The Story of Tajimax (FB16684)

"Tajimax," or "Max" as he is coming to be known on the top corner of calf ear tags around the world, is the largest full-blood Wagyu we have seen anywhere period — and may be the largest-framed high-Tajima (62.5%+) bull in the world outside Japan. It is by sheer luck and coincidence that he happens to be high Tajima as well.

Discovered by accident

Tajimax was discovered by accident when our friend Chris Brant, owner of ReserveCattleCompany.com, sent us a picture of a two-and-a-half-year-old, 2000+ lb embryo calf he had raised and named "Kemono" — Japanese for "Beast." Chris had put in a group of 11 embryo bull calves the same day at an open-range operation on contract, on poor feed. Assuming they'd all be stunted, he had the vet come to castrate all 11. On castration day, one calf towered over his flushmates like "a man among boys." Even skinny and undernourished, the big one was so different that Chris asked the vet, "I really don't need any bulls right now… but this one is so much better than all the others, maybe I should keep him — what do you think?" The vet: "Are you kidding me? I'd keep him!" And so the "stunted" calf now known worldwide as Tajimax made it through the chute intact, recovering fast enough to break the scales at 2000 lbs+ as a two-year-old.

The 14-hour drive

Knowing the legendary rockstar bull of growth Westholme Hirashigetayasu Z278 weighed only ~1800 lbs as a 3-year-old, we were amazed this bull was 200+ lbs larger at a younger age despite being stunted his first year. Having toured the largest Wagyu operations in North America in the summers of 2015 and 2016 — laying eyes on 20,000+ F1s and 2,500+ full-bloods, a majority of the North American full-blood herd — we knew we'd never seen anything like him, so we drove 14 hours from Denver to put eyes on him. Coming around the corner, "The Beast" stood with his entire topline, shoulder to rump, above the highest cable of standard 5-cable bull fencing — and his neck hadn't even started filling out.

The pedigree shock

We assumed the bottom side of his pedigree was heavy Kedaka and Shimane, given his freakish frame. But roughly calculating it out, his dam was over 80% Tajima. We sent his registration number to Wagyu Sekai in Canada so Ken Kurosawatsu could break down the Japanese pedigrees. The verdict: the largest Wagyu any of us had ever seen was at least 10/16ths — 62.5% — Tajima. For comparison, his grandsire Hirashigetayasu 001 was 25% Tajima and his sire Z278 was 44% Tajima; their 62.5%-Tajima descendant is larger-framed, heavier and longer than both at a younger age.

His dam GAW Sanshiga weighed over 1500 lbs at 4 years old and is at least 80% Tajima — a tremendous flusher who once gave Chris 39 grade-1 embryos in a single flush. In Chris Brant's words: "She's the reason Tajimax is such an unbelievable freak."

The proof

Chris had a yearling Tajimax son weighing 1050+ lbs that was bigger than four Shigefuku J1822 sons that were six months OLDER — and all four Shigefuku bulls were embryo calves out of the same 1500 lb donor, GAW Sanshiga. Chris had the recorded data in his Cattlefax account and a pasture full of 800+ lb full-blood yearling steers out of "The Beast" to prove it. The largest yearling we had ever produced was under 700 lbs.

Breeders who calve out Tajimax calves say the same thing: they immediately stand out in frame and height, so consistently that the calves "almost appear to be of a different breed." Tajimax calves average 70+ lbs and are significantly larger-framed than any other bull we've used, yet we have heard of no calving-ease issues — even 700-lb full-blood heifers accidentally bred by Tajimax dropped DNA-confirmed calves with no problems.

Gettin' tired of the fugly black jersey look in your full-blood herd? Tajimax is the antidote. Use him to inject extreme frame, growth and high-marbling Tajima blood all at the same time — without sacrificing Tajima percentage. — Grant Whitmer

Pedigree

{
  "sire": {
    "name": "Westholme Hirashigetayasu Z278",
    "reg": "FB8376",
    "sire": { "name": "Hirashigetayasu J2351", "sire": { "name": "Dai 20 Hirashige 287" }, "dam": { "name": "Dai 5 Yuruhime" } },
    "dam": { "name": "Westholme Ohyurihime X106", "sire": { "name": "Kitateruyasudoi J2810" }, "dam": { "name": "Westholme Moritake U38" } }
  },
  "dam": {
    "name": "GAW Sanshiga",
    "sire": { "name": "373 Shigharu", "sire": { "name": "World K's Shigeshigetani" }, "dam": { "name": "CHR MS Haruki 027" } },
    "dam": { "name": "CHR MS Sanjirou 309T", "sire": { "name": "World K's Sanjirou" }, "dam": { "name": "MJB MS Kitafuku 05K" } }
  }
}

Pricing

$25 — Conventional, Domestic US
$35 — Conventional, Domestic US (2019 catalog list price)
$60 — CSS Conventional, Exportable (2019 catalog)
$65 — Sexed Domestic US, 2.5 mill AI concentration
$140 — Sexed Domestic US, 5.0 mill Flush/IVF quality concentration

Semen locations: Hawkeye Breeders (Adel, IA), Dependabull (Munnsville, NY), Interglobe Genetics (Pontiac, IL), Darley Stud (Aberdeen, NSW, AUS), Sexing Technologies (Navasota, TX).

Visit us at WagyuRanch.com headquarters in upstate New York and see him for yourself.

Tajimax