NEWS

AKAUSHI CATTLE ARRIVES IN BRAZIL

Japanese breed is crossed with Nelore for ‘Premium’ beef production.

In early June, Brazil received eight live cattle of the pure Akaushi breed, cattle of Japanese origin, recognized worldwide for the quality of its meat, with a high degree of marbling (fat spread), directed to the gourmet market. The animals (six bulls and two cows) were imported from the United States by Origine Group, based in Brasília, DF, and are housed in a farm in Itatinga, in the interior of São Paulo, belonging to Seleon Biotecnologia, for the collection and processing of semen and in vitro production of embryos.

The presence of Akaushi animals in Brazil is part of a second phase of a project started four years ago when Origine began importing doses of semen from the North American company Heartbrand Beef, which owns the right to use the Akaushi genetics out of Japan. “We signed a major agreement with Heartbrand, which made Origine the exclusive propagator of Akaushi beef throughout the world, Brazil being the base for the multiplication of this genetics, through the industrial crossing with Nelore or other breeds, “says Origine’s founder and president, Júlio Resende.

In addition to the novelty, the landing of Akaushi animals in the country represented the end of a 13-year trade barrier with the United States, which was prevented from sending live cattle to Brazil since a 2003 case of mad cow disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in that country. “After much negotiation, we received permission from the Ministry of Agriculture to import these animals,” continues Resende.

The meat of the Akaushi is very widespread in Japan and the United States, but its production basically serves the internal consumption of both countries. “Brazil was chosen as the world’s leading supplier due to the presence of all the necessary conditions for the efficient and sustainable production of animals with these genetics,” emphasizes Resende.

Livestock Network

In full swing, the Origine project currently has a network of 100 partner farms in Brazil, with some 60,000 Nelore cows. Some of these cows have been inseminated by the Akaushi breed. So far, the number of Akaushi semen doses imported into the project reaches 250,000. So far, the birth of 23,000 half-blood calves has been recorded on farms in southern Pará and Tocantins. The resulting half-blooded animals are purchased by the Brasilia company and slaughtered in third-party slaughterhouses – meat is being distributed to steakhouses and beef houses in the country. So far, 5,000 half-blood animals have been slaughtered in outsourced slaughterhouses . “In 2018, we intend to inaugurate the first Akaushi beef slaughtering and industrialization plant, which will be installed in Estreito, Maranhão,” reveals the businessman, adding that the production of the special cuts with the Origine brand will be almost entirely directed to the foreign market.

Partnership

The Akaushi half-blood animal breeding partnership program follows a similar concept to other projects that seek to supply the promising and demanding premium meat market. Origine provides semen at subsidized cost to partners, who use the industrial cross-fertilization and are responsible for the breeding, rearing and finishing of animals. In most farms, crossbred Akaushi cattle are kept only under pasture, including the finishing phase, without the need for feed. “It is a cattle totally adapted to the Brazilian tropical climate and that can be slaughtered early, usually at 20 to 22 months of age, with 18 @,” says Resende. At the time of the delivery of the animals, the partners receive from Origine a price equal to: female and male, with an additional up to 12% of the value of arroba in the region of production, now spread throughout the states of Pará, Tocantins, Maranhão – but there is Expansion plans for Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro later this year. Resende says that, despite being brought from the Northern Hemisphere, Akaushi thoroughbred can graze on Central Brazilian farms without suffering physical damage, which compromises meat production, with the strong characteristic of these regions, unlike other breeds, such as Angus, of British origin. “It is a rustic cattle, of short hair, quite docile, easily adaptable to the Brazilian tropical climate”, Resende guarantees. However, the company’s preference for Akaushi / Nelore half-blood, he says, has taken into account the decision to produce animals on a large scale and quickly. “The industrial crossing is the best recipe to achieve this goal,” he explains.

Technology Injection

The Akaushi animals imported from the US are being kept in stables at the Bela Vista Resort property located 7 km from Seleon Biotechnology. Before entering the stage of semen collection of Akaushi bulls and aspiration of oocytes in the matrices (for in vitro production of embryos), these cattle are currently undergoing a pre-immunization stage against tick diseases, with a duration of two months. Then, the cattle will continue to undergo the normal quarantine procedure (to certify that there is no tuberculosis, brucellosis, among other diseases), in order to begin the activity of collecting genetic material on an industrial scale.

According to Bruno Grubisich, owner and CEO of Seleon, the decision to house the Akaushi animals was not by chance. The entrepreneur says that, more than a service provider in biotechnology, his company will be an important partner of the company Origine in the process of expansion of the breed in Brazil. “We intend to assemble a herd of thoroughbred Akaushi animals from the six bulls and the two imported females,” says Grubisich. In this way, Seleon will use the technology of IVF (in vitro fertilization) to efficiently and faster multiply this herd by using female sexed semen to create first a pure Akaushi cow herd, the From fertilized embryos originating from the two imported matrices. “In the space of one year, we intend to produce 80 to 100 animals of in vitro fertilization,” predicts Grubisich, adding that the idea is to widen the base of the female pyramid, reaching a number of about 300 matrices, Traditional insemination.

Used more than a hundred years ago by Japanese breeders, – Akaushi genetics is protected by the Japanese government, which considers it to be one of the country’s national treasures. In addition to meeting Premium beef standards, Akaushi livestock has characteristic healthy meat production, says entrepreneur Júlio Resende. “The animal is able to produce a high degree of monounsaturated fat, resulting in high oleic acid, omega 9, well above the omega 3 of salmon,” says the businessman.

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Published: DBO Magazine – June 2016