Black Angus Information

Black Angus cattle are a popular choice for beef ranchers due to their fast growth and great temperaments. Black Angus are well-known for passing their traits to other breeds when crossed with them. While inheritable traits are usually passed down, being able to improve other types of cattle with the most desirable traits is not something all breeds are good at, and many other types of cattle do not have those traits that ranchers value in a Black Angus. These are just a few of the many great characteristics of the breed that have helped make them one of the backbones of the beef cattle industry.

  1. Type

    • Black Angus cattle are a beef breed of cattle raised for the production of meat. They are so good at what they do as a breed (creating the ultimate beef production herd) that they are often called "the business breed."

    Temperament

    • The Black Angus cows make great mothers and calve easily. Even though Black Angus cattle are one of the most docile of the cattle breeds, they are still large animals capable of injuring handlers even if they aren't trying to. However, the bulls are relatively easy to handle, compared to other cattle breeds.

    Color

    • Black Angus is in fact a distinct type of the Angus breed that comprises both black and red varieties. Even though both red and black are Angus, they are considered separate breeds. The Black Angus became the more popular of the two Angus varieties among ranchers because their rich black color also acted as a natural sun block, preventing sunburn or heat stroke in very hot climates. In big cattle states like Texas, the dark skin pigment of the black cattle is especially valued. The black skin pigment also makes for dark udders that aren't as susceptible to sunburn in cold climates where the sun could be reflected off snow on the ground.

    Cost

    • The cost of Black Angus cattle varies, depending on whether they are purebred or cross-bred with other breeds. It also varies between show quality and breeding stock quality animals within the breed, but purebred animals can run between $700 and several hundred thousand for the best show quality, top production bulls. Cross-bred Angus are much cheaper as a general rule, depending on their use, but still have an added advantage of being worth more because of their Angus background. Livestock are usually sold in an auction, so prices can vary greatly due to bidding wars. Some are sold "private treaty" to individual buyers, but prices are often inflated in those situations.

    Meat Quality

    • Industry-wide, Black Angus meat quality is considered some of the best available. Prices per pound of beef reflect the high quality of meat produced by the breed. The swift growth of cattle gives ranchers the added benefit of larger profits from less time spent raising market steers and larger profits from greater size at sale age.