest distance from farm to table – you can literally see the herd from the restaurant. A somewhat macabre thought maybe, but not nearly as macabre as factory farms. The hottest buy on Wall Street? A US$185 wagyu steak sandwich In the winter of 2015, Devil’s Thumb Ranch bought 42 animals from a friend of owner Bob Fanch in nearby Steamboat Springs. More cattle were added three years later, and today it has 170 head of Wagyu cattle, 75 per cent of which are full-blood. Much like Joseph Decuis, Devil’s Thumb Ranch is happy to offer tours through the herd with advanced notice. This “cow’s eye view” activity can be undertaken on horseback, trailer or wagon and typically includes a tour through the herd. The calving season (June through August) is a popular time and the tours can also be tailored to include learning about nutrition, reproduction, herd management, genetics and handling techniques. Chefs and discerning diners have long sought the freshest, closest-to-home produce they can find. These chefs and restaurateurs are pushing the boundaries of what it means to have fresh, local produce and that can only be a good thing. Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

How Wagyu beef cattle found a home on American farms

Hotels The Little Nell and Devil’s Thumb Ranch and Joseph Decuis restaurant serve steak from cattle given special vegetarian diets and treated to musical entertainment