Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture is relatively mild and snowfall is rare. However, on the day of my visit, it was a silver world. Inside a cattle barn, Japanese black cows were exhaling white breath as they slowly ate rice straw. The cattle were not just livestock, but also a long-standing tradition. They are not mere livestock, but have been nurtured by the skills and passion of craftsmen over many years.

The Stature of Black Wagyu Cattle Encountered in a Snowy Barn

Producer Daiki Kawamura’s cattle, which won honorary awards two years in a row at the National Beef Beef Cattle Carcass Kyoyokai in 2016 and 2017, are raised in this barn. Instead of being raised on pasture, where they roam freely in vast pastures, they are raised in a barn that provides an optimal environment under thorough management. From the creation of a stress-free space for the cows to the feed they are fed, which is the result of years of trial and error, to the thorough health management, no compromises are allowed.

The starting point of cattle breeding and commitment to bloodlines

Kawamura Farm is a fattening farm started by Mr. Kawamura’s grandfather. A fattening farmer is a farmer who buys calves and raises them. On the other hand, breeding farmers are those who raise calves by raising mother cows.

Fattening and mating farmers are often separated because they each have different expertise in raising cattle. Some farmers are both fattening and mating farmers, but especially in Miyagi Prefecture, fattening and mating are separated, Kawamura said.

Kawamura Farm started out as a cattle farmer, raising Holsteins, but gradually shifted to Wagyu black cattle. At that time, each of the neighboring farmers had a cow, and through the so-called “livestock dealer” business of buying, selling, and brokering livestock, the number of cows at Kawamura Farm was increased.

By the way, it is said that the quality of beef brands such as “Sendai Beef,” “Matsusaka Beef,” and “Kobe Beef” is largely dependent on pedigree. Mr. Kawamura says, “When I look at the great cattle that win champions at fairs, like Deep Impact in the case of horses, I think it is the pedigree of the cattle. I myself believe that 70% is determined by pedigree,” he says. He says that he sometimes purchases calves from all over the country that are born to bulls that have excellent pedigrees and provide their sperm. When asked what makes up the remaining 30%, he laughed and said, “I would like to say arms, but…” He went on to say that it is important to bring out their abilities without accidents, and to grow cows that eat, sleep, and eat repeatedly.

Ideal Meat Quality Achieved by Cattle Barn Raising

Mr. Kawamura’s cows are raised in a barn, and there is a clear reason for this.

The greatest advantage of barn-raising is that the environment can be closely controlled. Cattle are sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity, and a cold can affect meat quality. In a barn, the heat of summer and the cold of winter can be properly controlled, and a comfortable environment can be maintained at all times for the cows.

In addition, it is easier to manage feed. With pasturage, what cows eat depends on the natural environment, but with barn rearing, it is possible to systematically provide nutritionally balanced feed. As a result, ideal marbling is formed and meat quality is stabilized.

In addition, by properly designing the barn space, “too much movement and muscle build-up” can be avoided. In addition, thorough barn hygiene and observation of cows will help prevent disease and ensure healthy growth.

Inquiry into feed and an environment set up with music

Kawamura Farm has a total of four barns, and each barn has a different method of raising cows.

Each barn takes into consideration the environment and the sensitivity of the cows, which are greatly affected by it. The most important factor is feed, which is one of the most important factors in determining the taste of Wagyu beef.

After 20 years of farming, Mr. Kawamura has tried various feeds and self-formulations, and says, “After trying many things, I came to a simple solution. Instead, he says, “I experiment in one of my four barns by trying different things. Simple” means that the feed is procured by the cooperative from the manufacturer, and what used to be a “trade secret” among the farmers is now shared among them. Kawamura Farm also uses three different types of feed depending on the growth stage of the cows, and plays music to help them relax and eat more.

Honorary Award Proves Kawamura Farm’s Strength

The barn where Mr. Kawamura’s cows are raised is more than just a breeding facility. The high quality of the meat produced there is proven by the fact that, as mentioned earlier, the cows were awarded the “Honorary Prize,” the highest prize, out of approximately 500 cattle selected from all over Japan at the National Beef Cattle Carcass Promotion Association, a gathering of Wagyu beef producers from all over Japan.

The National Beef Beef Beef Carcass Competition is an opportunity for outstanding Wagyu beef producers from all over Japan to compete in the meat quality of the cattle they have raised themselves. At this competition, not only the amount of marbling, but also the tightness of the meat, color, fat quality, flavor, and other factors are evaluated in a comprehensive manner.

