There was what I would called an expose on Gourmet about wagyu raised in Japan. It’s rather shocking…
“‘The steers have been lying in their own manure,’ he continued. ‘The farmers are proud of their cattle, and the first thing they do is grab a bit of straw and rub the manure off. That could be seen as be-ing massaged. Wagyu can also get a lot of joint swelling. I can imagine that the farmers would be massaging joints so they could get the animals off to market.’”
It seems a bit alarmist and sensational. I spoke to a chef who had visited a farm in Japan in 2002, and he told me that it was completely different from what he saw. I don’t know if his was the exception to what sounds like cruel treatment or that the place the chef in the article visited was one of a few bad ones.
That reminds me…have you heard of Akaushi beef? Its a herd of Japanese cattle that are being raised and bred in South Texas. There’s a steakhouse in San Antonio that sells is for $95 for a 12 oz filet. The company’s info is here: http://www.heartbrandbeef.com