Its total herd this year will be 25,000 Wagyu-cross cattle, an increase of 5000, so it’s looking for 20 to 30 extra farmers.
General manager Wagyu Matt Crowther said those farmers will benefit from a short, transparent supply chain and income stability.
“Payments are known upfront, based on a set per-kilogram price, modelled off established market returns. We set pricing 12 months ahead.
“This year, on average, our shareholders get more than $7/kg. It’s about 20% over commodity on average so that’s breaking into a new bracket, which has been our aim for the last five years.
“We know many farmers are fed up with the status quo of commodity beef.
“They want to be rewarded for individual quality and performance, not to be averaged and reliant on a volatile commodity market so, on that basis, we pay on quality measured by marbling so we reward effort to produce a top-quality animal.
“Ideally, we’re getting them up to weight and then giving them another three months of conditioning,” he said.
“We are incentivising carcase weight and finish – 20c/kg premiums for steers and heifers over certain weights – so we’ve seen the average carcase weight climb about 12kg so far this year alone.”
Calves will be available from October to January and the company’s supply base is spread from Northland to Southland, with strong growth being shown in the South Island, Crowther said.
Cattle are raised on a 100% grass diet with no grain or animal by-products and chief executive Gerard Hickey said First Light wants farmers used to feeding cattle well.
The grass-fed movement is growing in the United States and First Light is well placed to tap into that, given it has picked up a number of accolades in the past 12 months, including Forbes magazine describing its beef as the best in the world.
First Light also won gold in the World Steak Challenge in London last year and its beef is the key ingredient in Los Angeles burger restaurant HiHo Cheeseburger’s premium burger, which has won best burger in LA Magazine’s Burger Bracket two years running.
First Light’s biggest challenge now is keeping up with the demand that success is creating, Hickey said.
To capitalise on its growing profile the company last month launched its Wagyu beef products into a number of stores in Texas.
Marton First Light shareholder and Wagyu finisher Vern McDonald was in Texas to help promote the beef and was pleasantly surprised at how well it was received.
“I thought it would be a hard ask trying to sell meat to Texans but once people tasted it they were hooked.
“It just sells itself.”
McDonald has been with First Light almost six years. He and son Hamish buy in about 200 weaners a year, which they keep for about two years.
They like being involved with a premium product that demands a premium price at the other end, along with the certainty of price they are guaranteed 12 months out.
