BreedBarn

Wagyu cattle

Wagyu are Japanese beef cattle bred for heavily marbled beef, and they suit someone raising for a premium market. The Australian association describes the breed as quiet and easy calving, and Fullblood cows average about 1,020 lb in its records. Fullbloods are horned, registered stock is not cheap, and buyers have to learn the Fullblood, Purebred and percentage grades before they shop.

Checked October 9, 202613 sourcesReport an error

Is the Wagyu right for you?

Good fit if

  • You want to raise highly marbled beef for a premium market
  • You want a bull to cross on other beef breeds for calving ease and carcass quality
  • You want a cow that averages about 1,020 lb (Australian Wagyu Association records for Fullbloods)
  • You handle cattle quietly

Poor fit if

  • You want naturally hornless cattle. Fullblood Wagyu are horned
  • You want cheap starter stock. Registered animals were $3,000 to $8,000 a head in the listings we read
  • You want a dairy breed. Wagyu are a beef breed

Appearance and varieties

Wagyu are black or red. The blacks come from four main strains, Tottori, Tajima, Shimane and Okayama. Oklahoma State says Tajima cattle were bred to pull carts and selected for heavy forequarters, and tend to be smaller and less heavily muscled than Tottori cattle, which were pack animals selected for size and a strong topline. The reds were developed on Kyushu.

Fullblood Wagyu are horned. In the Australian Wagyu Association's records the average mature Fullblood cow weighs 462.7 kg, about 1,020 lb, but individual cows range from about 555 lb to 1,690 lb.734

VarietyNotes
Black Wagyu (Japanese Black)The dominant strains are Tottori, Tajima, Shimane and Okayama. Tajima cattle tend to be smaller and less heavily muscled than Tottori.7
Red Wagyu (Japanese Brown, Akaushi)Developed on the island of Kyushu; the two strains are Kochi and Kumamoto.712

Temperament and handling

The Australian Wagyu Association says Wagyu have a quiet temperament and are very responsive to quiet handling. That is a breed association speaking, not an independent rating.2

Animals vary within a breed. Treat this as what to expect, not a promise, and meet the animal before you buy if you can.

Production numbers

What our sources report for the breed. If two sources disagree, you see the full range.

MeasureTypicalNotes
Calf birth weight29.7 kg (about 65 lb) on average3Fullblood Wagyu, from 35,419 Australian Wagyu Association records.
Growth175.9 kg (about 388 lb) at 200 days and 285.7 kg (about 630 lb) at 400 days, on average3Fullblood Wagyu in Australian Wagyu Association records; pound figures are our conversion.
CarcassAbundant, fine, evenly distributed marbling2
GradesFullblood traces 100% to the original Japanese exports. Purebred is graded up by crossing back to Fullblood bulls to 93% Wagyu or higher. F1 is a first cross, typically a Fullblood bull on an Angus cow26Australian Wagyu Association definitions. The American association uses the same terms: Fullblood, Purebred and percentage Wagyu.
Gestation283 days, give or take 1913All cattle, from Oregon State.

Housing, feed and health

Housing

The Australian association calls Wagyu versatile, with herds from Tasmania to north Queensland, and says they thrive in feedlots.

For beef cattle in general, Oregon State says elaborate housing is not needed and cattle do very well outside in most weather. It recommends a mud-free area with protection from wind and rain, such as a three-sided shelter, a perimeter fence with strong corner braces, and a corral, narrow alley and squeeze chute so animals can be handled safely.213

Feed

The Australian association notes that most breeding cows in Japan are kept on feeding rations for their whole lives.

For beef cattle in general, Oregon State says an animal eats up to 3 percent of its bodyweight in good-quality feed a day on a dry-matter basis and drinks 4 to 20 gallons of water a day depending on size, age and weather, with much more in high heat. Clean water must be available at all times.313

Health

The Australian Wagyu Association lists five inherited recessive conditions known in the breed and says DNA tests exist for managing them.

The basics are the same as for any beef herd. Oregon State puts prevention first: clean sheds, lots and troughs, a sound vaccination programme, parasite control, and frequent observation of the herd.

This is a starting point, not veterinary advice. If an animal goes off its feed or seems unwell, call a large-animal vet or your county extension office.413

Price and where to buy

QualityTypical price
Registered cow or bred heifer$3000–$500089
Registered Fullblood bull, 1–2 years$4999–$80001011

Asking prices per head from private-treaty listings on The Cattle Range, read as archived copies on 9 October 2026. The pages show no posting date; the months below come from the listing addresses and archive copies. Females: three registered six-year-old cows in northeast Texas at $3,000 (May 2026), and 15 registered bred heifers in central Kentucky at $5,000 each and up (January 2026), so $5,000 is where those heifers start, not a ceiling. Bulls: four Fullblood registered bulls of 12–24 months in southwest Missouri at $4,999 (April 2026), and one registered Fullblood two-year-old in south-central Texas at $8,000 (April 2026). We found no dated page pricing steers or crossbred cattle.

