How We Grade Our Wagyu
Why we publish a number
Almost every Wagyu seller in America tells you their beef is highly marbled. Very few tell you how they know. We grade every carcass we process with an MIJ camera, and we publish the measurement it produces, because a number you can check is worth more than an adjective you cannot.
What the camera measures
After processing, the ribeye is cut and photographed by an MIJ carcass camera. The system separates lean from intramuscular fat across the face of the muscle and calculates how much of that surface is fat. The result is the digital marbling percentage, or DMp.
The important word is measured. Traditional grading is a human being comparing a cut surface against a reference card and assigning a score. That is a skilled judgment, and it is still a judgment. The camera is measuring an area.
Our two tiers
Texas Wagyu. Our standard Fullblood, measuring under 40% DMp. This is exceptional beef in its own right and it is where most of our cuts come from. Shop Wagyu.
Wagyu Reserve. Carcasses measuring 40% DMp and above. Shop Wagyu Reserve.
The line is drawn on the measurement, not on the animal's pedigree, its age, or what we would like to charge for it. Both tiers are 100% Fullblood from the same herd, raised the same way.
What the record actually looks like
These are the carcasses we have graded since we began selling individual cuts in November 2025.
| Graded | DMp | AUSMEAT marble score | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2025 | 64.7% | 9+ | Reserve |
| May 2026 | 36.1% | 8 | Texas Wagyu |
| May 2026 | 55.2% | 9+ | Reserve |
| August 2026 | 50.4% | 9+ | Reserve |
| August 2026 | 47.9% | 9+ | Reserve |
Two things are worth pointing out, and one of them is not flattering.
Not every carcass makes Reserve. The carcass at 36.1% did not, and it sold as standard Texas Wagyu, which is exactly what it was. If the threshold only ever produced qualifying animals it would not be a threshold.
The qualifying carcasses have ranged from 47.9% to 64.7%. That is a wide band, because animals are not manufactured. We would rather publish the range than an average that flatters the low end.
Why you will not see a BMS number or an A5 claim from us
Our grading reports give a digital marbling percentage and an AUSMEAT marble score. They do not give a Japanese BMS number, and the published conversions between those two scales disagree with each other. Translating our measurement into a Japanese grade would mean picking whichever conversion made our beef look best, which is not a measurement, it is a marketing decision.
For the same reason we do not claim a USDA equivalent. USDA grading is visual assessment of marbling against reference standards; DMp is a camera measurement of fat area. Comparing them directly would be an error, not a shortcut.
An AUSMEAT marble score of 9+ is the top of the Australian scale. Four of our five graded carcasses reached it, which tells you something the percentage alone does not: the scale ran out before the beef did.
Does marbling actually matter, or is it just a number?
It matters, and it has been measured. Research on Japanese Black cattle found that tenderness rises with intramuscular fat: across carcasses ranging from 4.8% to 39% fat in the ribeye muscle, shear force fell as fat content rose, and cooking loss dropped sharply at the heavily marbled end. In practical terms, fat inside the muscle means a more tender steak that loses less of itself in the pan.
One honest caveat. That study measured chemical fat content by laboratory extraction, which is a different method from camera marbling area. The two are related but they are not the same metric, so we treat that research as a general statement about intramuscular fat rather than a translation of our own numbers.
Source: Ueda, Watanabe, Higuchi, Shingu, Kushibiki and Shinoda, "Effects of intramuscular fat deposition on the beef traits of Japanese Black steers (Wagyu)", Animal Science Journal 78(2), 2007, 189-194.
What sits behind the grading
A measurement is only as meaningful as the animal behind it. Our cattle are 100% Fullblood Wagyu, DNA verified, dual registered with the American and Australian Wagyu Associations, and enrolled in the USDA Process Verified Authentic Wagyu program. Most Wagyu sold in the United States is crossbred, commonly Wagyu over Angus, and is still legally sold as Wagyu. Ours is not crossbred.
Every animal we sell is finished on our family ranch in Montgomery, Texas. Nothing in our program goes to a feedlot, and we do not buy finished beef and put our name on it.
Questions about a specific cut or a specific lot? Ask us. We have the report.