Golden Calves: Farmers Hungry for Luxury Beef

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Del Spiegel : Golden Calves: Farmers Hungry for Luxury Beef

By Matthias Schulz

 

Imke Lass/ DER SPIEGEL

Wagyu beef is the most expensive meat in the world, fetching prices of up to 600 euros per kilogram ($1,760 per pound). Long found exclusively in Japan, the wagyu breed is now spreading across the globe. And German farmers are after a piece of the pie.

If you're a steer, Rüdiger Marquardt's farm in Negenharrie, near the northern German city of Kiel, is a pretty nice place to live. In fact, it's practically a spa for ruminants. In light-filled barns, the cattle eat fresh hay soaked in beer, while the music of Simon & Garfunkel plays in the background. An electric feed mixing cart quietly distributes wheat bran. The lights are dimmed at night, and massage brushes rotate along the walls.

There are about 80 wagyus in Marquardt's barn. The jet-black animals provide the world's most tender fillets. Marquardt points to a munching cow: "This is Akemi. On the meat hook, she goes for €20,000 ($26,600)."