U.S. ranches breed famous Kobe-style beef

[AsahinaKimi]

Are you for veal?: A male "wagyu" calf stands with its mother at Meadows Farm in Cazenovia, New York, on June 28. AP PHOTO

'Wagyu' tag may be lacking but meat's taste savored by high-end diners willing to ante up

CAZENOVIA, New York — Half a world away from the secretive farms that produce Japan's legendary Kobe beef, Jerry Wilson raises the American version of the meat that will become $50 steaks and $13 burgers.

The chocolatey brown cattle at Wilson's Meadows Farm don't technically produce Kobe beef — that term is reserved for the Japanese superhigh-end cut famous for its succulent taste and eye-popping prices. Wilson calls his meat American Style Kobe Beef. Other ranchers use similar names such as Kobe-style beef or "wagyu" beef, a reference to the breed of cattle.

Whatever the name, domestic production of the pricey product has grown from practically nothing a dozen years ago to a flourishing boutique niche, with recent growth fueled in part by a ban on Japanese beef because of reports of foot-and-mouth disease.

While American ranchers might not be able to match the mystique of Japanese Kobe and much of the domestic product is cross-bred, they say their product compares with the legendary luscious stuff.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110812f1.html

[sfpcjock]

1. Hearst Ranch in SLO, Calif. produces a grass-fed

beef that sells for the big bucks. It's available by mail order.

http://www.hearstranch.com/

[madmom]

2. Just what this country needs right now...$50 steaks and $13 burgers....

:eyes:

[Obamanaut]

3. If the people who can afford such things are willing to buy them, why

not sell the steaks and burgers to them.

If they cannot be taxed, overcharge them. Either way, it's redistribution of money.

[WinkyDink]

4. And the protection against Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease would be what?

[Evasporque]

5. 4h kids raise awesome beef....

I did...too.

Our freezer was full of my steer "Bob" after the fair.

Grand Champion steer at Wisconsin State Fair went for 27K...at auction...and then was eaten by a mob of teenagers.