American Angus
Hornless black beef cattle from Scottish stock, now the most common beef breed in the USA
An American beef breed with Scottish roots, the American Angus is solid black and hornless from birth. Developed from Aberdeen Angus stock first brought over in the 1870s, it has grown into the country's most common beef breed, kept solely for meat.
- First US import in 1873: George Grant brought cattle to Victoria, Kansas, and crossed them with Longhorns
- Red calves barred from the herd book in 1917; Red Angus records them from 1954
- Some 320,000 head in 2010, the beef breed with the largest numbers in the USA
- Certified Angus Beef, the association's meat label, began in 1978
- Born hornless, and only black-coated animals may be registered
What do American Angus cattle look like?
A medium-to-large beef animal with a deep body, the American Angus carries no horns at any age. Bulls run to about 748 kg, cows to roughly 638 kg. The coat is black without exception, and the rule is enforced at the register: a red-coated calf cannot join the main herd book, whatever its breeding. As a taurine breed there is no hump or heavy neck fold, and the frame has the plain, blocky shape typical of cattle chosen purely for meat. Because colour and hornless heads are fixed, an odd red calf marks itself out at once.
Where does the American Angus come from?
The breed's story in North America starts with Scotland's Aberdeen Angus. A group of these animals was shipped to Montreal around 1859, but their later story is unrecorded. The first arrival on United States soil came in 1873, when George Grant, a landowner from Scotland, took cattle out to his settlement at Victoria in Kansas and mingled them with his Texas Longhorns. Between 1878 and 1883 a further 1,200 or so animals crossed the Atlantic. In the final year of that wave, sixty breeders met in Chicago, Illinois, and set up the American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association; the organisation took its shorter present-day title in the 1950s.
What the American Angus is known for
Writings on the breed say little about temper; what defines it is uniformity. Every accepted animal wears the same black coat and carries no horns at all. When researchers have run comparisons against Red Angus cattle, the results have shown no gap of commercial importance, so the two lines serve buyers much alike. Bulls of this breed are in demand as crossing sires, since the breed's traits carry through strongly in crossbred calves.
How the American Angus is bred and kept
The register has moulded the breed for over a century. Black and red calves alike were once written into the herd book, but from 1917 red coats were refused, and since 1954 such animals have found a home in the records of the Red Angus Association of America instead. Males work widely as sires on other herds: mated to Herefords they give the Black Baldy, a hornless black calf with a white face that combines the strong points of both parents. The breed has also helped shape hybrid lines such as the Amerifax.
American Angus, drawn
What the American Angus is kept for
Beef is the whole business of this breed; no milking or working role is claimed for it. Its commercial hold tightened in 1978, when the breed society began certifying carcasses under its Certified Angus Beef label, open to any beef that passes the set standards and not restricted to purebred American Angus animals. The breed's numbers, some 320,000 head by 2010, made it the country's most common beef kind, so its meat label carries weight in the marketplace.
Numbers, conservation and the herd book
By 2010 the total stood near 320,000 animals, close to 300,000 of them breeding females, and upwards of 22,000 registered bulls put it ahead of every other beef breed in the United States. DAD-IS, the international livestock database, recorded the breed as 'not at risk' in 2021. Cattle are spread across all 50 states, a long way from the few dozen founding members who met in Chicago in 1883.
Questions people ask about American Angus
Where does the American Angus come from?
It descends from Scottish Aberdeen Angus stock. A shipment reached Montreal around 1859, but its later story is unrecorded. The first United States import came in 1873, when George Grant, a Scottish landowner, took cattle to Victoria, Kansas, and crossed them with his Texas Longhorns.
What are these cattle kept for?
Meat is the only purpose. The breed is reared purely for beef, and since 1978 carcasses passing the association's standards can carry its Certified Angus Beef label, which does not require purebred American Angus parentage.
Why are some Angus cattle registered separately?
The American Angus register accepts black animals only. Red-coated calves were shut out from 1917 onward, and from 1954 the Red Angus Association of America has kept its own record of them under the Red Angus name.
How big do they get?
A mature bull weighs about 748 kg and a cow around 638 kg. Both sexes are polled, meaning naturally hornless, and the coat must be black to enter the register.
How many are there?
The 2010 count was roughly 320,000 head, with nearly 300,000 breeding cows and more than 22,000 registered bulls, ahead of every other beef breed in the country. DAD-IS gave it 'not at risk' status in 2021.
Good reading and sources
- American Angus on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "American Angus", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryCow rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. Sizes, colours and customs differ from one herd, valley or breeder to the next. Folk beliefs are described as tradition, never as advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-16.
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