The History of Red Angus Seven innovative families chose to use Red Angus in 1954 to establish the industry’s first performance registry. Throughout its history, the Red Angus Association of America has maintained this objec- tive focus and has earned a well deserved reputa- tion for leadership and innovation. By making the right choices over time, and ignoring the short term pressures of industry fads, demand for Red Angus genetics by the beef industry is at an all time high. “Red Angus are of exactly the same origin as (black) Angus cattle.” - Dr. Herman Purdy, “Breeds of Cattle” THE ORIGIN OF “ANGUS” EARLY ANGUS HERDBOOKS introduced into Aberdeen Angus cattle Little is known of the exact early ori- in the eighteenth century when the larg- The first Aberdeen Angus herdbook, gin of the cattle that would become the er English Longhorns, predominantly published in 1862 in Scotland, entered Aberdeen Angus breed. Although some red in color, were crossed with the small- both reds and blacks without distinction. historians feel that polled cattle existed er native polled cattle in order to provide The practice of registering red and black in Scotland before recorded history, most for animals sufficiently large to be used cattle in the same herdbook is still prac- authorities feel that the early ancestors for draft purposes. ticed today in Britain and every other for the breed resulted from the inter- Shortly after the turn of the nineteenth major beef producing country in the breeding of small, dun-colored hornless century many Scottish breeders looked world, except the United States. cattle introduced in the eighth-century very favorably on the use of the Aberdeen Angus were introduced into by raiding Norseman with the indige- improved Shorthorn breed as a method America in the 1870s and soon attained nous horned cattle of Northeastern to upgrade native stock. This crossing high popularity. The first American Scotland. Although the cattle tended to was so widely practiced that unim- herdbooks, published in 1886 and 1888 be black, in his book, Modern Breeds of proved Aberdeen Angus cattle of the respectively, made no record as to the Livestock, H.M. Briggs states “the cattle region were threatened with extinction. color of individual animals. In 1890, found in Northern Scotland were not of Since the first Angus Herdbook was not twenty-two reds were registered in the uniform color, and many of the cattle of published until 1862, it can be presumed American Aberdeen Angus Herdbook of the early day had varied color markings that the introduction of improved some 2,700 individuals entered that year. or broken color patterns. Many of the Shorthorn blood in the early part of the In 1917, the American Aberdeen Angus cattle were polled but some few had nineteenth century had a positive impact Association barred the registration of the horns.” on what was to become the modern reds and other colors altogether. This Englishmen Robert Bakewell is rightly Aberdeen Angus breed. severe discrimination against the red known as the “Father of Animal color in an effort to assure a pure black ANGUS - RED OR BLACK? Breeding” for his work starting in 1760 strain brought a marked decline in the breeding English Longhorn cattle as well Hugh Watson of Keillor, Scotland is number of red calves born in American as sheep and horses. By setting a definite universally recognized as the father of herds. ideal and then breeding the best to the the modern Aberdeen Angus breed. That the red cattle were an untapped best regardless of relationship, he proved When he started his farming activities in genetic resource was summed up well desirable characteristics could be fixed 1808, he received six of the “best and by Leon J. Cole and Sara V. H. Jones of and true breeding strains could be estab- blackest cows, as well as a bull” from his the University of Wisconsin Agricultural lished. The implementation of these father’s herd. That same summer, he also Experiment Station in their 1920 publica- principles resulted in the formation of visited the leading Scottish cattle mar- tion on “The Occurrence of Red Calves modern breeds as we know them. In kets acquiring ten heifers and a bull that in Black Breeds of Cattle:” 1784, breeders of Shorthorn cattle showed the Angus characteristics he was “One more point should be emphasized, became the first to implement Bakewell’s striving to breed. According to Briggs, namely that the red individuals appearing in methods; while in Scotland, Hugh “the (purchased) females were of various such stock (Aberdeen Angus)...are just as Watson in 1808 and William McCombie colors, but the bull was black; Watson truly ‘purebred’ as their black relatives, and in 1829 are credited with the earliest use decided