Agricultural News
Hopes are High for Japanese Red Cattle- Akaushi
Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:33:57 CDT
Longtime Beef Industry Executive Bill Fielding is the CEO for a relatively new company, HeartBrand Beef. This company is marketing beef from a new breed for the United States, Akaushi, or Japanese Red.
In 1994 due to a loophole in the trade Act of 1992 between the United States and Japan, a small nucleus of Akaushi cows and bulls were brought to the United States in a specially equipped Boeing 747. Today, Akaushi genetics in the US are controlled by a group of Texans under the name HeartBrand Beef, Inc.
For over 100 years the Akaushi breed has been subjected to intense genetic improvement. Eighty plus years ago the Japanese Association of Akaushi was created in order to collect, manage and process all Akaushi data. The association has collected carcass performance, breeding pedigrees and economic data for every animal in the entire breed. This data has been used in the selection of every Akaushi dam and sire over the last half-century. During the same period this data has also been used to select prospective sire and dam lines to be utilized for further genetic improvement. Consequently new sire and dam lines are only released for general production after they have been proven by extensive and accurate statistical analysis. As a result of this unique closed system and multi-trait selection process, the Akaushi breed is extremely uniform and consistent throughout its genetic line for all maternal, structural, fertility, carcass and palatability traits. No single trait has been sactificed to develop this superior breed.
Fielding is really excited about the meat quality and the health claims that he says can be made about the fat composition of these animals from Japan. We begin a multi- part series on today's Beef Buzz on this breed and the plans for it by these folks from Yoakum, Texas.
Click here for the HeartBrand Beef website to learn more about their marketing efforts.
A Breed Association has now been formed here in North America for these animals- click here for the website they have established.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the listen bar below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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