Sweet Grass Farm Beef

100% Sweet Grass-fed and Finished Wagyu ("Kobe") Beef

Lopez Island, Washington

Wonderful Wagyu!

About the beef

The meat is very fine grained, tender, rich and sweet. The delicate monounsaturated fat forms like grains of rice distributed throughout the meat. This fine-grained marbling contributes to the clean, rich eating experience that Wagyu is famous for. Buying beef by the quarter gives you an opportunity to experience the tasty difference in the various cuts. The steaks are great but I’m always surprised by the rich flavor in cuts like the shank. The other day Brigit seared a shank section with butter in a skillet then simmered it in a pot, no additional seasoning. I made a sandwich using stout whole grain bread, shank meat and a swipe of pesto. Stand back rib eye it was fantastic! Every new 1/4 beef customer receives a copy of The Complete Meat Cookbook to help you enjoy all the cuts. Wagyu beef cooks much faster than store bought feedlot beef. Searing it quickly retains the moist rich flavor.

A Brief History

The gentle Wagyu breed has a unique history that contributes to what is perhaps the best tasting, healthiest meat available today. As I understand the story, the Wagyu breed came to Japan in the 2nd century via the Korean Peninsula. They were used primarily as draft animals. With heavy workloads and marginal feed they developed the ability to store any extra energy as fat in the muscle (marbling) where the body could quickly draw from it. Not only was the fat stored where it was readily available, the Wagyu fat forms as a light healthy monounsaturate. In time the Wagyu were recognized for their outstanding meat qualities and bred exclusively for those traits. A small number of genetic lines have been brought to the U.S. in the 1980’s and 90’s. Japan has since declared the cattle a national treasure and ceased all exports.

Our herd

Gerry Pittenger of Blue Rock Cattle Co. (BRCC) is known throughout the U.S. and Europe for both the quality and the genetic diversity of his Wagyu breeding herd. We are fortunate to work with Gerry and Blue Rock by raising their fall born heifers. We raise them to breeding age and breed them using artificial insemination. This allows us to create the best breeding match possible for each heifer. These heifers return to BRCC as bred two year olds.

In return, Gerry has helped us build the foundation of an outstanding herd here at Sweet Grass Farm.