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Cattle Breeders and Breed Pioneers

Chris Walker and Westholme: Getting Fullblood Wagyu Out of Japan

A businessman who tasted Wagyu in Japan spent about three years working out how to move it to Australia, and built one of the largest fullblood herds outside Japan.

Who is Chris Walker?

Chris Walker founded Westholme Wagyu, a fullblood Wagyu operation at Tarana in New South Wales. He was based in Japan for work, according to the Australian Wagyu Association's 30-year history, where he regularly ate Wagyu and became determined to bring it to Australia. The sources consulted give no birth date, no early career and no personal details, so this profile covers only his public work as a breeder and importer.

The AWA honour roll names him a Hall of Fame inductee in 2015, describing him as the founder of Westholme Wagyu and an early importer of Wagyu into Australia.

Why was it so hard to export Wagyu from Japan?

The AWA history says getting genetics out of Japan was difficult. Working with his Japanese agent, ET Japan Company Ltd, Walker had to build his own quarantine station in Japan. After about three years of investment and negotiation, the shipment was completed. The document dates this to 1998-99, while the honour roll says that in 1996 he exported registered fullblood females and sires from Japan to the USA, so sources differ on the date.

The shipment comprised 84 females, three bulls and semen from three other bulls, all sent to the US. The original bulls were named Hirashigetayasu, Itomoritaka and Kitateruyasudoi.

How did US herds reach Westholme?

The cattle went first to the United States, where herds in Iowa and Texas produced about 20,000 embryos over time. Those embryos were brought to Australia for implantation at the Westholme farm at Tarana, along with semen. In 1998, about 40 Westholme calves arrived in Australia, mostly females, the AWA history says.

Walker said he did not want to start until he had superior, fully registered Japanese genetics, and he kept the project quiet, so few people knew what he was doing until it was well underway.

What was the Wagyu export scene like in his time?

His work fits into a short, fast history. In 1976 Morris Whitney imported four fullblood bulls to the US, the basis of American Wagyu herds. On 1 February 1989 the Australian Wagyu Beef Association was formalized, with Peter Winkler as first president and seven members. In January 1990 Winkler's Kobeef Kinu arrived as the first live Wagyu animal in Australia, and the first purebred calves were born there in 1992.

Japanese exporter Shogo Takeda sent fullbloods to the US in 1994 and 1995, with some reaching Australia, and commercial-scale live fullblood shipments reached Australia in 1996 and 1997. Westholme's shipment belongs to this opening of the pipeline. The Nippon.com history of Wagyu exports gives the wider timeline, including Japan's 1999 cut-off of live exports to the US.

What Made It Work

Westholme worked because Walker treated Japanese genetics as a long project with its own infrastructure. The record also shows a business that was sold while still young.

A fair note on limits: his shipments depended on political approvals and a long wait, and the sources do not give the cost.

  • He insisted on registered, superior Japanese genetics before starting.
  • He built his own quarantine station in Japan and used a local agent, ET Japan Company Ltd.
  • He multiplied the herd with embryos made in Iowa and Texas, about 20,000 in all.
  • He rarely sold animals, apart from two bull sales that averaged just under $10,000.
  • He raised calves to about 300 kg before they went to AACo for feedlot finishing to about 700 kg.

The 2006 sale to AACo and what followed

By 2006, Westholme was the second-largest fullblood herd outside Japan, with 700 to 800 breeding cows. That year Walker sold the entire livestock inventory to AACo, which was already taking Wagyu steers at its Aronui feedlot. The honour roll says the resulting herd went to AACo in 2006.

AACo imposed a five-year non-compete clause. Walker bought back 10 bulls and 1,000 Angus cows to produce F1 cattle. After the clause expired, his son Mathew Walker restarted fullblood breeding with Stone Axe Pastoral. For more beef industry stories, see the ranching section of farm.FM or read a farm.FM story about Wagyu in Australia.

Timeline

  1. 1976Four fullblood Wagyu bulls imported to the US by Morris Whitney
  2. 1989Australian Wagyu Beef Association formalized
  3. 1996Walker's export of fullblood females and sires to the USA, per the honour roll
  4. 1998About 40 Westholme calves arrive in Australia
  5. 1998-1999Shipment completed, per the AWA history
  6. 2006Westholme livestock sold to AACo
  7. 2015Inducted into the Australian Wagyu Association Hall of Fame

Frequently asked questions

Who is Chris Walker of Westholme Wagyu?

He founded Westholme Wagyu in New South Wales, an early importer of Wagyu into Australia who built his own quarantine station in Japan to export fullblood genetics. He entered the AWA Hall of Fame in 2015.

How did Westholme get Wagyu out of Japan?

Walker worked with agent ET Japan Company Ltd and built a quarantine station in Japan. After about three years, a shipment of 84 females, three bulls and semen from three other bulls went to the US.

How big was Westholme?

By 2006 it was the second-largest fullblood Wagyu herd outside Japan, with 700 to 800 breeding cows, as reported. That year its livestock was sold to AACo.

What is Stone Axe Pastoral?

It is the Wagyu business Mathew Walker started after AACo's five-year non-compete clause on Chris Walker expired.

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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