Why the big push for Angus cattle?

[CTW]

Growing up in South Texas, I can only recall a handful of ranchers that would run Angus in their pastures but now that's the primary choice of buyers at the auction ring. I believe the marketing of this breed is over-blown. All one can see these days is "certified Angus" labled on every piece of packaged beef product, butcher counters and even fast food burger joints. Even Superior Livestock Auction is saturated with Angus during their online and televised auctions. I'm not trying to take anything away from the breed, just don't understand the big push.

 

[vtsnowedin]

There is a flavor difference between breeds of cattle. Angus is one of the best tasting ones that also bulk up profitably. The also are polled (No horns) do well in winter conditions and have few calving problems.
For those that have grown up on dairy farms the "colored beef" Jersey and Guernsey breeds have fat marbling that is a yellowish color and a distinctly different flavor that some enjoy and others turn their nose up at. To me a Jersey or Guernsey steer tastes better then an Angus or Hereford one but they don't put on weight as profitably as an Angus on the same feed so the Angus wins out.
They are really hyping the marketing of Angus beef and I'll wager they are selling more of it then there are real Angus head going to slaughter but most costumers will never know the difference.

 

[RickB]

Marketing. Marketing. Marketing. The first requirement for "Certified Angus" is the beef has to come from a carcass with 51% black hide. Purebred Angus are all black.

 

[Bird]

Just another thing that's changed over the years. When I was a kid, Hereford was the beef breed of choice, and Guernsey was the milk producing breed of choice; now I guess it's Holstein. Our own milk cows were Jersey and bred to Hereford to produce our meat.

 

[tcreeley]

I always liked the creamy taste of Guernsey milk, and it was yellower! We shifted to Holsteins because they were bigger producers. Today's market is not looking for high butterfat like it once was. We used to show both breeds in 4H. A lot of fun. Each breed has its own distinct personality. I'd say the Guernseys were sweeter than the Holsteins. I only ever was around a Jersey for a few months, nice cow. I always thought that Jerseys are for cattle like Arabs are for horses- temperamental - needing the right touch!
-The lowest producer in the barn is the one that ended up in the freezer every year along with a steer. Regardless of the breed, the cuts of meat were far better than anything I've ever seen in the super market. We also ate veal. -Never bothered with beef cattle, no need.
...Those were the days!

 

[texasjohn]

Exactly...marketing and something easy to "brand"....Black is easy to see, and breed for. Cattle breeds go in cycles. Since you are in south Texas, and I have raised cattle for years in Texas...below are a few of my observations and opinions...and observations.

All beef cattle eat about the same, given the same feed program to slaughter.

Black hides can be put on calves with bulls from Angus, Maine Anjou, Brangus, Spanish fighting cattle, Holstein, and many, many others. The Angus breed association capitalized on their color and that of many other breeds.

The best cow and bull is the one that works for you and fits your operation...regardless of breed.

Beefmasters, which I raise, have six criteria for breeding selection: disposition, weight gain, fertility, hardiness, milking ability and conformation for cutability.

Color and horns are not a Beefmaster criteria. You can't eat the horns or hide. Breeding for only one characteristic makes fast progress in that direction for a breed while allowing many problems to develop in the breed. Examples, not expressed in every individual, include:

Hereford...pink eye, tropical decline, heat sensitivity, dwarfism, insect susceptibility
Angus...temperament can lead to going thru fences, insect susceptibility
polled gene is linked to lazy prepuse in bulls and injury from stepping on
long horn...lack of meat conformation, slow weight gain
Charolais...large birth weight calves, calving problems, slow breeding
many other examples exist for other breeds as well

The Angus breed focuses on color and marketing while the cow/calf producer has to focus on a live calf, gentle cattle he can pen and handle, weight gain at sale time, a calf every 12 months from a cow, avoid vet bills and insect problems, and good meat conformation at sale time.

True story...my neighbor was raising black baldies...mix of Hereford and Angus...he had to have vet come and dig ticks out from all the ears of his cattle...so many they were falling down the ear canal, festering and causing infections, cattle staggering around. Vet visited next day to give my heifers their brucelosis vaccination (mandatory at the time) and looked in ears and all over my cattle. We found one tick crawling, not stuck, on one of my heifers. Conclusion, Beefmasters have a natural insect resistance as a result of their hardiness selection criteria.

That said, everybody defends their favorite breed...use what works for you...but select individuals which fit your climate and terrain and management skills. I put disposition as the first criteria, if you can't load it into a trailer from your pens, you can't even sell the animal.

Marketing. Marketing. Marketing. The first requirement for "Certified Angus" is the beef has to come from a carcass with 51% black hide. Purebred Angus are all black.

 

[Larro Darro]

We started out with mostly black, white faced cows with horns. We ran two herds and bought bulls as needed from our cousin, who was a big time farmer. We used Hereford, Angus, Charolais, Limousin and Brahma over the years, changing according to what was popular at the time, and what bull we could get for a good price when we had to replace one. Each of the cross breeds had their own traits, but the Angus crossed with Brahma was the craziest cows I have ever worked with. Each year we would either sell the heifers, or move them to the other herd so they wouldn't breed back with their daddy. We had one that climbed the highest fence we could build. After fighting her for three or four days, trying to get her in the trailer, she climbed the fence for the last time. As much as we would have liked to have sold her, she never came back in a pen the rest of her life. As you would drive in the pasture with a roll of hay, when all the other cows would come running toward the truck, she would run the other way. A couple of her calves died, but once we traded bulls, the rest of them lived. But some of them were just as crazy as she was.

Larro

 

[texasjohn]

Yep, Larrro, I've found disposition to be EXTREMELY heritable. Bad cow = bad calves. Bad bull = all crazy calves.
But, doesn't matter to the meat packer, as long as the hide is black...of course, it's got to be penned a few times before it gets there.

 

[RSKY]

We raised beef on a small scale when I was a kid. We always bought at least one Jersey to fatten for our on use.

 

[two_bit_score]

Growing up in South Texas, I can only recall a handful of ranchers that would run Angus in their pastures but now that's the primary choice of buyers at the auction ring. I believe the marketing of this breed is over-blown. All one can see these days is "certified Angus" labled on every piece of packaged beef product, butcher counters and even fast food burger joints. Even Superior Livestock Auction is saturated with Angus during their online and televised auctions. I'm not trying to take anything away from the breed, just don't understand the big push.

Marketing. Marketing. Marketing. The first requirement for "Certified Angus" is the beef has to come from a carcass with 51% black hide. Purebred Angus are all black.

Correct about the marketing. There is more to it than 51% black hide.