Akaushi Wagyu: Why We Chose This Extraordinary Breed

Okay, that's not entirely true. There was a lot more involved. But looking back, I think that's where this whole Wagyu adventure really started.

For years, I'd heard people go on and on about Wagyu beef. The marbling! The tenderness! The flavor! You'd think someone had discovered an entirely new food group.

And I wasn't completely convinced.

Don't get me wrong. I love a good steak. But I also know how good our 100% grass-fed Irish Dexter beef is, and I wasn't sure some outrageously expensive piece of beef was going to impress me enough to justify the price.

Then Chris and I went to Chicago.

The Most Expensive Market Research We've Done in a While

We were visiting Eataly in Chicago when we came across two beautiful Wagyu ribeyes.

And by beautiful, I mean they were the kind of steaks that make you stop walking and stare.

They were also not cheap.

So naturally, we looked at each other and decided we needed to buy them.

For research, of course.

I'm pretty sure that's how we justify at least half our questionable purchases around here.

When we got home, I decided to cook those Wagyu ribeyes alongside one of our own grass-fed Irish Dexter ribeyes.

I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. And honestly, I wasn't expecting our Dexter to hold its own against a steak with that kind of reputation.

But it did.

And the Wagyu?

Well, let's just say I finally understood why people get so excited about it.

Wait, What Exactly Is Wagyu?

Before we go any further, let's clear up something I get asked about at the farmers market.

Wagyu literally means "Japanese cattle." It isn't just a fancy word somebody invented to charge more for a steak.

And here's a fun little fact: All Kobe beef is Wagyu, but not all Wagyu is Kobe.

Kobe beef has to come from specific Japanese cattle and meet strict standards. Think of Champagne. All Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne.

Wagyu cattle are especially known for their ability to develop marbling, those little white streaks of fat running through the meat.

And no, that isn't just there to make the steak look pretty.

That intramuscular fat contributes to the tenderness, richness, and buttery texture people associate with Wagyu.

The genetics are a big part of it. How the cattle are raised and finished matters, too, but you can't just feed any cow a special diet and magically turn it into Wagyu.

Wouldn't that make farming easier?

So Why Does Wagyu Cost So Much?

Well, because raising cattle is expensive.

I know. Shocking information coming from a farmer.

But seriously, Wagyu production can be especially costly. The genetics are valuable, breeding stock can be expensive, and cattle raised for premium beef are often kept longer before processing.

And every extra day an animal is on the farm means more feed, more labor, more land, and more expenses.

There's also a limited supply of certain Wagyu genetics, particularly compared with the commercial cattle breeds most people are familiar with.

So no, the price isn't entirely somebody slapping a fancy label on a package.

Although after buying those ribeyes in Chicago, I was certainly hoping they were worth it.

The Wagyu Versus Dexter Steak Experiment

The first thing we noticed about those Wagyu steaks wasn't even the marbling.

It was the size.

Our Irish Dexters are smaller-framed cattle. That's one of the things we love about them. They're efficient, hardy little animals that fit the way we farm.

So when I put a Wagyu ribeye next to one of our Dexter ribeyes, it was a pretty funny comparison.

Then there was the fat.

Our 100% grass-fed Dexter beef tends to be leaner than heavily marbled Wagyu. It has wonderful beef flavor, but the two steaks looked completely different.

And because apparently just cooking two expensive steaks wasn't enough of an experiment, I decided to get creative.

For our first comparison, I used homemade yogurt whey to tenderize both steaks.

Later, I did another comparison with nothing more than Redmond Real Salt.

Both times, the steaks were incredible.

Our Dexter beef absolutely held its own. But the Wagyu was something different. Rich, tender, and every bit as impressive as people had been telling me.

Well, shoot.

I hate it when the expensive thing actually lives up to the hype.

How Two Steaks Turned Into a Cattle Conversation

Fast forward to early 2026.

Chris and I had a problem. A good problem, I suppose, but still a problem.

People love our grass-fed Irish Dexter beef.

The problem is, we can't raise enough of it to keep up with demand.

Dexters are small cattle. Which means smaller carcasses and fewer pounds of beef per animal. That works beautifully for some things, but it gets a little frustrating when customers want beef and your freezers are empty.

So we started talking about our options.