Mr. Kawamura’s cattle received overwhelming evaluations for the beauty of the marbling, tenderness of the meat, and sweetness of the fat. I actually had the opportunity to taste the meat, and the quality of the fat was not only sinewy, but also outstanding, with a texture that melted in the mouth and a rich flavor.

This prestigious award is not something that can be acquired overnight. It is the result of many years of trial and error, meticulous management in the barn, selection of the best feed, and careful attention to each cow.

Toward a Sustainable Future for Sendai Beef

Mr. Kawamura raises Sendai beef, which is the pride of Miyagi Prefecture, and only A5 grade beef is allowed to claim the name. Among the A5 ranks, there are three grades of marbling (fatty crossbreeding): 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. The higher the number, the more marbled the meat, with 12 being the most marbled. Mr. Kawamura’s goal is to always produce Sendai beef that is 10 or higher. As he raised his cattle, he was no longer satisfied unless they were 10 or higher. Prices also vary according to this rank, but he has noticed a change in food preferences when customers who have tasted 12 beef say they prefer the leaner cuts. Mr. Kawamura will continue his pursuit of the “12” beef, which is light, clean, and well-seasoned.

The environment surrounding Wagyu beef production is becoming increasingly severe year by year. Soaring feed prices, the effects of climate change, lack of successors, and declining demand for meat are just a few of the challenges. Besides, the price of calves rises with the competition when pedigrees are emphasized, and it becomes “not worth it” considering the length of time required to raise them. However, in order to overcome these difficulties, Mr. Kawamura is exporting beef overseas, where domestic consumption is becoming more and more difficult.

Furthermore, he is struggling to keep Sendai beef production going by buying or renting barns from farmers who have quit due to lack of successors at Kawamura Farm.

As a young farmer leading the industry, Mr. Kawamura’s challenge continues.

The post Daiki Kawamura, the third generation of Kawamura Farm, the finest Sendai beef raised by a young farmer / Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Nakahora Farm is a pasture-farming dairy farm of mainly Jersey cows in the vast mountainous area of the Kitakami Mountains. The milk is pasteurized and non-homogenized at the company’s own milk plant, and is highly praised both inside and outside of the prefecture for its “rich flavor with a clean aftertaste.

Aiming for mountain dairy farming in his hometown

The Kitakami mountain range covers approximately 60% of Iwate Prefecture, with gently sloping mountains stretching from the center to the periphery. Nakahora Farm is located in a hollow 700 to 850 meters above sea level. It covers an area of 120 hectares, about 25 times the size of the Tokyo Dome. Here, 110 dairy cows, including calves, graze.

Nakahora Farm was established in 1984 by Tadashi Nakahora, a native of Iwate Prefecture, who settled in the Arigei district of Iwaizumi Town. While a student at Tokyo University of Agriculture, Mr. Nakahora learned about “Yamachi Dairy Farming,” a style of dairy farming advocated by Dr. Kyoji Naobara, a plant ecologist, and was shocked by it. In order to provide large amounts of milk at low prices, many dairy farmers in Japan today do not pasture their cows, but keep them in barns and feed them nutritious foreign grain feed. In contrast, “mountain dairy farming” is to plant wild buckwheat on mountains and let cows, which are herbivores, graze on the grass, thereby effectively utilizing the mountains, which cover about 70% of Japan’s land, for dairy farming and turning them into green grasslands. Furthermore, when one hears the word “grazing,” one tends to think that flat, wide grasslands are necessary, but cows can easily walk on slopes as long as they have grass, their favorite food. Thinking that this would make dairy farming possible even in the mountain forests of Iwate, where there are many steep slopes, Mr. Nakadora returned home after graduation and purchased his current farm, which had been put on the market by the “Kitakami Mountain Range Comprehensive Development Project. The project was to attract dairy farms to 17 cities, towns, and villages in eight regions of the prefecture, and the farm was a “build-to-order farm” that included a 50-hectare plot of land, various facilities, barns, and housing. Some of the equipment, such as a manure disposal machine, was unnecessary for mountain dairy farming, where cow manure is used to fertilize pastureland, and the farm was heavily in debt, but he made the decision to pursue his dream of “practicing pasture-based dairy farming in my hometown.

Why he chose Jersey cows

After settling in the area, Mr. Nakadora first cut down trees, put up fences around the farm to prevent the cows from escaping, and put 11 dairy cows out to pasture. The cows roam around and eat underbrush and leaves, which they eat up, leaving the soil bare. The cows’ manure and manure then became fertilizer, and eventually native wild grasses, such as wild buckwheat, began to grow. By repeating this process little by little, the pastureland with wild grass grew and the number of dairy cows increased. Dr. Naohara’s idea of the right balance between enough food for the cows and enough wild grass not to disappear due to overfeeding is “1.5 adult cows per hectare of pastureland,” and Nakahora Pasture follows this scale.

