Polled Akaushi in the US

We finally have a critical mass of breeders selecting for polled Akaushi cattle in the US! For some reason the American breeders have lagged behind breeders on other continents in selecting for polled (or without horns) Wagyu cattle. It seemed like the official launch party for polled Akaushi genetics in the US last month when Heartbrand (www.heartbrandcattle.com) offered 50% semen interest in the first homozygous polled bull, Dos Equis 3618H (and a couple heterozygous polled brothers). The Dos Equis 3618H semen interest fetched a hefty USD $111,000! That really got Akaushi breeders talking.

Breeds of cattle with greater commercial bull marketings are typically the strongest and most sustainable. This trend has been consistent for over 40 years. Over that timeframe, the commercial bull buyers have shown strong preference for polled bulls versus horned bulls. Therefore, I have been introgressing polled genetics into select areas of certain herds of Akaushi cattle I have control of or have consulted with for several years.

Over the past year or two we have worked with heterozygous polled, purebred (15/16ths) bulls such as El Padrino 733D, King David 14E and Yellowstone 0917F. All three are high quality young sires that each have attributes that compliment each other....all three are uniquely different. It has taken many years and much patience to get to this point.

Remember that polled is dominant to horned in cattle breeding. A heterozygous polled animal will be polled in phenotype while genetically carrying 1 polled & 1 horned allele. 50% of their offspring will be polled if bred to a horned cow. A homozygous polled animal has two polled alleles and all of their offspring will be phenotypically polled.

There are only a handful of heterozygous Akaushi animal alive and much less that are homozygous polled. So it will be a couple years before dozens of polled animals will be available to purchase. The best way to get polled Akaushi genetics into your herd is through semen like the bulls pictured below or to purchase polled mated purebred embryos (i.e., 31/32nds blooded).

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