Could we increase production? Sure, but that comes with its own challenges.

Should we cross our Dexters with a larger breed?

Neither of us was particularly excited about that idea.

We chose Dexters for a reason. We weren't interested in throwing all that out the window just to produce bigger animals.

And then I looked at Chris and said something that probably should have come with a warning label.

"I think the only breed I'd ever be willing to cross our Dexters with would be Wagyu."

And that, my friends, is how you accidentally start an entirely new cattle project.

Well, not entirely accidentally. But you get the idea.

Meet Our New Akaushi Wagyu Cattle

A few months later, we brought home two pregnant Akaushi Wagyu cows and two mature Akaushi steers.

And let me tell you, after spending so much time around our little Dexters, these cattle looked enormous.

As in, what on earth have we gotten ourselves into? enormous.

About a month later, our Black Wagyu bull arrived.

So now, instead of simply talking about whether Wagyu might be an interesting addition to our farm, we actually had Wagyu cattle standing in our pastures.

Funny how quickly these things escalate.

Why Akaushi Wagyu and Black Wagyu?

There are different types of Wagyu cattle, and the two you'll hear about most often in the United States are Japanese Black and Akaushi, also known as Japanese Brown.

Japanese Black cattle are famous for their marbling potential.

Akaushi are also known for producing beautifully marbled, tender beef with excellent flavor.

We really liked what we learned about Akaushi, which is why we decided to bring those cattle into our herd.

And then there's our Black Wagyu bull.

We're interested in seeing what happens when we combine Wagyu genetics with the characteristics we already love about our Irish Dexters.

Could we eventually produce beef with some of that beautiful Wagyu marbling while retaining the hardiness and efficiency of our Dexters?

That's what we want to find out.

Of course, cattle genetics aren't a vending machine. You don't just put in two breeds, push a button, and get exactly the steak you imagined.

There's going to be some learning involved.

Possibly a lot of learning.

Fortunately, we're getting pretty good at that part.

Can You Raise Wagyu on Pasture?

Now here's where things get really interesting for us.

A lot of premium Wagyu beef is grain-finished to encourage the kind of heavy marbling people expect.

But we've built our cattle operation around pasture and grass-based farming.

And we aren't interested in abandoning everything we believe in just because we bought a different breed of cow.

So the question we're trying to answer is this:

Can we raise exceptional Wagyu beef while staying true to the way we farm?

I don't have a neat little answer for you yet.

We're researching, talking with experienced producers, and learning as much as we can. There are a lot of decisions to make, and we want to get them right.

Because the goal isn't to slap the word Wagyu on a package and charge more money.

The goal is to raise cattle we're proud of and produce beef we're excited to feed our own family.

And if that takes longer than we'd like?

Well, you know our motto.

Real Food Takes Time.

The Long Wait for Our First Home-Raised Wagyu

If everything goes according to plan, sometime around 2029 we'll finally get to taste our first home-raised 100% Wagyu beef alongside our Dexter-Wagyu crosses.

Yes. 2029.

That's a long time to wait for a steak.

Especially considering this whole thing started because we wanted to eat a couple of steaks in Chicago.

But that's farming. You make decisions today that you might not see the results of for years.

And in the meantime, there's feeding, fencing, breeding, pasture management, and all the other things that go into raising cattle.

Our Irish Dexters aren't going anywhere, by the way.

We love those little cows, and they've been an important part of building this farm.

We're just making room for something new.

Something considerably larger, apparently.

We'll Let You Know How This Goes

I wish I could tell you exactly how this experiment is going to turn out.

But I can't.

That's part of the fun, and occasionally the frustration, of farming. You can do all the research in the world, make what you think are the right decisions, and then the animals and Mother Nature have their own opinions.

We're excited about our Akaushi and Black Wagyu cattle, and we're even more excited to see what the next few years bring.

But our goal hasn't changed.

We want to raise animals the way we believe God intended, take good care of the land He's entrusted to us, and provide food we're proud to put on our own family's table.

Whether that's a grass-fed Irish Dexter ribeye or, someday, a Wagyu steak from cattle we've raised ourselves.

And if Chris and I happen to need to buy a few more ridiculously expensive steaks between now and 2029?

Well, obviously.

Market research.

XOXO,

Tawney