Why do golden yaks produce so much more fiber?

Recently we have been getting a good deal of questions about what determines value in yaks. I would have to say the number one thing to avoid is exaggerated claims. Yaks are multi purpose bovines that can be used for fiber production, dairy, packing, and meat. They are not optimized in any area as with the more familiar cattle breeds. I would guess that the Wool Market attendee quoted above had spoken with, or read something by, someone interested in selling golden yaks at premium prices.  Spending a fair amount of my youth in Missouri, I would have said, “Show Me”.  Is there statistical data?  Hair Follicle Density Studies?  Any sort of proof?  In any case claims like “most”, “best”, “highest this or lowest that” or “healthiest” are red flags for me.

Yak Calves In Snow

“Xenophobes”, “Racists”, “Haters” – get ready.  Yak ranchers are ready to come out of the shadows and march. We will not be forced to live in fear anymore.  We will not force our yaks to assimilate into your paternal, taurus-centric, culture.  Yaks “Grunt” they don’t, and won’t “Moo”.  No amount of “Mooing Immersion” will change that.  Veterinarians that refuse to treat yaks or fail to provide translators should prepare to be sued!
To you cattle, sheep, hog, and chicken farmers/ranchers – they are all immigrants, none of them are indigenous, not to mention the disease and destruction some have wrought upon ……… Viva la Yak!

“But for reals”,  all this hubbub about yaks is nothing new.  This issue is not about yaks, it is about people – neighbors and ranchers – and the laws of their state.  Comments on several of the articles related to these roaming yaks like,  “Now people try ridiculous schemes like this Yak ranching boondoggle to pretend they are engaged in agriculture on their 35 acre ranchettes” and “And no incentive for yak ranchers and ostrich idiots to make believe they are ranchers and encourage their herd to graze the neighbor’s pasture.” are dismissive tactics.  The yaks we have in America are domestic cattle. Like Bos indicus, they are different than the more common Bos taurus. Being closely related, they can interbreed but it doesn’t happen very easily. Yaks are perfectly viable livestock for small operations not because they are part of some kind of scheme but because they are outstanding multipurpose animals that require less forage per pound than their cousins,  and are extremely winter hardy. I could yak about the merits of yaks indefinitely but again, yaks aren’t the issue.
The issue is how neighbors and ranchers get along and apply the established laws concerning livestock.  The laws concerning grazing and fencing in western states are truly fascinating…. but remember “sheep is different”.
This is about people and their respect for each other not a war between “nuisance yaks’ and “indigenous cattle”.

I would recommend keepin’ all your critters on your property  “fence out” or not.

To read more about the Johnson County Yak War follow our links on Delicious.

Raising anchor yaks since 2005!

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Yak Shaving – Tech geeks finally get a real gold medal event. Imagine the ad revenue from Gillette, Schic, and Bic. (man that’s fun to say!)

Yak Skiing – Redefines extreme sports.

Yak Racing – The pageantry will take the opening ceremony to new heights.

Yak Sack – Pure exhilaration.

Yak Assing – Controversy? I would like to see Evgeni spin around four times on that horn!  (Gotta apologize for this one because yaks are generally gentle creatures. Everyone has their breaking point. For this yak-its Johnny-with me-its spiders.)

Come to think of it, it’s clear that if the IOC doesn’t adopt at least some of these events, the yak movement will be forced to create its own winter games. I think you can guess the fate of the short sighted Olympic Commission. Bickering over how to score a lutz will become a luxury of the unemployed.

Please take immediate action. Contact the IOC and demand the addition of yak events to the winter games. If the IOC does not immediately add yak events to the winter games, the Winter Games will become just another entry on the Fail Blog.

Apparently this is already an event that Guinness tracks. It cannot be long before the IOC reviews it for inclusion in to the games. Always bet yak!

In this area I think we could model our behavior on the yak’s. Contrary to popular myth, yaks have very little to say. When they do, they mean it. But yaks are fully and completely, tragically hip.

Yak is a bovine, so from a technical standpoint the meat is called “Beef”. As with any meat, flavor is dependent on a number of factors. Breed, genetics within a breed, diet, age, environmental conditions,and the process used to “finish” the animal all play an important role in the end result. Yak meat is fairly rare at this point and each ranch or producer provides a unique product.
At the top of the “what does yak meat taste like?” question is: “Are you tasting 100% yak or a cross with a domestic cattle breed?”. Yaks are crossed with domestic cattle for various reasons including hybrid vigor, growth characteristics, hardiness, etc. Crosses will produce very different results as you are introducing genetics from any of dozens of breeds of domestic cattle.
Within domestic yaks, there are varying characteristics as well. Full-blood yaks are typically less marbled than production beef cattle with most of their fat being carried on the outside of the carcass. This produces a lean product that has a jump on even grass-fed beef.
Finishing may have as much to do with flavor as anything. There are various methods and philosophies. Grain finishing: corn, wheat screenings, various rations, all produce different results. Grass finishing has just as many variables.
Add in age of the animal, environmental factors including stress, the butchering and aging process, etc. and you are dealing as much with art as you are science. Consistency in the flavor of the end product is elusive.
Oh yeah,  someone has to cook it! or not…….
The great thing about yak meat is that you are starting with a naturally lean, high protein, meat with a great balance fatty acids that is tender and delicious.
Any good yak meat discussion should end with a little “cheese, “Once You Go Yak, You Will Never Go Back!”

Click here to get Yak Meat.

Some links from around the web offering their opinions.

Weird Meat – Yak in Yunnan

Weird Meat – Raw Yak Meat

Real Food Mama – Ground Yak

Moscow Food Co-op – Yak

San Diego Reader – Yak Burgers and Steaks

Yaks Meat. from andre 3000 on Vimeo.

On the way back from Seattle, we stopped at a little place that had Yak on the menu. I decided I must try some. Didn’t taste different from beef, maybe it would in a steak cut.