The Wagyu beef breed has its origins in Japan from where it has spread throughout Australasia, America and Europe. The story of Wagyu is a fascinating one as it was confined to Japan until the 1970s since it was regarded as a ‘national treasure’ and vehemently protected against export by the Japanese Government. The first bloodlines came out of Japan to America in the 1970s with Australia following in the 1990s, both quickly expanding and becoming influential in their respective beef industries.

Originally used as draft animals, Wagyu cattle were selected for their physical endurance which favoured animals with more intra-muscular fat cells, or ‘marbling’, which provided a readily available source of energy. Wagyu is a naturally horned breed with either a red or black coat colour. The name ‘Wagyu’ refers to all Japanese beef cattle, where ‘Wa’ means Japanese and ‘gyu’ means cow. 

Latest figures for 2023 released by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS), which records the numbers of animal ‘passport’ applications, show that British Wagyu has more than doubled its numbers on the year. The figures, for beef cattle born in England, Scotland & Wales, reveal over 35,000 Wagyu-sired calves were born in 2023. Of these, 33347 were crossbred (sired by a Wagyu bull) and 2203 purebred or Fullblood - totalling 35,550 head of Wagyu animals when compared to 17,083 in 2022.

 With a decade of BCMS figures now available, the ten-year trend is one of huge growth. Just 2,405 Wagyu-sired calves were born in 2014 compared to 35,550 10 years later with the breed now representing 1.8% of the circa 1.9 million beef-sired calves born in Great Britain annually. Previous yearly totals are as follows: 5699 (2019), 9435 (2020), 13457 (2021) and 17083 (2022).