Making the Most of the Original Flavor of Raw Milk

Cows at Nakahora Farm are pastured day and night throughout the year. They enter the barn only twice a day for milking. The rest of the time, from spring to fall, the cows are fed on wild grasses and wild oats in the pastureland, and in winter, when the pastureland is covered with snow, they eat silage made from fermented pesticide-free grass from their own pastureland and Japanese hay. Mating and birthing are done in a natural way. Breeding and births are done in a natural way. Even after giving birth, cows are breast-fed for up to two months, so both mothers and calves are stress-free. They are healthy both mentally and physically.

Pasteurization at 63°C for 30 minutes

Nakahora Farm processes raw milk from such healthy cows into milk at its own milk plant and sells it. Mr. Nakahora shipped raw milk to an agricultural cooperative for seven years after settling in the area, but in 1987, the raw milk trading standard was changed to “fat content (percentage of fat in raw milk) of 3.5% or more,” and the purchase price of raw milk that did not meet the standard was reduced by about half. Nakahora Farm’s raw milk was not high in milk fat content due to the high amount of pastoral exercise, but from spring to fall, when the milk is fed on green grass with high water content, the milk fat content is even lower. Mr. Nakahora therefore felt a sense of crisis, saying, “I can’t run a business under this standard,” and decided to launch his own brand. With a loan from a bank, he built a milk plant and began producing milk. Incidentally, the dairy has since increased the ratio of Jersey cows to increase the fat content of its raw milk, which now ranges from 3.6 to 3.8% in summer and 4.3 to 4.5% in winter.

The ranch’s milk is characterized by its full-bodied flavor with a clean aftertaste. This is due to the fact that the milk is pasteurized at 63°C for 30 minutes. The pasteurization temperature and time change the proteins in the milk, causing it to lose its original taste. After much trial and error, we arrived at the legal limit of ’63°C for 30 minutes,'” explains Toru Makihara, who will replace Mr. Nakahora as head of the dairy farm in 2021. According to Makihara, the milk takes on a “matured flavor” as the days go by, and some customers enjoy the change in taste from the day of purchase to one week later.

Enjoy the “fresh cream” on the top of the bottle!

Another feature of Nakahora Farm’s milk is that it is non-homogenized milk. Homogenization” refers to the process of crushing the fat globules contained in milk into small pieces. The fat globules must be crushed before pasteurization in order to avoid scorching during the high-temperature pasteurization process (120°C for 2 seconds, etc.) for mass-distributed products from major dairy companies. On the other hand, the crushing of fat globules has the disadvantage of losing the original flavor of raw milk, so Nakahora Ranch chooses to use “non-homo” milk, saying, “We want our milk to taste close to raw milk. That is one of the reasons why our milk is said to have a rich taste. Also, as the days go by, the fat content floats to the top of the bottle, but this is fresh cream, so it is delicious eaten as is, and some customers even put it on bread,” says Makihara, proudly.

Aiming for “stable management” that can be passed on to the next generation

In addition to milk, Nakahora Farm’s milk plant also produces processed products such as ice cream, yogurt, butter, and pudding. Sales have expanded beyond Iwate Prefecture to Kanto, Kansai, Shikoku, and Kyushu, but business is still tight.

It is important for people to understand the value of our products.

Mr. Makihara’s family used to be a dairy farmer raising 600 cows in a barn in the neighboring village of Tanohata, but the family later went out of business. He came to Nakahora Farm 13 years ago, and felt that he wanted to raise cows in this way. However, it is not possible to run the farm at a loss of more than 100 million yen a year, as is the case now. We need a management structure that can feed the family and be passed on to the next generation of young people,” he stated clearly.

To stabilize the business, Makihara believes it is necessary to increase sales by having consumers understand the value of the products. For example, some customers do not know that the fat content is what floats to the top of our milk bottles. The price of our milk is more than five times the price of regular milk, so unless they understand why, that is, that we are a pasture-based dairy farm that feeds mainly grass, pasteurized, and non-homo, they will not buy our milk. On the other hand, if they understand, they will buy it,” says Makihara. Together with his young staff and trainees, he shares his wisdom and aims to develop the dairy farm under the motto, “For the cows, for the mountains, and for the health of the consumers who keep our dairy products.

The post Pasturing Jersey cows and delivering “pasteurized, non-homo” milk throughout Japan. Nakahora Farm / Iwaizumi Town, Iwate Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.