Wick-based businessman John Sutherland is combining the best of the two breeds in an initiative which he believes will give a boost to Far North agriculture.

His pioneering venture involves tie-ups with a Wagyu stud in Australia and local man Willie Mackay, who runs AI Cattle Breeding Service.

Mr Mackay has just taken delivery of 1000 "straws" of semen from Fukutsuru, one of the bulls at the stud at Taketa Farm in Queensland.

Mr Sutherland is now seeking to firm up agreements with local Aberdeen-Angus producers to breed the cross calves.

He is offering to buy the store stock which he will finish at his farm in Keiss before they are killed at the new abattoir which he is the process of commissioning on the outskirts of the village.

Mr Sutherland, managing director of Caithness Beef and Lamb Ltd, believes that within three years, he will have a turnover of 10 cattle a week.

Wagyu is a traditional black Japanese breed, which produces a very distinctive marbled beef.

Apart from rice straw, wheat, barley and fishmeal, their traditional diet includes sake or beer, while the cows in Japan are massaged for up to 10 minutes daily with a metal brush.

While farmers will bicker over its quality compared to Aberdeen-Angus and other traditional Scottish breeds, there is no dispute over their respective market worth.

The finished price in Japan for a 500 kilo Wagyu heifer is about £3000, while a seven ounce steak in a Tokyo restaurant will set you back over £90.

You would, meanwhile, have to fork out £85.50 for a Wagyu sandwich in Selfridges in London.

Dishes of the beef are served up in cordon bleu eating houses across the world and feature at celebrity bashes, such as Madonna's recent 50th birthday party.

Mr Sutherland first came across the breed and tasted its produce while on holiday in Australia about three years.

He said yesterday: "Wagyu is known worldwide as the best quality beef with its distinctive marbling and very tender, succulent flavour.

"The marbling looks like snow on top of it but it's important to realise that the fat is unsaturated."

Contacts gained by Mr Sutherland during his spell in Australia helped him seal the deal with the stud, which breeds about 400 Wagyu calves a year.

Mr Sutherland said: "This is their first link with the UK and I'm now looking to identify farmers in Caithness to participate with us. I will guarantee them good buy-back prices for the store cross heifers which we'd go on to finish."

He said that he has already had an encouraging amount of interest from local breeders.

He is confident of a 75 per cent strike rate, which would produce 750 animals, with the first beef produced in about three years' time.

Mr Sutherland said: "We'd be looking to market mainly to restaurants and delicatessens in the UK and Europe.

"Harrods can't get enough of it and they currently have to import their supplies."

Looking to the future, he is keen to clear the way to importing Wagyu embryos to establish what would be most northerly pure-bred herd.

Mr Mackay is excited about the venture which has led to the largest ever consignment of bull semen to come to Caithness in the past 40 years he has been involved in the business.

"There's a big incentive for farmers here to get involved in this venture," he said. "Caithness cattle are renowned for producing quality stock and coupled with the ability of the Wagyu breed, we should produce a premium market."

Mr Mackay said the initiative is also helping counter the steady rundown of cattle numbers in the Far North.

He said Wagyu cross well with Scottish native breeds such as Shorthorn, Blue Grey and Luing, but Aberdeen-Angus is the most compatible.

He added: "The yield and feed conversion is good while the placid temperament of the Waygu breed makes them easy to handle and work with."

Farmers will have a chance to learn more at a forthcoming open meeting staged by Caithness Beef and Lamb at which Mr Mackay will be the guest speaker.

iain-grant@ukf.net

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