Year-end report shows continued success across entities and departments.
The American Angus Association® closed out another successful year, confirmed in the fiscal year-end report. The 2019 fiscal year, which spanned from Oct. 1, 2018, to Sept. 30, 2019, recorded the fifth consecutive year of at least 300,000 registrations at 304,577 total head registered.
“The American Angus Association and all its entities have made significant strides in the past year to deliver more value to our members,” said Mark McCully, American Angus Association CEO. “Among those strides are updating the $Value Indexes, improving expected progeny difference (EPD) models and adding new foot score and research pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) EPDs, beginning the creation of the new Pasture to Publish Sale Book Portal from Angus Media, redesigning the Angus Beef Bulletin and creating more demand for our beef through the Certified Angus Beef brand. We’re looking forward to another year of celebrating tradition and making progress in 2020.”
Fiscal year 2019 saw 159,841 genomic tests submitted with the total genotyped animals in the database climbing to 697,901. In addition, the Association has been promoting the MaternalPlus® whole-herd reporting option to continue down the road to a longevity EPD. The additional maternal trait data will expand reproductive and cow survivability tools.
More than 72,000 head of feeder cattle were enrolled in Angus LinkSM and the Association’s USDA Process Verified Program (PVP), AngusSource®. The Association increased its verification lineup by adding five more Process Verified claims that included: Non-Hormone Treated Cattle (NHTC), NeverEver3 (NE3), Cattle Care and Handling, Calf Management, and Angus- Sired Genetics. Commercial producers responded positively. NHTC was added to 38 percent of the enrollments, while 21 percent chose the NeverEver3 claim.
The Association produced the first-ever documentary on the effect of urban sprawl on five Angus producers and American agriculture as a whole — Losing Ground, an I Am Angus® production. Between RFD-TV and the Angus TV Youtube channel, the film has been viewed more than 170,000 times, and it has been accepted to four film festivals, where it has been selected as Best Documentary twice.
Angus Genetics Inc.
Angus Genetics Inc. developed tools in fiscal year 2019 that were the first of their kind. A beef industry first: The Foot Score expected progeny difference (EPD) project was completed, and those two traits, Foot Angle and Claw Set, were moved from research EPDs on sires to publishing them weekly on the entire population. In addition, a research EPD for pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) was launched by the American Angus Association on Feb. 1, 2019, which is a breed association first.
In cooperation with AGI, the American Angus Association updated the $Value Indexes ($Values) after an extensive research project. Included in this effort were improved models for feed intake and mature weight EPDs. As key components of the new Maternal Weaned Calf Value ($M), further refinement of these trait evaluations increased accuracy of $Values.
Certified Angus Beef LLC
For the 13th year in a row,the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand reported record sales, settling at 1.25 billion pounds. It’s also the 15th consecutive year of sales growth. A global network of nearly 19,000 licensed processor, foodservice and retail partners marketed an additional 38 million pounds, or a 3.1 percent increase, over the previous year.
CAB acceptance rate—the percentage of Angus-type cattle meeting the brand’s 10 carcass specifications—rose to a record 35 percent this year. That 5.65 million certified carcasses came to 471,000 more than last year’s tally.
CAB set sales records in all but three months of fiscal year 2019; six months ranked among the top 10 sales months in the brand’s 41-year history. Sales were up across all divisions, from retail and foodservice to international and value-added products.
Angus Media
Angus Media started development of Pasture to Publish, which will provide Angus breeders a new look at sale book creation, promotion and viewing. The Angus Journal® turned a page in history celebrating 100 years of reporting on the American Angus Association, the Angus breed and the beef cattle industry. The Angus Beef Bulletin® was redesigned from the traditional black-and-white tabloid to a four-color, glossy magazine, and the content now includes an editorial focus uniquely devoted to its audience of commercial cattlemen. The makeover earned the coveted James Flanagan Award for most improved publication from the Livestock Publications Council.
Angus Foundation
The Angus Foundation, the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arm of the American Angus Association, continues to support Angus education, youth and research. This year, the Foundation awarded 113 scholarships to 102 youth that totaled $286,700. A total of $611,450 was invested in youth and adult educational programs, and 1,809 youth and adults participated in the programs. The Angus Foundation also invested $126,000 in research for the future of the Angus breed.
To see the 2019 Annual Report with more information about the past year, visit Angus.org/AnnualReport.
— Written by Rachel Robinson, Angus Communications