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Wally Rae: The Queensland Cattleman Who Helped Bring Wagyu to Australia

A Brahman man from central Queensland went to Japan in 1988, saw what marbling was worth, and helped build Australia's Wagyu trade.

Who Is Wally Rae?

Wally Rae is an Australian cattleman recognized by the Australian Wagyu Association for work that put Japanese genetics on Australian grass. He left school before he was 14 and worked in cattle, mostly Brahman, in central Queensland. At about 20 he bought a property called The Overflow at auction, according to the association's history, Thirty Years of the Australian Wagyu Association.

This profile covers his public professional record only. Few biographical details about him are published, and none beyond business and honors are used here.

What He Saw in Japan in 1988

A trip to Japanese meat auctions in 1988 changed his thinking. He saw that marbling drove the price of beef there. In Australia, he later said, meat traders were not even aware that marbling was significant to eating quality. That gap between what Japanese buyers paid for and what Australian buyers measured became the base of his later business.

New Era Genetics and the First Embryos

Rae helped form New Era Genetics, a consortium of investors. Ray (Buck) Wright, a Washington State University professor, provided the know-how for getting Wagyu genetics into the United States, and New Era is credited as the first to import Wagyu into the US. In 1993 it brought fullbloods into America: two bulls and three females, including Michifuku and Haruki 2. The first 20 embryos from those animals were imported into Australia by Rae.

He also used genetics brokered by David Blackmore in 1991 to inseminate nearly 3,000 cows, a very large program for a breed then new to the country. By 1998 his herd had grown from about 1,500 to about 15,000 head across three properties in Queensland and New South Wales, a reported figure.

Wagyu Exports to Japan

Rae was among the first in the live steer trade to Japan and made some of the first carton beef shipments there in the mid-1990s. This fits the wider timeline in the association's own timeline: Wagyu carcase exports began as quarters in 1996, boxed beef without a brand followed in 1997, and the first brands arrived in 1999. Japan's BSE outbreak in 2001 then collapsed the Japanese market.

The Key to Rae's Success

Rae's record shows a cattleman who started with a commercial Brahman background and moved into a premium market by reading what buyers actually paid for. He did not try to do it alone.

The Wagyu business was risky. Japan restricted exports of the breed, and one estimate says only about 221 Wagyu left Japan between 1976 and 1997, which made genetic access a bottleneck. And the Japanese market that Rae sold into collapsed in 2001.

  • He went to the source market in 1988 and learned that marbling set the price.
  • He pooled capital through New Era Genetics instead of financing imports alone.
  • He partnered with a university expert, Ray (Buck) Wright, to move genetics through the US.
  • He used artificial insemination on nearly 3,000 cows in 1991 to multiply rare genetics quickly.
  • He secured Australian semen rights to the first Fullblood cattle to leave Japan in the 1990s.
  • He ran live steer and carton beef trades into Japan before most Australian producers.

Hall of Fame Honors

The Australian Wagyu Association inducted Rae into its Hall of Fame in 2017. Its honour roll page credits him with securing the semen rights to the first Fullblood cattle to leave Japan in the 1990s, with involvement in early Fullblood breeding in Australia, and with having the first Australian-born Fullblood bull born on his property.

Learn More

The association itself was formalized on 1 February 1989 with Peter Winkler as first president and seven members, and it had about 180 members by 1997. Early meetings were held at Winkler's farm near Bowral before the association moved to Armidale. It later reported more than 700 members producing over 30,000 tonnes of beef a year. It was renamed the Australian Wagyu Association in 2000. For more stories on ranching and breeds, visit the ranching section of farm.FM or read a farm.FM story about Wagyu beef and breeding.

Timeline

  1. 1988Visits Japanese meat auctions and sees marbling drive value
  2. 1991Inseminates nearly 3,000 cows with genetics brokered by David Blackmore
  3. 1993New Era Genetics brings fullblood Wagyu to the US; Rae later imports the first 20 embryos to Australia
  4. Mid-1990sAmong the first live steer exporters and carton beef shippers to Japan
  5. 1998Herd reported at about 15,000 head across three properties
  6. 2017Inducted into the AWA Hall of Fame

Frequently asked questions

Who is Wally Rae?

Wally Rae is an Australian cattleman from central Queensland who was an early importer of Wagyu genetics and an early exporter of live cattle and carcases to Japan, and was inducted into the AWA Hall of Fame in 2017.

What is New Era Genetics?

New Era Genetics was a consortium of investors that included Wally Rae. It is credited with first importing Wagyu into the United States and with sending the first 20 embryos from those animals to Australia.

When did Wagyu arrive in Australia?

The Australian Wagyu Association history says the first Wagyu embryos arrived in 1990 and 1991, and the first purebred calves were born on Australian soil on 11 February 1992.

Why does marbling matter in Wagyu?

Japanese auctions paid for marbling, the fine fat within the muscle. Rae's 1988 trip led him to conclude that Australian traders were not measuring it, which shaped his Wagyu breeding business.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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