Australian Wagyu Association president Charlie Perry joins The Australian Ag podcast

Wagyu prices have fallen back from the record heights reached last year, but confidence and demand remains in the market.

Australia’s Wagyu industry is now facing pricing and sustainability challenges, following an incredible period of growth and surge in demand both domestically and internationally.

F1 Wagyu feeders reached record prices from $11 up to $13 a kilogram liveweight or more last year, but Australian Wagyu Association president Charlie Perry said prices dropped earlier this year.

“People are optimistic, but we have had a reset in expectations,” he told The Australian Ag podcast.

“The whole cattle industry last year was an absolute boom time and I think personally for the wagyu job it was at an unsustainable level.

“The price came off quite quickly around February and it was quite a rapid reset, which is quite challenging to all members of the supply chain. For farmers it was quite a shock.

“It has stabilised over the last month and is sitting around 50 per cent over the Angus market.”

Mr Perry said despite increasing cost of living pressures he expected demand for Wagyu beef to remain healthy.

“We position ourselves as a luxury product and when there is a broader economic downturn that is never optimal conditions,” he said.

“But the world has a taste for Wagyu and they love it.”

Charlie and Wal Perry on their Trent Bridge Wagyu property at Aberfoyle, NSW.

Mr Perry also said the industry was facing variability, animal welfare and sustainability pressures.

“It just makes sense from a profitability and sustainability aspect to minimise the days on feed,” he said.

“We have been using things like the net feed trial to find the animals which are most efficient at putting on kilograms of beef.

“What this tool is trying to do is understand who are the animals that aren’t going to perform and this allows us to not feed them for as long.

“We are the custodians of a lot of land and we need to do the best we can to look after it and that is the social license consumers give us by buying our product.”