Primed for success

David Blackmore’s fridge—in his farmhouse at Alexandra in Victoria, Australia—is a carnivore’s dream. On any given day, you’d find wrapped chunks of wagyu in the freezer. David, owner of the renowned Blackmore Wagyu Beef, founded his beef production business in 1979.

In 1988, he discovered two purebred wagyu females—who had been exported from Japan—at a research facility in America. The fierce pride of Japanese farmers, the cows had never been seen outside of Japan then. Piqued by the possibility of starting his own wagyu breed, David secured the exclusive rights to bring the semen and embryos of wagyu from America into Australia. The embryos, fertilised with the semen, are then implanted into Angus cows in his farm, resulting in the birth of 100 percent wagyu cattle. “The Angus cow acts like a surrogate mother for the wagyu,” says David. Ben, David’s son, who oversees sales and marketing, thinks there are less than 10 producers in Australia offering 100 percent full-blood wagyu.

Today, David’s herd has bloodlines that go back to more than 70 years. Blackmore has 2,500 cattle, spread out in paddocks of 5,000 acres, of which 400 acres are owned by them. The farm at Alexandra sits on the fertile Goulburn River flats, and the grass is a lush carpet of rich green. Meats with higher marbling scores, such as 9+ (the best rank in Australia), go to his customers, many of whom are high end restaurants, such as Tetsuya’s and Vue De Monde in Sydney and Melbourne respectively, and Iggy’s, Tippling Club, Prime Society and Waku Ghin in Singapore.

Excerpt from the November issue of epicure.