MINAMI-SOMA, Fukushima Prefecture--Unable to ship their beef, ranchers in Fukushima Prefecture are increasingly worried that their beef cattle, fattened to the limit, will not survive the sweltering heat this summer.
MINAMI-SOMA, Fukushima Prefecture--Unable to ship their beef, ranchers in Fukushima Prefecture are increasingly worried that their beef cattle, fattened to the limit, will not survive the sweltering heat this summer.
The government banned shipments of beef cattle in the prefecture last week after tests on some meat from the animals revealed levels of radioactive cesium exceeding government safety standards.
The cattle ate rice straw kept outdoors that became contaminated after hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March spewed cesium and other radioactive materials into the atmosphere.
Now, ranchers are stuck with beef cattle that had been raised extremely obese to make them ready for shipment.
Toshitaka Ogura, a 59-year-old rancher in Minami-Soma in the prefecture, feeds his beef cattle twice a day, at 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
He raises 140 "kuroge wagyu" cattle, a breed with black hair produced by crossbreeding Japanese and non-Japanese stock.
The cows at his ranch are put into 23 separate stalls, depending on their age.
Ogura changes the content of the feed for the animals as they grow to best fatten them up for higher-quality meat.
If the ban had not been imposed, he would have shipped six heads in July. Now, for the first time, he is raising beef cattle older than 30 months.
The expenses for feed and concerns about the animals' health are weighing heavily on him.
"I wonder how much more I will have to spend on cattle feed," said Ogura, a third-generation rancher.
He spends close to 2 million yen ($26,000) a month on feed.
Ogura began cutting down the amount of feed containing vitamins four months before the expected shipment because vitamins can discolor the meat.
With fewer vitamins, however, the fattened cows' legs became swollen, making them susceptible to falls. They also run the risk of losing their eyesight.
Alarmed, he began feeding the cows with imported grass containing more vitamins.
"Since we are having the hottest time of the year, they may die suddenly," Ogura said.
Ogura wants Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the crippled nuclear plant, and the central government to buy beef cattle that he is not allowed to sell.
"We will not be able to run our business unless we receive compensation for feed and other expenses," he said.
Eishin Saito, a cattle rancher in Kitakata in the prefecture, said some of his 100 kuroge wagyu cattle are showing signs of deteriorating health.
The beef cattle at his ranch are bloated. The largest one weighs about 850 kilograms.
Saito, 56, said he used to ship one cow a week, but he has had trouble finding a buyer since the rice straw was found contaminated with cesium.
Saito has four or five beef cows ready for shipment.
One of his cows is becoming thinner and now can eat only one-third of what it once ate.
A veterinarian who treated the animal said it may have developed an adipose tumor in the intestines.
"There is nothing I can do," Saito said. "Cows with lots of fat are the first to weaken."
Saito said a local agricultural cooperative advised him and other ranchers to lower the temperature in their barns with fans and provide plenty of water and vitamins.
But an angry Saito said things are not that simple.
He makes the rounds in the barn until night every day to ensure his beef cattle are all right.
One head could fetch around 1 million yen. Losing cows for nothing, he said, would be a serious blow to him.
"Humans eat other living creatures, such as cows," Saito said. "I want them to be consumed without humans worrying about their safety."
(This article was written by Daisuke Tsujioka and Toyohiro Mishima.)