THERE’S only a handful of bulls of any breed that truly transition across into becoming ‘household names’ in the beef industry.

In the Brahman world, AI sires like CMT Tuxpeno 308/0 come to mind. An American Grey bull showing Indu characteristics, Tux was part of the 1981 wave of ‘new’ genetics that arrived in Australia after the opening of the Australian Government’s Cocos Island Quarantine Centre.

He was easily the most successful of a group of Red and Grey American Brahman sires that arrived at the time, breaking a 30-year drought in access to US Brahman genetics that had existed since the 1950s.

Tux was responsible for tens, if not hundreds of thousands of semen straws used across Northern Australia over the next 20 years. There was hardly a commercial Brahman herd in the country that was not genetically impacted by his presence. His sons dominated northern bull sales for years.

In the Wagyu world, Michifuku is Tux’s equivalent. World K’s Michifuku 0164 has been one of the Australian Wagyu industry’s real backbone sires for the past two decades.

Long deceased, some of the last remaining large quantities of Michifuku semen are being offered for sale this week.

Australian Wagyu Association chief executive Matt McDonagh said even people in the beef industry not closely associated with the Wagyu sector would recognise the name, Michifuku.

“He has the second highest number of progeny recorded in the AWA registration database, sitting only behind Itashigenami, with more than 7000 registered Fullblood progeny and almost 1000 carcase progeny recorded against his name,” Dr McDonagh said.

Combined, these two sires were the two most prevalent early bulls used for marbling expression in the early Australian Wagyu industry.

Michifuku’s carcase progeny records alone make him one of the most analysed Wagyu sires in the world, and he still plays an important role in the AWA’s ambitious Progeny Test Program, as the benchmark sire against which others are measured.

“There would be very few pedigrees in any Australian Fullblood Wagyu cattle where Michifuku does not appear, somewhere,” Dr McDonagh said.

Born in 1992, Michifuku was regarded in some circles as an ideal bull for Wagyu x Angus F1 production, as well as his contribution in the Fullblood space. He was one of the best of 24 foundation sires that came out of Japan to the US, before Japan again rapidly banned further genetic export.

While genetically, successive generations of ever-better Wagyu bulls may have diminished his current role, Michifuku was still regarded as a good bull for certain traits, Dr McDonagh said.

“When his genetics first came out from Japan all those years ago in 1994, he was clearly a leading bull, but now his performance is perhaps more consistent with breed average for marbling score – but that’s evidence of genetic improvement that’s been made,” he said.

“There is probably no longer any need to hold significant stocks of his genetics, but regardless of that, he has been a major contributor to the Australian Wagyu industry.”

Michifuku came from Japanese Wagyu royalty, being a son of Monjiro, and is free of all recessive conditions that occur in the Wagyu breed.

Michifuku proved to be a very reliable bull for both marbling and eye muscle area over the years, especially useful in the days of rotational breeding over complementary Takeda genetics.

A lot of Michifuku’s sons were used for F1 breeding, Dr McDonagh said.

Some of the last remaining semen for sale

Some of the last remaining large quantities of Michifuku semen were put on the market this week.

Acting on behalf of the Japanese-based owners is Jim Teasdale, principal of live exporter, Ausidore.

The semen was sent to Australia 20 or 30 years ago by its Japanese owners, live cattle importers, Komitchiku, when the F1 live trade first started to emerge. The semen was made available to Australian cattle breeders engaged in F1 live export feeder steer breeding.

“This is a unique opportunity that has arisen, as our Japanese partners are formally exiting the Australian Wagyu business – having sourced thousands of F1, purebred and Fullblood feeder steers from Australia over many years,” Mr Teasdale said.

“They are now looking to sell down their Australian inventory of World K’s Michifuku 0164 semen, a premium genetic line known for producing top-tier Wagyu beef.”

Mr Teasdale said Michifuku’s Breedplan numbers for EMA and marbling flinesss continued to improve over recent years, because a lot of early data was collected using results from ‘pretty poor’ cows.

The semen will be available in sale lots of at least 500 straws, offering buyers the chance to enhance their herd, and/or fill tanks with world-class genetics at a competitive price.

Michifuku WKSFM0164 is renowned for his exceptional eye muscle area (+10.1) and marbling Fineness(+0.46), making an ideal addition for those looking to elevate their Wagyu production, the marketing literature says.

Offers need to be lodged by 30 June – click here to contact Jim Teasdale