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Japan Cattle Wranglers Tie Hopes to 'Dream' Beef

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 September 2005, 08:50 CDT

HIGASHI-MATSUYAMA, Japan -- Breeding cattle is in Shunichi Igarashi's blood.

But things are a lot harder for the second-generation wrangler, and other Japanese cattlemen, since mad cow disease struck their business, driving hordes of Japan's famously fickle consumers away from beef.

To bring those customers back, Igarashi banded together with other farmers two years ago in his native Saitama prefecture, north of neighboring Tokyo, to sell their beef made from cattle fattened on a diet of non-genetically modified (GMO) corn and soybeans.

They call it "Yumemi-gyu," literally beef that tastes like a dream.

"We wanted to raise cattle to produce beef that would be safe, and taste heavenly," said the 52-year-old Igarashi, explaining the name.

Cattle farmers in Japan have become particularly sensitive to the issue of food safety since the first domestic case of mad cow disease was discovered in September 2001, crushing consumer confidence and causing beef consumption to plunge.

To ease people's fears of getting the brain-wasting disease, which can be contracted by eating contaminated meat, Japan began checking all its cattle. It has taken several years for consumption to recover.

Some entrepreneurial suppliers like Igarashi are taking the added step of banding together and producing meat under a single brand, believing a wary public prefers a product they know is made under a uniform policy.

Igarashi and eight other farmers raise mostly a crossbreed of cattle and use the same non-GMO feed. The beef hit supermarket shelves from around the middle of last year.

Yumemi-gyu sells for about 525 yen for 100 grams at stores, about a third of the price of prime domestic "wagyu" meat from the Kuroge breed.

Igarashi estimates annual sales at about 50-57 million yen, with each head of cattle selling for roughly 600,000 yen in his case. Japan's total beef consumption in 2004/05 was 808,604 tons.

Other cattle farmers around the country are also coming together.

In neighboring Yamanashi prefecture, famous for its wine, some farmers raise cattle on a feed that includes grape skin under the brand name "Koshu Wine Beef."

Their task may have been made easier by a lack of competition from the United States, previously a major supplier, because Japan has remained closed to American beef imports since the discovery of mad cow disease there in December 2003.

TAGGED FOR LIFE

Igarashi's farm is located about an hour's train ride from bustling central Tokyo, and like many others in Japan, is family run, which in his case includes his son and younger brother.

Like all other cattle in Japan, the coal-black animals at Igarashi's farm have yellow plastic tags punched into both ears at birth, displaying a 10-figure number that will help identify them through the course of their lives, and even after death.

The number eventually winds up on a sticker on a package of beef, which when matched with a number supplied on the Internet provides consumers with information about the cattle, including age and most recent ailments.

If the beef came from Igarashi's farm, his picture will also be there, his expression serious under a white thatch of hair.

This is in contrast to the United States, which is still working on establishing a national animal identification system, which it hopes will be operational in 2009.

Washington faces a daunting task given there are 95.8 million heads of cattle being raised in the United States, according to figures supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

By comparison, Japanese farmers together raise 2.7 million heads of cattle for meat.

It is unclear how many buyers actually take the trouble to look for the information on the Internet but some say consumers are reassured just by seeing the numbers on the package.

"I think customers feel safe just seeing the numbers and knowing the information is there even if they don't bother to look it up," said Hitoshi Katagiri, who manages a Saitama meat shop selling only domestic beef including Yumemi-gyu.

Katagiri said he would welcome the return of U.S. beef, as it would help lower the price of domestic products. Wholesale prices are up about 6 percent from a year-earlier.

GREEN ACRES

In addition to the difficulties in bringing consumers back to beef, cattlemen like Igarashi are finding themselves more and more members of a shrinking club.

Farmers, as a whole, account for about 5 percent of the nation's total population of about 127 million, and every year a few more decide to give up raising cattle.

Igarashi's 30-year-old son Takeshi plans to continue the farm, but the father sees a threat to their livelihood in the encroaching apartment blocks springing up in the neighborhood.

"There's been no trouble so far, but I'm worried that I may get complaints about the smell one day," Igarashi said.

"I have heard that some real estate agents have been careful, making sure potential customers are aware there is a cattle farm nearby," he said.

Source: REUTERS/By Miho Yoshikawa

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