The American Angus Association® concluded a successful fiscal year in which registrations totaled more than 300,000 for the 11th consecutive year and were up nearly 2.4% from the year prior. Regular and junior memberships totaled 21,467. Leading seedstock sales during a record year in the cattle markets, registered Angus bulls and females both garnered high-dollar prices.
Bulls averaged $8,395 and females bested that number by $41 – an increase of $1,200 and nearly $1,600 respectively compared to the year prior. Demand not only supported the sale of cattle at a higher dollar but also an increase in the number of head sold during the same period. These market trends were the focus of several sessions held at the 2025 Angus Convention, October 31 – November 2, in Kansas City.
“We are fortunate to not only enjoy this historic market, but do it as a leader in the industry. That is not something we take lightly,” said Mark McCully, chief executive officer of the Association, while addressing the membership at the convention. “We have a responsibility to continue to improve the Angus breed by supporting our producers.”
McCully said the Association remains focused on supporting the continued success of the Angus breed through programs, tools and resources that help producers meet their individual operation’s goals. During the fiscal year, the Association added and made improvements to its toolkit for members.
As a result of years of data collection and research, the Association released three new expected progeny differences (EPDs) in 2025: Functional Longevity (FL), Teat Size (Teat) and Udder Suspension (UDDR). Alongside the release, Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI®) updated the Maternal Weaned Calf Value ($M) and Combined Value ($C) dollar value indexes ($Values) to account for the three new maternal EPDs. At the close of the 2025 fiscal year, there were more than 433,000 combined scores for teat size and udder suspension and 8.9 million records collected from 2.1 million females behind FL.
To better communicate the value of registered Angus genetics and allow for a direct comparison to sires’ $Values, AGI® added $Values to their genetic testing product for commercial females, GeneMax® Advantage™. The update creates a common language, so both buyer and seller can make direct comparisons and more easily evaluate a given bull’s genetic potential to meet the goals of a commercial herd.
These tools are possible thanks to decades of data collections efforts by Association members, who have built the largest single beef breed database. In an ongoing effort to maintain the database and best characterize the current Angus population through data collection, Angus Herd Improvements Records (AHIR®) launched a new program to recognize members committed to that effort. During its inaugural year, 129 herds earned Data Driven Herd recognition. AHIR also saw a 16% increase in enrollment in Inventory Reporting.
The close of fiscal year also marked one year of a partnership between AngusLink SM, National Beef Packing Co., LLC (NBP) and U.S. Premium Beef, LLC (USPB). In a first-of-its-kind program, producers selling to USPB earned premiums based on the genetic merit of their cattle, as measured by the AngusLink Genetic Merit Scorecard SM. Looking at data from August 2024 through mid-February 2025, over 44% of cattle that have qualified for the program have graded Prime; compared to industry average of 11% Prime. Qualifying cattle have averaged more than $200 per head premium over selling in the cash market.
The partnership’s success has been a testament to the AngusLinkSM value-added program. Since 2019, premiums paid out total $94.5 million. Over the last year, more than 287,000 cattle have been enrolled in AngusLink, resulting in producers earning an average premium of $20.92 per hundredweight. Nearly 19,000 registered Angus bulls were represented in fiscal year 2025 enrollments.
Driving a growing demand for Angus genetics, Certified Angus Beef sold 1.235 billion pounds of branded beef with 17,000 licensed partners worldwide, the 10th consecutive year above 1 billion pounds. Engaging producers across the industry, Certified Angus Beef concluded the second year of its Raised with RespectTM campaign having facilitated the Beef Quality Assurance certification of more than 1,600 ranchers.
Serving the advertising and communications needs of members, Angus MediaSM created more than 19,000 custom sale book pages. In the past year, the Angus Journal® printed 948 news articles, and the Angus Beef Bulletin® provided commercial readers with 239 industry news articles. Downloads for the publications’ podcasts neared 140,000.
The Angus Foundation continues to expand its reach and support of youth, education and research; awarding $395,500 through scholarships. Members supporting the mission donated more than $660,000 in unrestricted funds and $5,517,260 in additional donations and grants.
The Fund the Future campaign, which contributes to the unrestricted Angus Fund, was supported by 18 donors and raised more than $81,000 through the sale of donated lots.
To view the 2025 Association’s Annual Report and financial report, visit https://bit.ly/AAA_AnnualReport25.
