Working Ranch Magazine Summer 2025

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“That is the key part of their relevance in the industry today, but with their health benefits and ability to produce pounds on native pasture efficiently, they set themselves apart from other breeds in their practicality paired with their performance.” Originally from Japan, Akaushi is a type of Wagyu cattle that has tradition ally been viewed as a specialty breed

eing a part of a unique breed can present unique challenges. But for Akaushi producers, the chal lenges are outweighed by the way the cattle have performed

catering to restaurants. Available in the U.S. since the 1990s, Akaushi beef is recognized as containing a higher ratio of monounsaturated fats — the ‘healthy fat’ — than saturated fats. But the moderate-sized cattle have much more to offer than just the end product. “The biggest misconception we fight is certainly that Japanese cattle are not functional in a standard beef produc tion timeline,” says Pryor. “We have purposefully harvested cattle very early in the feeding process to identify those that can marble early. Through identifying those trends, we’ve created a donor battery to use in our embryo transfer program to make those genet ics accessible that offer a very attractive timeline with added value per pound to other producers with key production traits as well. Maintaining a balanced approach to put cattle producers in the driver’s seat of profitability is key.” The operation’s smaller footprint also requires producing high-quality beef on fewer acres to be profitable, and Akaushi has done the job. The ability of the cattle to tolerate heat, even with little or no shade, and graze efficiently and still breed on-time, allows Sixteen Peaks to rotate pastures frequently.

— and continue to inspire loyalty. “Akaushi cattle are far from just cat tle that marble,” says Andrew Pryor, President of Sixteen Peaks Cattle Company in Louisville, Tennessee.

Practicality Paired with Performance

What producers want you to know about Akaushi cattle.

BY JAIME PULLMAN

Sixteen Peaks Cattle Co.

68 I SUMMER 2025 WORKING RANCH audited readers run 21 million head of beef cattle.