5 / 10
Business View Australia - June 2015 125
MANUFACTURING
Wagyu is a Japanese breed of cat-
tle and quite simply the word trans-
lates into Japanese cow. It produces
a highly marbled beef sometimes
known as Kobe beef. We started
with three fullblood Wagyu heifers
in 1997 and through the use of em-
bryo transfer and artificial insem-
ination we expanded our herd.
Our core business then was selling
both Wagyu and Angus bulls and
since then we have decided to go
out of the Angus business and now
we are a 100% fullblood Wagyu op-
eration, producing both black Wagyu
and red Wagyu. Red Wagyu are quite
rare in Australia. We probably have
one of the most significant red Wagyu
herds of cattle in the whole world.”
Extensive operations
There is a great demand for Wagyu
beef world-wide and therefore there
is a strong demand for Wagyu bulls.
Bald Ridge Wagyu plays a critical
role in this supply chain by providing
bulls and genetics to this market.
The company aims to produce excep-
tional quality, large frame Wagyu cat-
tle with high marbling at its Mudgee,
New South Wales farm. Both the bulls
and females bred at the farm are
in high demand as are the genetics
that are produced here. Genetic Edge
Australia, established in 2012, is the
part of the business that specialises
in embryo collection, embryo transfer
and artificial insemination and is an
AQIS accredited
facility for export.
Rick Hunter de-
scribes the role
of his company
in the beef in-
dustry, “We are
100% full blood
Wagyu pro-
ducers. The majority of the bulls
that we sell go to producers who
own Angus or other breeds of
females. They cross them with
Wagyu bulls and that produces a
first cross, or an F1 Wagyu, which
is the highest proportion of the
Wagyu industry. Currently about
80% of Wagyu beef production in
Australia is exported and about
20% is consumed domestically.
The company
aims to produce
exceptional quality