The American Angus Association concluded a successful fiscal year, expanding the breed’s market share. The 2024 fiscal year marked the 10th consecutive year of more than 300,000 registrations. In addition, the Association surpassed 21 million total registrations. Regular and junior memberships totaled 21,443. 

“Despite record low inventory in the beef industry, the Association continues to see strong registration numbers and year-over-year growth,” says Mark McCully, CEO of the Association. “It illustrates The Business Breed’s prominent position in the market; more than 80% of the U.S. cow herd is now Angus-influenced.” This was one of many takeaways garnered from the Industry Insights Survey, which was released in the first quarter and conducted by Angus Media and CattleFax.  

The breed also celebrated a historic industry milestone with the announcement from National Beef Packing Co., LLC (NPB) to pay grid premiums for genetic merit. As of Aug. 5, NPB pays a $5 per-head premium for cattle on their U.S. Premium Beef, LLC grid with an AngusLink^SM Genetic Merit Scorecard^SM (GMS) Beef Score of 100 or greater. Beginning Dec. 1, cattle with a Beef Score of at least 150 will receive a $10 premium. This is in addition to the nearly $17 per hundredweight (cwt.) average premium paid on feeder cattle enrolled in AngusLink value-added programs during the past year, even as annual enrollments grew by 76%. 

AngusLink is one of many programs and tools the Association and its subsidiaries continue to expand to better support Angus breeders and drive demand for their products. During the fiscal year, Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) processed 218,497 genomic samples — a 5.6% increase from the year prior. In partnership with the Association’s Angus Herd Improvement Records (AHIR^®), AGI also released research expected progeny differences (rEPDs) for both teat size and udder suspension. More than 148,000 phenotypic records for each trait were collected from 87,000 cows to contribute to the dataset for the rEPDs.  

Angus Media welcomed Benjie Lemon as its new president in June 2024. His team ended the year having created 573 custom sale books and sold 3,170 advertising pages. The Angus Journal^® produced more than 3,500 pages of breeder news and articles, while the Angus Beef Bulletin ^® provided commercial readers with 960 pages of industry news and insights.

In a joint effort to better serve readers, members and commercial producers, Angus Media and the Association launched a new, redesigned website. The retooled homepage of Angus.org allows visitors a choice of three actions; to learn about Angus advantages, go to the commercial cattlemen’s corner, or visit the member center. Each section has resources, news and links specifically curated for different types of Angus producers. 

Angus Foundation continues to expand its reach and support of youth, education and research; having awarded more than $388,000 in scholarship dollars and raising nearly $800,000 in donations in the fiscal year. Under the Angus Foundation’s guidance and with additional funds from Ingram Angus and the Association, BEEF Academy launched in July 2024. The new youth-focused, online learning platform is a go-to-resource for beef industry education for National Junior Angus Association members. In the future, the platform will be available to schools and other organizations to utilize. 

Driving growing demand for Angus genetics, Certified Angus Beef sold 1.236 billion pounds of branded beef with 18,000 licensed partners worldwide. Engaging producers across the industry, Certified Angus Beef concluded the first year of its Raised with Respect^TM campaign having facilitated the Beef Quality Assurance  (BQA) certification of more than 1,500 ranchers.  

“Today’s consumers have greater interest in how their beef is raised and the practices behind it,” says John Stika, president of Certified Angus Beef. “Programs like BQA help bring our customers and beef community closer together in that understanding, building trust to ensure a sustainable future for our industry.” The program which is funded in partnership by Sysco has been greenlighted for another year. 

To view the 2024 Angus Annual Report and to view the Association’s complete financial report, visit https://bit.ly/AAA_AnnualReport24.