GradingtheCarcassMeatqualitygradeiskeyinaWagyubeefoperationandshouldbeconsideredfundamentalforallWagyubreeders.OverthelastdecadecarcassgradinghasbecomeanessentialelementforLoneMountainWagyu,ourbeefdivision–andmeaningfulforourcattlebreedingoperationaswell.Ourmostsophisticatedbeefcustomers(restaurantsandhomeconsumersalike)trustourbrandbecauseoftheobjective,transparentgradingsystem.Andofcourse,therigorandprecisionofthecarcassgradingtoolsoutlinedbelowgiveusinvaluableguidanceastofuturebreedingdecisions.

InrecentyearstheJapanesehavebeendevelopingtheabilitytomeasurebeefcarcassesobjectively,usingdigitalcameratechnology–andanalyzingthecapturedimagerywithsoftwaretocalculateimportanttraits,suchas:

•IMF(Intra-muscularfatpercentage)•MarblingFinenessandCoarseness•RibEyeArea•RibEyeShape

Initially,thecameraandsoftwareweredevelopedasresearchtools.ButunderthedirectionofProfessorKeigoKuchida,ObihiroUniversityinHokkaido,Japan,thecameraandsoftwarehaveevolvedtomakethetechnologycommerciallyviable.Thecamera/softwaretoolisrapidlybecomingafixtureinslaughterfacilitiesinJapanandattractinginterestfromcountrieselsewhere.

In2010LoneMountainacquiredthetechnology(cameraandsoftware)fromJapan.NowLoneMountaincarcassesaremeasuredwiththesamematrixasthecarcassqualitygradeinformationthatisusedandreferencedbytheJapanMeatGradingAssociation(JMGA).

Thecameraidentifiestraitsthatholdeconomicimportance,suchasthequalityofmarbling,whichcansignificantlyinfluencethevalueofthecarcassinJapanattheauctionmarkets.Forexample,finenessofmarblingisaparticulartraitthatisprizedovercoarsermarbling;picturedbelowaretwoimagesdisplayingcoarseandfinelymarbledribeyes,respectively.

ThefocusofthisparticulartraithasbeenofinteresttotheJapaneseinthepast,andnowisincreasinglybeingidentifiedasanimportantcharacteristictocountriesproducingWagyuoutsideJapan.

ThecombinationofparticularcarcassqualitytraitsanalyzedbythecarcasscameraresultsalgorithmicallyinanoverallBeefMarblingScore(BMS).TheevolutionofthatBMSmarblingstandardhasbeencauseforsomeconfusion.

TheJMGABeefCarcassGradingStandard(BMS)wasdevelopedin1988toevaluatebeefcarcasses.ThelevelsofmarblingforBMSwerebasedonplasticmodels–rudimentaryatbestgivenrecentdevelopments.In2008,photographswereutilizedandreplacedthe1998standard.In2014Japanraisedthebaragain.CurrentlyaBMS3graderequiresaminimumof21%IMF.TheimagesusedtoestablishthenewstandardwereselectedusingacombinationofIMF%andafinenessindex.ThechartbelowshowsthedifferencebetweentheoriginalJapaneseBMSgradingandthe2008standard–the2014standardwasrefinedandraisedevenhigher.

JapanesecarcassesareribbedbetweenthesixthandseventhribthroughoutJapancontrastingwiththeUSstandard,whichiscutbetweenthe12thand13thrib.Thedifferenceanddistributionofmarblingwithineachcarcassispicturedonthefollowingpage.

TheJapanesealsohaveadesignationfortheoverallqualityofthecarcass–whichincludestheBMSscoreandyieldgrades.Simplyput,therearegradesofbeefyieldgoingfromAtoCandtheBMSscoresarenotedbyadesignationof1to5(BMSscoresof8to12aregivena5;BMS5through7aregivena4;etc).NotethattheBMSgradeisbasedonanumberofdifferentfactors,includingtheamountofmarbling;color;firmnessandtexture;andotherfactors.ThemosthighlyprizedcarcassesaredeemedanA-5andthelowestgradeisC-1.

AtLoneMountain,wefocusprimarilyontheamountofmarbling(IMF%);thefinenessorcoarsenessofthemarbling;andthesizeandshapeoftheribeye.TheJapaneseBMSstandard,ontheotherhand,takesintoconsiderationmanymorefactorsasmentionedabove.ThereareanumberofreasonswhyweatLoneMountainopttoconcentrateonIMF%,finenessof

marbling,andtoalesserextent,shapeoftheRibeye,insteadoffollowingtheBMSstandardlikeourJapanesecounterparts.Mostimportantly,wehavefoundthatthereisagreatdealofconfusion,misinformation,andlackofunderstandingabouttheBMSstandardintheAmericanmarketplace.Fromamarketingperspective,weaimtokeepitassimpleaspossible,andtheclear,objectiveIMF%numbersservethatpurpose.

NotonlyhastheJapaneseBMSscalechangeddramaticallyovertime,buttheAustralianbeefindustryhastheirownBMSgradingsystem–AUSMEAT–whichchangedin2008inordertobettercompetewiththeJapanesestandard.TheJapaneseBMSsystemhaschangedthreetimesasnotedabove–butmanyindividuals(chefsincluded)stillrelatetotheoriginal2008gradingstandard.Meanwhile,theBMSscaleusedintheUSis,again,differentfromtheothertwocountries’scales.Wemaintain,therefore,thatthemostaccurateanddependablesystemistheonerecordedwiththecamerathattakeseachimagefromthesamepositionanddistancefromtheribeyesurface–andwithidenticallighting–whichisthenanalyzedwithsoftwarethatproducesnumbersthatwecanbeassuredareobjectiveandaccurate,butmoreimportantly,easiertounderstandandrelateto.

Thesenumbersrepresentclear,actionableguidancethatourclientscanrelyuponandunderstand–withouttheconfusionofthemanychangingBMSstandards.

LoneMountain’sgeneticsprogramisdependentontheperformancedatarecorded,imagedandanalyzedontheherdfrombirthtoslaughter.Itshouldprovideconfidenceforvaluedclientsthatthereexistsactual,objectivesubstancebehindeachbreedingdecisionthatismade,andineveryfacetoftheLoneMountainCattlebusinessmodel.

REF:conversations,writingandimagessuppliedbyProfessorKeigoKuchida,ObihiroUniversity,Obihiro,Hokkaido,Japan