The Story of Tomikos Miss Steak

Tomiko's ultrasound revealed a surprise!

Some of the best stories start with a phone call, and this one is no different.

Our good friend Kenny Landgraf reached out with an offer we simply could not pass up.

He was hauling his own heifer to the vet to be flushed — a process where a veterinarian retrieves eggs, called oocytes, from a donor cow so they can be fertilized and transferred as embryos to other cows.

It is one of the most powerful tools in building elite Wagyu genetics.

Kenny also had a straw of semen from one of the top marbling bulls in the world.

Since he would not need all of it, he offered to let us use the rest on Tomiko's oocytes.

And he said, all we would owe was the vet bill.

Friends like Kenny are a true blessing.

Tomiko Made an Oopsy!

When Tomiko got to the vet, they did a routine ultrasound before the procedure began. And that is when everything changed.

Tomiko was already bred.

She was carrying a calf. She was about 90-100 days along and it was a girl!!!

Well. That was not the plan.

Oh My Goodness, Tomiko! Can this be a Miss Steak?

We were shocked.

We were excited.

And if we are being honest, we were a little scared too.

Whose Your Daddy?

Tomiko was further along than we expected, which meant Emperor was not the father. She had been bred before we even got her. The daddy was a mystery!

What if she was too young?

What if she had trouble delivering?

But then the excitement started to win out. Because here is the thing — we got a two-fer!

We bought Tomiko and now we are getting a surprise calf with completely different genetics, totally unrelated to Emperor.

And since she is a heifer, we get to keep her.

When she is old enough, she will be bred to Emperor. The possibilities are already making our heads spin in the best way.

God has a funny way of surprising you, even when you think you have a good plan.

And We Named Her "Tomikos Miss Steak"

The name just fits.

We went with Tomikos Miss Steak — no apostrophe, because the Wagyu registry simply does not allow them. But the meaning is all there.

The story gets even better and you can't make this stuff up, so stay tuned for more in the weeks to come.

We hope you love our cow stories. They seem to happen faster than we can tell them!

Steer Lineup

Because you read our blog and follow our story, you get to hear about all of our updates before anyone else.

More and more families are choosing to buy their food directly from local farmers and ranchers, and we are deeply grateful that so many of them are choosing Weise Farms for their beef. Because of that, we have a limited number of steers that are not yet spoken for.

Getting an animal ready for harvest the way we slow-grow them takes 30 months.

By placing a deposit well in advance of when you need it helps us to plan. Just let us know your target date and we will make sure you have what you need when you need it.

Click the Buy a Half Calf tab at the top of our website to get started.

God bless you and your family, always.— Becky & Tim Weise