At 9 years and 4 months of age and 1,995 lbs.
Okufuji 9 (PB25607) / USAPB25607) is a homozygous polled purebred bull with 98.6% Wagyu genetics by pedigree. He was the 2018 Reserve Grand Champion Purebred Polled Wagyu Bull at the 2018 National Western Livestock Show at Denver, Colorado. He is a large, 2,000 lb. bull with outstanding conformation. Halter broke for show and “gentle as a lamb”. Being a size/growth type bull, we had relatively low expectations for carcass quality from his offspring, but we have been very pleasantly surprised at what we have seen from his offspring thus far in terms of carcass quality.
We have harvested only a few of his offspring at the time of this writing, but based upon what we have seen, we are impressed with the carcass quality he brings to offspring.
His pedigree shows substantial diversity of genetics, with Haruki 2 and Michifuku making up the largest portions of his genetics. As a polled purebred, his original “cow family” is an Angus-type polled cow. But featured prominently in his pedigree is the famous Fujiko cow (Haruki 2 / Okutani), the first calf born to a cow exported from Japan, and the only female Wagyu animal to have ever been cloned.
Haruki 2, the sire of the highly respected Shigeshigetani, is known for good carcass quality while also having good size and maternal characteristics, along with good physical conformation. Michifuku is widely regarded as being the best overall carcass sire to have left Japan. Itomoritaka is know for his size as well as outstanding milk production in his female offpring.
We have been surprised at the high quality of the limited number of offspring carcasses we have seen thus far.
This sire is a growth sire, and brings homozygous polled genes to the breeding, but we did not expect outstanding marbling and yield. Based upon the carcasses we have harvested thus far, marbling has been quite good, the ribeye shape has been outstanding, as has carcass yield and the melting point of lipids and the smooth “melt-in-your-mouth taste Wagyu are famous for.
The carcass on the left is from a 7/8 genetics Wagyu steer sired by Okufuji 9. Note the outstanding ribeye muscle “shape” and the very low level of “back fat” on the exterior of the ribeye.
The ribeye steak shown to the right is from the same 7/8 Wagyu genetics animal, and based upon testing, the Wagyu “melt-in-your-mouth” Wagyu flavor was abundant, and the lipid melting point was above average for even fullblood Wagyu beef. As with the processing plant carcass camera image, this image shows very good ribeye shape, good marbling fineness, and a low level of “large veins” of marbling within the ribeye muscle – all desirable characteristics. And the lipid melting point of the marbling fat tested from this steer was above-average compared to what we believe to be average for Wagyu animals.
The strip steak shown to the left is also from the same 7/8 Wagyu steer and shows very good marbling and marbling distribution, with no large “veins” of marbling fat within the main strip muscle.
The ribeye picture on the right is from a 50% Wagyu genetics steer sired by Okufuji 9, with the dam of the steer being a commercial “Angus-type” cow. Again, note the low level of “back fat” and the outstanding ribeye muscle “shape”. and the marbling, and marbling distribution, for a 50% Wagyu, is very good. And note the fineness of the marbling, with the lack of undesirable “large veins” of fat inside the ribeye muscle.
Okufuji 9 was the Reserve Grand Champion Polled Purebred Wagyu bull at the 2018 National Western Livestock Show at Denver, Colorado. Halter broke and worked with at a young age, he is super docile and easy to work with.
At 6.5 years old and 2,000 lbs., servicing an 850-lb. cow. Outstanding libido and “work ethic”. CLICK HERE to view a Youtube video of him breeding this group of cows.
He has very good proportionate length of body and “middle” for relatively extra high-value rib and loin “middle meats”.
Outstanding physical “conformation” with a straight back, excellent gait, and thick neck, looking like a bull should look.
Outstanding scrotal circumference, an attribute Wagyu are typically not known for. And when we collected semen from him in 2019, at 6 years , he produced almost 400 straws of excellent quality semen in his very first “jump”, which is almost unheard of in terms of volume.