Red Angus

Dedicated red herds began forming around 1945, and the Red Angus Association of America was established at a meeting in Fort Worth, Texas in 1954. The red gene itself may trace to eighteenth-century crosses made to add size and draft ability to the Scottish stock; it has been part of the breed ever since.

Polled, solid red, and Angus in every measurable way: comparative trials have not identified any difference of commercial significance between Red Angus and black Angus. Average weights run about 1,400 lb for cows and 1,980 for bulls. By 2008 there were roughly 47,000 registered animals in the United States, making it the fifth most numerous beef breed in the country.

The Red Angus Association of America leads with three traits, maternal strength, docility and carcass quality, and its history of the breed credits Red Angus with a good disposition. Its published EPD averages carry no docility trait, so temperament is something to judge on the herd and ask the breeder about; the association says it encourages good stockmanship and sound visual appraisal in selection.

Cornell's general guidance on beef cattle safety holds here too: a cow with a newborn calf can be very aggressive, so avoid walking between her and the calf, and no bull can be trusted.

The carcass traits, the calving ease and the maternal reputation are the same as the black breed's, because the foundation is the same. They are used the same way: maternal herds, carcass programs and crossbreeding.

The color earns its keep in heat. A red hide reflects more solar radiation than a black one, which shows up as less heat stress in southern herds and is a real reason to choose them below a certain latitude.

The trade is at the sale barn. Black-hided calves fit more branded programs and generally draw a wider set of buyers, so a red calf can sell for less than an identical black one for no reason other than color.

Registration runs through the Red Angus Association of America, the body founded in 1954, which has pushed performance testing since its founding.

Recent sale prices on HoofnHorn, where there are any, are further down this page.