Wagyu Around the World

The global Wagyu industry — worth billions and spanning the United States, Australia, Europe, South America and beyond — rests on a founder population that could have fit in a few pastures. From those few founders, distinct national industries grew. Here is how the breed took root outside Japan.

Australia

The Australian Wagyu Association is the largest breed association outside Japan. Both full-blood and Wagyu-cross cattle are farmed in Australia for domestic and overseas markets, including Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, the U.K., France, Germany, Denmark and the U.S. Australian Wagyu cattle are grain-fed for the last 300–500 days of production. Wagyu bred in Western Australia's Margaret River region often have red wine added to their feed as well.

United States

In the United States, Japanese Wagyu cattle are commonly bred to Angus cattle. This crossbreed has been named American Style Kobe Beef. Wagyu were first competitively exhibited at the National Western Stock Show in 2012. Some U.S. breeders — WagyuRanch.com among them — maintain full-blood animals directly descended from original Japanese bloodlines, registered through the American Wagyu Association (AWA).

Canada

Wagyu farming in Canada appeared after 1991, when the Canadian Wagyu Association was formed. Wagyu-style cattle and farms in Canada are found chiefly in Alberta, Ontario and Prince Edward Island. Canadian Wagyu beef products are exported to the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Europe. Canada also played a quiet but pivotal role in the founding history: several of the 1990s foundation animals — including some of the Akaushi — were routed through Canadian programs such as Wagyu Sekai, and the first full-blood calf born outside Japan was born in Canada.

Scotland

The firm Highland Wagyu was established in 2011 and is based at Blackford Farms in Dunblane, Scotland. The company acquired a herd of 300 Wagyu cattle to add to its existing herd of 250 in July 2013, becoming the largest producer of full-blood Wagyu beef in the UK, with plans to make Scotland the Wagyu centre of Europe.