The Cork farmer supplying the most desirable meat in the world

Conor Sheahan is producing Japanese beef that is renowned for its intense marbled appearance. Covid restrictions have resulted in a change in the way it reaches consumers here.

Conor Sheahan is producing Wagyu beef which is renowned for its intense marbled appearance which results in a tender and juicy meat with a distinctive and delicious flavour.

Six weeks ago, Cork beef farmer Conor Sheahan changed the way he was doing things on his farm outside Millstreet at the foot of Ballyvouskill Mountain, which is surrounded by lakes, waterfalls and forestry.

He farms the land there alongside his wife Lavinia and their three children Keithan, Calvin and Adelina and having started out dairying, Conor turned to beef farming in 2010 and began breeding Wagyu — a breed of cattle originating from Japan.

Wagyu beef is renowned for an intense marbled appearance which results in a tender and juicy meat with a distinctive and delicious flavour. And like every country, there’s a bit of folklore attached to why Wagyu beef looks the way it does...

“The Japanese would massage their animals with Sake mash and they thought that it was the massaging of the animals that gave the meat its distinctive marbling,” said Conor The marble appearance is in fact due to white strips of low cholesterol fat going through the meat.

The Sheahan family: Keithlan, Calvin, Conor, Lavinia and Adelina on their farm outside Millstreet, Cork.

He continued: “The Japanese castrate their animals within two months of birth and get no ration until the last six months of their life. When the animal reaches 28 months the marbling gene kicks in and the fat stores are evenly distributed through the animal.

The animals are then fed ration to enhance the marbling effect.

Conor has followed these guidelines and feeds his cattle with a special diet made by his local miller.

It is the beef’s appearance that makes it among the most expensive beef in the world and Conor has spent years endeavouring to “perfect that look”.

He also says that as the years have progressed the bigger AI companies in Ireland have come on board and “better bulls” are now being sourced from Australia and the US.

As a result, the marbling effect is getting better and better.

“The number of Wagyu breeders in Ireland is growing but they are still in the minority,” he stated.

Conor has a herd of 50 Wagyu, one of the biggest Wagyu herds in the country. It has taken almost 10 years for the Cork beef farmer to get to where he is today, but as he says himself, “it has been worth the effort”.

In 2012 Conor acquired three Wagyu embryos to put into his White Head heifers. Only one embryo was fruitful, resulting in his first Purebred Wagyu Bull.

It wasn’t until 2015 that this bull was ready to mate and the Wagyu herd began to expand to what it is today.

Messaging the animal has its advantages, according to Japanese folklore.

Conor’s Wagyu meat is now being processed in Longford town and distributed straight to the customers’ door.

What made Conor change the way he was doing things was Covid-19.

He had been supplying local restaurants with his beef but because of the restrictions brought about by the pandemic, restaurants were closed and diners remained indoors.

“I had been selling the beef to local restaurants but Covid-19 has brought about a very bad year for that so I decided to start selling it directly to people’s doors,” he continued.

“I linked up with Valhalla Meats in Co Longford and they were delighted to process the Wagyu beef.

“They believe in the old traditional methods of hanging carcasses for a certain period of time; Valhalla Meats have my carcass hanging for six weeks which tenderises the meat and adds more value to it.

“From there the meat is placed in boxes and sold directly to the customer across the country.

“People are now getting the opportunity to try Wagyu and see for themselves just how good the meat is.

“What I wanted was to be able to take the animal from my farm to the abattoir and straight to the fridge from there. From farm to fork, so to speak.

“My box of meat is 5kg, costs €95 and is delivered straight to the door.

And it’s going well.”

Conor's Wagyu beef can also be purchased at Jack McCarthy's, Kanturk; and Michael Twomey's, Macroom.