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Jeff Cooper/Salina Journal Photo

A Wagyu cow waits in a squeeze chute as Matt Barten sets up an ultrasound machine in this Sept. 10 photo at the Bluestem Embryo Transfer Center near Holland. Salina cattleman Jack Cossette is cultivating a herd of Wagyu cows, touting their taste and high-quality cuts.

Salina — A New Mexico excursion to explore a niche market convinced Salina cattleman Jack Cossette that the Japanese Wagyu breed was worth a try to increase profits.

One bite of a steak at the Lone Mountain Cattle Co. auction in April 2008 tipped him into believing that his brother, Jerrold Cossette, was right to pursue the Wagyu.

“It’s got that buttery taste,” Jack said.

Jerrold, a Salina ear, nose and throat specialist, owns Gypsum Valley Wagyu Cattle Co. in eastern Saline County.

Pushing a new brand

Jack Cossette, a former restaurateur as owner of JC’s Bar & Grill in Salina, manages his brother’s farm and cattle ranch. It raised the black Angus breed but has added Wagyu, a breed that touts high profits for producers and beef that’s healthier and tastier, according to Lone Mountain promotional materials.

The Cossettes have 14 full-blooded Wagyu cattle, including three bulls. Their first Wagyu calf, produced through an embryo transplant with help from Dickinson County veterinarian Casey Barten, was born in March.

The goal, Jack Cossette said, is to build a 200-head Wagyu herd; to sell full-blooded Wagyu cattle, the offspring of Wagyu crossbred to Angus, (called American-style Kobe beef), along with semen and embryos harvested from the Wagyu.

Thanks to the taste of their meat, health benefits and breed rarity, Wagyu cows are selling for $7,500 to $8,500 apiece and up to $30,000 for those with the best bloodlines, Jack Cossette said. By comparison, an Angus cow with a “real good bloodline” is worth $3,000 or more.

A Wagyu steak, even an American-style Kobe, commands an astronomical price in restaurants.

Lone Mountain Cattle Co. owner Robert Estrin paid $16 an ounce for it — $90 for a required 5-ounce minimum at a high-end restaurant — about six years ago.

The best cuts of Angus beef are rated prime. Wagyu beef “is graded better than prime in the United States,” Jack Cossette said.

An expensive cut

The Cossettes have dined on American style Kobe beef in restaurants in Santa Fe, N.M., and in Washington, D.C. (paying $75 to $80), Jack said.

The meat is prepared in a simple way, Jack said. “Basically they kind of sear them on a grill. You don’t have to marinate it like other steaks,” he said.

Wagyu beef isn’t sold much in these parts, because not enough people can afford it, said Ron Duis, manager of Smoky River Meats, 215 W. Kirwin. “With (American-style) Kobe beef, you’re getting up to $75 to $100 a pound,” he said.

Krehbiels Specialty Meats has butchered a number of the expensive cattle for a professional fisherman from Texas, said Homer Krehbiel. He owns Krehbiels Specialty Meats and Krehbiels Market & Deli, both in McPherson.

The companies offer American Style Kobe ground beef at the market — patties for $8.99 a pound, compared to $2.59 for regular hamburger patties — and a cooked half-pound hamburger at the deli is $4.99, said Brian Weidemier, who works at the Krehbiel deli.

“There is just more of a meat flavor. It’s hard to explain,” he said.

A first glance, the raw cuts of meat from the Wagyu can be startling, Jack Cossette said, with more fat — marbling — intertwined with the red flesh.

When cooked, the result is flavorful beef with higher amounts of essential fat than any other breed. It can increase good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol in your blood, according to a Lone Mountain brochure.

The Wagyu produce smaller calves that make birthing easier, Jack said.

The animals are docile and seem to have adapted well to this climate.

The cost to feed Wagyu is higher, Estrin said, because those Japanese critters have to be fed much longer before they’re ready for slaughter.

A regular steer goes to the processing plant after three to five months on feed, Estrin said.

In order for the Wagyu to build the tasty marbling into their meat, it takes 27 to 30 months.