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MSA to evaluate Wagyu content on eating quality
DESCRIBING WAGYU'S EATING QUALITY
For the past 30 years, the Australian beef industry has become increasingly aware that Wagyu is special in terms of eating quality. However, much of that knowledge has been accumulated over years from consumer and market demand for the product through premium outlets and markets. There is little underpinning hard science from an Australian perspective, to enable integration of these market characteristics for Wagyu into the national Meat Standards Australia system.
Approximately 90% Australian produced Wagyu and crossbred-Wagyu product is sold to highvalue international markets using Marble Score descriptors based on the AUS-MEAT language. AUS-MEAT Marbling Scores are therefore the key recognised parameter for trade of Wagyu.
Running parallel to the Australian Wagyu industry has been the development of Meat Standards Australia (MSA), who’s basic aim is to give consumers a quantified value on what the eating quality is for any individual beef meal and to score it accordingly. For a number of reasons, including the unique production and quality attributes of Wagyu, it has not been an easy fit within the MSA model.
There are however, plans afoot, to include Wagyu in the MSA model as a strategic initiative to allow MSA to more accurately describe Wagyu eating quality and to account for the higher volumes of crossbred Wagyu product from different female base breeds within the Australian market.
A key figure in the MSA system, is Rod Polkinghorne, who was part of the original group to develop the MSA model some twenty years ago.
Ideally, the MSA model could determine if an Angus sirloin for example, with the same marble score as Wagyu would have a different eating quality outcome ...
During MSA’s journey, a number of scientific developments have occurred, led by the MSA Pathways Committee, to ensure that the model is working appropriately and reflecting real-world experiences, such as studying the effects of HGPs and most recently retail packaging on eating quality. However, accounting for the effect of Wagyu for crossbred cattle, has not been one of those studies.
“There are two main issues why Wagyu has not been included in the model in the past,” said Rod. “The first is that comparing commercial Wagyu production with another breed is not the same playing field – a Wagyu steer may be fed for 400 days, while other breeds such as Hereford and Angus might only be 50 to 100 days, so it is difficult to scientifically say that traits such as marbling or eating quality differences are due to genetics rather than feed.
“Another issue is that for many years, Wagyu has not had the volume in the breed to give strong statistical analysis, and setting up research projects to directly compare fullblood Wagyu and crossbreds have hit a number of unsurmountable hurdles and fallen through.”
To add further complexity to the MSA model mix, is bos indicus content. Currently, producers are required to indicate the proportion of bos indicus is present and this with an over-riding input of the hump height in relations to carcase weight, is estimated to determine the points reduction for each muscle in the overall MSA calculation. It has been shown in previous research that hump height does have a correlation to bos indicus content and consequently eating quality.
What many may not know is that Wagyu too, has a hump, but is often as a result of the larger carcase weight over other breeds and may not have a negative effect on eating quality. By understanding the Wagyu content and therefore applying the necessary calculations to hump height, may reduce the impact on the overall rating.
Ideally, the MSA model could determine if an Angus sirloin for example, with the same marble score as Wagyu would have a different eating quality outcome.
An opportunity to gather more data from Wagyu and Wagyu cross cattle of differing breed mix and percentage fed together under identical conditions and for the same period is being pursued to resolve these difficulties and provide sufficient data to introduce a Wagyu specific MSA model calculation.
It is the intention of the MSA team to consumer test selected cuts from these carcases in conjunction with the Wagyu Association’s genetic database and the carcase assessment camera, to determine the effect of Wagyu content.
“The benefit of a research trial of this type is that the animals can be anything from F1s through to purebreds with known Wagyu content, which means we can rule out the environmental and feed impacts as they will be constant throughout,” said Rod.
As the research outcomes become available and analysed by the Pathways Committee, they will get incorporated into the commercial MSA Model and a Wagyu ‘button’ could be activated.
“The ideal scenario would be to have a mix of zero percentage to fullblood, with known genetic backgrounds, in a controlled early growth and feedlot environment and take sequential carcase assessments over a period of time including collection of cuts for consumer testing , for example after 50, 100, 200 and 400 days on feed
The Wagyu industry, particularly in the Australian Market, may benefit from the inclusion of Wagyu content in the MSA model as it will underpin consumer assessed claims using the established MSA principles. In the past, under MSA for domestic market outcomes, some Wagyu product may have been downgraded for issues such as hump height or an inability to adequately evaluate marble score, particularly for harder to sell cuts such as rump.
“The desirability of incorporating Wagyu into the MSA model has increased considerably during the past five years with growth-in numbers and more widespread use in large commercial populations. The use of the camera has also helped in terms of developing the model. As the population of Wagyu increases, it is becoming strategically important to incorporate it into MSA as a priority.
“For brand owners, knowing the star rating of your carcase gives you additional information to use to work on and build your story around elements such as flavour or provenance, with additional confidence in the MSA eating quality score.”
MSA MODELLING FOR WAGYU EXAMPLES
The MSA model for Wagyu based on cut and cooking style with no ageing shows that topside does not perform well even with high marbling. Ageing for 35 days however, brings topside into a star rating of 3.

