Why the big push for Angus cattle?

[tcreeley]

American Angus Association - FAQs
Angus Cattle
Certified Angus beef

 

[Creamer]

The Angus people have done well with their marketing but they have also protected their brand. The black color is dominant and will mask many other breeds - back in the 70s it was amazing how quickly some black herds changed size from the baby beef of the 60s to the much larger animals preferred in the 70s.

There is a definite taste and tenderness difference between the english breeds - Hereford, Angus and Shorthorn - and others. A lot of this comes from the type of muscling and marbling in the meat and can be seen in the carcass which is how Angus has been able to protect their brand. Personally I prefer Herefords for the docility but when it comes to the meat there is not much difference - especially how they have both been bred for the last 30 years. Gain, feed conversion, reproductivity, climate adaptation, uniformity (critical for fitting into boxed beef packaging), gradability, marbling, low backfat, yield grade, etc are some of the major reasons producers and packers can get higher pricing for Angus cattle and therefore tend to pay a little more.

While some of the other breeds such as Charolais, Limousine, Simental, Gelbvieh, Maine Anjou, Chianina may look taller, straighter, and more muscular they do not put the full package together. Some may be better in certain climates or for certain markets but for the general meat market the Angus and Hereford produce the highest returns and the Angus brand is marketed better.

 

[k0ua]

I haven't had anything to do with the beef business in 45 years, but I can tell you why we switched to Registered Angus from our Hereford and Hereford cross operation.
Mainly it was Pink Eye and general hardy-ness. Angus did not seem to get Pink Eye, and were a much tougher hardier breed of cattle.. Instead of loosing calves to coyotes and dog packs, they killed coyotes and dogs, or at least chased them out of their field. They also would not put up with woodchucks/groundhogs in their fields. They were tougher cattle, and we had less losses, and less "doctoring" needed.. They were also meaner when it came time to give them their required shots, and it required us to beef up our holding pens, chutes and headstocks to treat them as they would tear up weak facilities. But overall we were satisfied that this breed of cattle were a better value for us. At least this is what I remember from long ago.

 

[vtsnowedin]

I haven't had anything to do with the beef business in 45 years, but I can tell you why we switched to Registered Angus from our Hereford and Hereford cross operation.
Mainly it was Pink Eye and general hardy-ness. Angus did not seem to get Pink Eye, and were a much tougher hardier breed of cattle.. Instead of loosing calves to coyotes and dog packs, they killed coyotes and dogs, or at least chased them out of their field. They also would not put up with woodchucks/groundhogs in their fields. They were tougher cattle, and we had less losses, and less "doctoring" needed.. They were also meaner when it came time to give them their required shots, and it required us to beef up our holding pens, chutes and headstocks to treat them as they would tear up weak facilities. But overall we were satisfied that this breed of cattle were a better value for us. At least this is what I remember from long ago.

All of that rings true to what I have seen plus they can drop a calf in a blizzard and have the calf running circles around its dam when it wasn't bunting her up for it's next meal.

 

[Creamer]

I haven't had anything to do with the beef business in 45 years, but I can tell you why we switched to Registered Angus from our Hereford and Hereford cross operation.
Mainly it was Pink Eye and general hardy-ness. Angus did not seem to get Pink Eye, and were a much tougher hardier breed of cattle.. Instead of loosing calves to coyotes and dog packs, they killed coyotes and dogs, or at least chased them out of their field. They also would not put up with woodchucks/groundhogs in their fields. They were tougher cattle, and we had less losses, and less "doctoring" needed.. They were also meaner when it came time to give them their required shots, and it required us to beef up our holding pens, chutes and headstocks to treat them as they would tear up weak facilities. But overall we were satisfied that this breed of cattle were a better value for us. At least this is what I remember from long ago.

I never had to deal with the wild dogs or Woodchucks/goundhogs but never much of a coyote problem with Herefords. I do agree that there were certainly less pink-eye, foot rot, and those type of things with Angus. I do remember our neighbor who had a nice tame herd of Angus that I was helping sort one day. They were very tame and walking through the corral with them they would not move so I would pat them on the butt and they would kick me real lightly. It didn't hurt as it was just a light tap but after twenty or thirty my shins started to get sore. I wasn't used to that.
When I was really small (5-6 years old) and helping to bring cattle in from pasture in the fall, after a few miles i would get tired and my older brothers would pick me up and put me on the back of one of the bulls that was plodding along behind the herd. The old bull would just turn his head and look to see what happened and then just plodded along. I guess my 50 lbs wasn't worth getting rid of. Wouldn't have done that with an Angus.

 

[k0ua]

We had a few of the Angus cows that were fairly tame. At least tame enough you could scratch their heads, especially if you offered them something to eat with the other hand. But over all Angus do not like to be messed with. They just want to be left alone, by every thing. As for the woodchuck/groundhogs, they would repeatedly stomp their holes shut. The bulls would get down and actually push the dirt mound shut with their heads. Of course the ground hog would dig out, but this became a war of wills with the Angus and they would just repeatedly close up their holes until the groundhogs would get disgusted and move on. I have never seen another breed of cattle do that.

 

[Reyer Farms]

I feel that it is really good marketing. It allows the folks that don't know anything to identify and have a preference (they buy it). I will probably anger someone but... It's like anything in agriculture a large group of the general public fall into one of two categories: Ignorant or apathetic. They don't know or don't care about agriculture. I don't have anything against an Angus, black or red. We raise Pineywoods cattle, it suits us and our goals, but we hope to raise some Lowline angus as well. Most people have no idea what a pineywood cow is, but show them a black cow and they think better beef. They also think it's angus, when it might be something else.
People don't know if they like a crowder pea, because they can identify purple hull peas they are the best! If you can help them learn they are usually very satisfied. Apathy unfortunately, in most cases responds poorly to treatment and can be terminal. I think as farmers we must communicate with the public objectively.

 

[jinman]

Holstein milk is so weak in butterfat that it used to be nicknamed "blue-jipp or "blue-gyp" because of it's blue-white color. There was a local dairy here that sold holstein milk for $.69 per gallon in the early '70s. People who sold guernsey milk were it's biggest critics. If you notice, Elsie the Cow and all of the Bluebell herd in Brenham, TX are guernseys.That's because ice cream takes high butterfat to be smooth and creamy.

 

[two_bit_score]

Holstein milk is so weak in butterfat that it used to be nicknamed "blue-jipp or "blue-gyp" because of it's blue-white color. There was a local dairy here that sold holstein milk for $.69 per gallon in the early '70s. People who sold guernsey milk were it's biggest critics. If you notice, Elsie the Cow and all of the Bluebell herd in Brenham, TX are guernseys.That's because ice cream takes high butterfat to be smooth and creamy.

yep. Blu-jon is what we called it.

 

[crackerjack222]

A few years ago I attended the Beef Cattle Short Course at A&M. In one discussion, the lecturer was asked why black cattle do better in the sales ring. His answer was there was no good reason except predjudice on the part of buyers. He said tests had concluded that color does not influence profitability for either the cow/calf operator or the feedlot operator.
Obviously, others would disagree.