Red Brangus

What do Red Brangus cattle look like?

A Red Brangus is a beef animal made by crossing Angus and Brahman lines, so it carries the blood of both the humpless European kind and the humped zebu kind. The coat is red, and the head has no horns: the breed is polled, which means the calves are naturally hornless. Its frame is medium rather than large. The two parent breeds pull in different directions and the result sits between them, the Angus side giving fleshing and the Brahman side a tolerance of heat. Apart from coat colour it matches the Brangus exactly. Bulls and cows share the same red colouring and the same lack of horns; no separate figures for height or weight of either sex are recorded.

Where does the Red Brangus come from?

The breed was put together in the United States. Brahman cattle, the indicine kind, had an American breed of their own by 1924. A few years later, in the early 1930s, breeders in Louisiana began crossing Angus with Brahman, hoping to hold on to the carcass quality and the hornless head of the Angus while gaining the Brahman's ability to cope with heat and disease. In the 1940s a Texas rancher, Matthew Levi, ran a grey Brahman bull with black Angus cows. The calves came in two colours. Levi chose the red ones and bred on from them. In 1956 the Red Brangus won recognition as a breed in its own right.

What the Red Brangus is known for

The point of the cross was hardiness. Brahman blood underlies the breed's tolerance of heat and its resistance to disease, while the Angus side contributes beef quality and a head without horns. Red Brangus cattle are polled, so there is nothing to dehorn, and they are medium in size rather than rangy. The aim was a beef animal that could cope with warm climates and still yield good meat. No particular temperament is described, and the red coat is the only feature that sets the breed apart from the black Brangus.

How the Red Brangus is bred and kept

Two registers govern the breed. One serves the international body; the other, run by the American Red Brangus Association, works inside the United States. The rules differ. An animal entered in the international herd book must trace five eighths of its ancestry to Angus and three eighths to Brahman. On the American side any proportion of the two parent breeds is accepted, but the animal is inspected first. The breed began when red calves out of Angus cows put to a Brahman bull were selected and then mated among themselves, which is how a colour variant of the Brangus became a registered population in its own right.

What the Red Brangus is kept for

The Red Brangus is a beef breed, and that is the only use recorded for it. Nothing is said of milk, draught work or showing. Beef cattle of this kind are kept for their carcass, and the cross was made so that meat production could continue in hot places: the Angus side supplies the fleshing and the Brahman side the ability to withstand heat and disease. Red is simply the colour of this line, and the animals are registered as such. In outline the breed exists to yield beef in warm conditions rather than to give milk or work.

The land and climate of the Red Brangus

The breed was formed in Texas and Louisiana, warm southern states of the United States, and animals are recorded in Panama, Peru and Vietnam as well. That spread points to hot conditions rather than cold ones, though the climate the breed suits is not set out in detail. The Brahman inheritance is the reason given for its heat tolerance, and the whole purpose of the original cross made in Louisiana in the early 1930s was an animal able to resist heat and disease.

Who keeps the Red Brangus

No herding people or community is named in connection with the Red Brangus. Its recorded history is a matter of individual breeders rather than a traditional cattle-keeping group: a Texas rancher, Matthew Levi, is credited with picking out the red calves from his herd of black Angus cows and a grey Brahman bull in the 1940s. Before that, work on the parent Brangus began with breeders in Louisiana in the early 1930s. Since then the population has been handled by breed associations, with the American Red Brangus Association setting standards and keeping the register.

Related breeds and crosses

The Red Brangus is a colour variant of the Brangus and differs from it only in coat colour. Both are hybrids of American Angus and Brahman, so both carry taurine and indicine ancestry. The Angus and the Brahman are the two parent breeds, and the Brahman became a recognised American breed in 1924. The Brangus was the earlier project, started in Louisiana in the early 1930s, while the red form came out of Texas in the following decade.

Numbers, conservation and the herd book

Records from the United States show 2647 Red Brangus cattle in 2000 and 2001, a fall from 5205 counted in 1990. The FAO listed the breed as not at risk in 2007, while DAD-IS in 2022 recorded its status as unknown or at risk. Animals are kept in the United States and are also recorded in Panama, Peru and Vietnam. The American Red Brangus Association publishes the breed standard, and a second herd book serves international registration. Entry rules differ: the international register demands a fixed share of Angus and Brahman ancestry, the American one accepts any blend after inspection.

Questions people ask about Red Brangus

Good reading and sources

• Red Brangus on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data