Where to look

Start with a breeder you can visit. Nobody pays to be on this list.

Seller or directoryTypeNotes
American Wagyu Association: Wagyu for sale Breed association
The Cattle Range Classified listingsDated private-treaty listings by breed and state; archived copy of one Wagyu listing

Similar breeds

BreedCow weightBull weightBeginnerPrice
Wagyu (this breed)1020–1074 lb$3000–$8000
Angus1250 lb2300 lb$3500–$5000
Hereford1300–1500 lb2200–2300 lb$3250–$7000

History

Wagyu refers to all Japanese beef cattle. They began as draught animals. Oklahoma State says most were influenced by British and Continental breeds for a few generations: Brown Swiss, Shorthorn, Devon, Simmental, Ayrshire, Korean, Holstein and Angus cattle had been imported by 1887. Crossbreeding stopped when the price of crossbreds collapsed in 1910, and regional strains were then fixed by selection and linebreeding.

Morris Whitney imported the first four bulls to the United States, two black and two red. The American Wagyu Association gives the year as 1975 in one place and 1976 in another; Oklahoma State and the Australian association say 1976. More cattle, mostly black, followed in the 1990s, and Japan then banned further exports and declared Wagyu a national living treasure. The association's museum page quotes a count of 221 cattle whose genetics formed the basis of all Wagyu and Akaushi in the United States, Canada and Australia.

The American Wagyu Association was incorporated in Texas on 14 March 1990 and is now based in Oklahoma City, with about 1,700 members.726121

Common questions

What does Wagyu mean?

Japanese cattle. 'Wa' means Japanese or Japanese-style and 'gyu' means cattle, and the word covers all Japanese beef cattle.72

How big do Wagyu cows get?

Mature Fullblood cows average about 1,020 lb (462.7 kg) in Australian Wagyu Association records, with individual cows from about 555 lb to 1,690 lb. A 2014 study it cites put Japanese Black breeding cows in Japan at about 1,074 lb.3

What colour are Wagyu cattle?

Black or red. Most of the cattle imported to the United States were black; a few were red.67

Do Wagyu cattle have horns?

Fullblood Wagyu do. The Australian Wagyu Association says Fullbloods do not appear to carry the polled gene, though polled animals can appear among Purebreds graded up from a polled breed such as Angus.4

Is Kobe beef the same as Wagyu?

Not quite. The American Wagyu Association says Kobe beef comes specifically from the Kobe area of Japan: Kobe beef is Wagyu, but not all Wagyu is Kobe beef.6

What is the difference between Fullblood and Purebred Wagyu?

On the Australian Wagyu Association's definitions, a Fullblood traces 100% of its genetics to the original Japanese exports with no outcrossing. A Purebred starts as a cross with another breed and is bred back to Fullblood bulls until it is 93% Wagyu or higher.2

When did Wagyu cattle come to the United States?

In the mid-1970s, when Morris Whitney imported two black and two red bulls; sources give 1975 or 1976. Several more shipments followed in the 1990s before Japan banned exports.6127

How much do Wagyu cattle cost?

In four private-treaty listings dated January to May 2026, registered cows and bred heifers were priced from $3,000 to $5,000 and up, and registered Fullblood bulls at $4,999 to $8,000 a head.891011

Sources

The small numbers beside each fact point to one of these.

  1. American Wagyu Association, American Wagyu Association, Inc.
  2. Australian Wagyu Association, What is Wagyu? (PDF).
  3. Australian Wagyu Association, Ten Year Trends in the Wagyu Sector, Part Two: Phenotype Trends (PDF, January 2021).
  4. Australian Wagyu Association, Genetic Conditions in Wagyu fact sheet (PDF).
  5. BreedBarn, Editorial rating, method on the editorial policy page.
  6. American Wagyu Association, FAQs.
  7. Oklahoma State University, Breeds of Livestock: Wagyu Cattle (archived copy).
  8. The Cattle Range, Listing: 3 Reg. Wagyu Cows, Northeast TX, May 2026 (archived copy).
  9. The Cattle Range, Listing: 15 Reg. Wagyu Bred Heifers, Central KY, January 2026 (archived copy).
  10. The Cattle Range, Listing: 4 Fullblood Reg. Wagyu Bulls, Southwest MO, April 2026 (archived copy).
  11. The Cattle Range, Listing: 1 Reg. Fullblood Wagyu Bull, S. Central TX, April 2026 (archived copy).
  12. American Wagyu Association, AWHF Historic Museum.
  13. Oregon State University Extension Service, Beef production for small farms: An overview (EC 1514).

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