the color of his herd should be there is no reason why, in all respects save of Bakewell’s principles in the breeding black and he started to select in that color, they should not be fully as valuable. of Aberdeen Angus. direction.” Although black became the The fact that they are discarded while the Eric L.C. Pentecost, a noted English most desired color for the breed, because blacks are retained is simply due to the turn breeder of Red Angus cattle, hypothe- red is a recessive gene, it would remain of fortune that black rather than red became sized that one source of red color was in the genepool. established fashion for the Aberdeen Angus breed. Had red been the chosen color, there would never have been any trouble with the appearance of blacks as off-color individuals, since red-to-red breeds true.” IT WAS PERFORMANCE FROM THE BEGINNING In 1945, various cattlemen throughout the United States started selecting and breeding reds cropped from the best black Aberdeen Angus herds in America. In 1954, seven visionary breeders gath- ered to establish a unique breeder’s organization known as the Red Angus Association of America (RAAA). Rejecting the norms of the times, the RAAA was designed around the new scientific principles of performance test- ing. Founding member George Chiga Open A.I. explained, “The establishment of Red Angus (Association) was more than an Artificial Insemination has proven to accumulation of numbers. It was dream- be one of the most powerful tools in the ing of a new approach.” In August of beef industry’s genetic progress. HOW THE RED 1954, the Association’s first president, However, prior to the 1970’s, most breed Waldo Forbes, Sr., summed-up the vision associations enforced strict regulations of the founding members: making the technology impractical for COLOR WORKS many breeders. However, the RAAA in “The policy of the (Red Angus) Association 1954 set its own course in which A.I. was is to discourage the more artificial practices open and unrestricted within the Red in purebred cattle production and to place its Angus breed. faith instead in objective tests, consisting for Objective Evaluation the most part of comparisons within herds of Red Angus was the first to incorpo- factors of known economic importance and rate performance data in the showring, known heritability... By making this an inte- holding the first “performance” show in gral part of the registration system, Red 1956. It was not until the 1990’s that Black red carrier Angus cows Angus breeders feel that even faster progress some breeds started to use objective data produce red calves. can be made toward the ultimate goal of in the showring as an additional evalua- more efficient beef production.” B = dominant black gene tion tool for the judge, besides the tradi- b = recessive red gene tional visual appraisal of animals. According to RAAA’s first executive Although Red Angus is not known as a bb = homozygous red secretary, Sally Forbes, “Waldo was “show breed”, the Association does BB = homozygous black above all interested in developing a sponsor a National Show each year with Bb = heterozygous black, red carrier breed performance program rather than the judge being provided objective data building a new breed for its own sake for traits of economic relevance to the and the charter members of the industry. Association were...much of the same bb BB mind.” So, from the beginning, perform- The Common Denominator Red Black ance data was required for registration RAAA’s founders saw crossbreeding of all cattle. The ultimate goal was to ini- as an opportunity to expand commercial Bb tiate a system to objectively evaluate and utilization of the breed, and as early as Black Red Carrier select cattle based on traits of economic 1961, began promoting the use of Red importance, and to build an Association Angus in planned crossbreeding sys- b b that would adopt and embrace scientific tems. This was approximately ten years Red x Red innovation. before the industry even started to b bb bb 100% progeny will The RED ANGUS accept crossbreeding as a tool for com- be red (even if any mercial cow/calf production. In 1970, bb bb red parent had a ASSOCIATION of AMERICA b black parent) (RAAA) Red Angus continued its industry lead- has long been noted for its far- ership by starting and promoting an F-1 sighted vision of beef production. Over a program. The influx of Continental b b variety of fronts Red Angus has either breeds in the late 1960’s and 70’s offered Black Red Carrier x Red led the industry, or been an early another foothold for breed growth due B Bb Bb 50% progeny will be adopter of new technologies. This mav- to the complementary traits Red Angus red and 50% will be erick attitude allowed the RAAA to black.