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The Aberdeen-Angus breed was developed in the early part of the 19th century from the polled and predominantly black cattle of North east Scotland known locally as “doddies” and “hummlies”.
The earliest families trace back to the middle of the eighteenth century but it was much later that the Herd Book (1862) and the Society (1879) were founded. The breed’s establishment was entirely due to the efforts of three very progressive lairds and farmers of that time.
Hugh Watson became tenant of Keillor Farm in Angus in 1808. He gathered stock widely and produced cattle of outstanding quality and character.
William McCombie took the farm of Tillyfour in Aberdeenshire in 1824 and founded a herd from predominantly Keillor bloodlines. His well documented close breeding produced outstanding cattle that he showed widely in England and France. The reputation of the Aberdeen-Angus breed was founded on the efforts of the McCombie family.
Sir George Macpherson-Grant returned to his inherited estate at Ballindalloch, on the River Spey, from Oxford in 1861 and took up the refining of the breed that was to be his life’s work for almost 50 years.
By line breeding and selection for type, these early pioneers established the foundation for what is arguably the greatest beef breed in the world.
In those early days Britain was regarded as the fount of Aberdeen-Angus genetics and leading world breeders came here to source stock. The export market has continued to favour the Aberdeen-Angus breed and now breeders look worldwide to source the very best genetics.
Aberdeen-Angus in Ireland:
Ireland has been famous for its cattle since it first starting exporting livestock almost 1000 years ago. Since then Irish stock has played a major role in the foundation of breeding herds throughout the world, particularly in great Britain and both North and South America.
Aberdeen-Angus cattle were first introduced into Ireland as far back as the 1860’s. While Ireland has a large number of breeders with small herds of breeding females, other herds range to more than 50 females.
Breeders are dedicated and breed Aberdeen-Angus cattle with meticulous care. To grade up stock sires have been purchased from Scotland, America and Canada enabling breeders to keep pace with modern demands.
For the past 20 years or more Irish bred bulls have had a major influence on the breed throughout the British Isles, with bulls and their offspring often featured in the championship line ups at the Perth Bull Sales.
Bunlahy Bilty G202 from Messrs Gerry Reynolds was intermediate and overall champion at the October 2008 Perth Bull sales and went on to sell for the day’s top price of the day of 10,000gns to the judge David Lucas, Cheeklaw Aberdeen-Angus, Duns, Berwickshire.
The Irish Aberdeen-Angus Association, established in 1894, has more than 600 member breeders in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The influence of the breed as a sire in Irish dairy and beef herds has had a gradual increase in recent years and now accounts for 15% of all births compared to 9% in 1997.
The modern Aberdeen-angus is bigger, heavier and longer than the breed of 30 years ago, but it has retained all the traditional qualities of the breed. Breeders have been successful in improving growth rates and average 400-day weights recorded have shown increases of 73kg for bulls and 52kg for heifers.
The breed is known throughout the world for being a producer of economic and efficient producer of quality beef.
Aberdeen-Angus for the dairy herd
 The easy care breed: The dairy farmer can maximise returns from both surplus calves sold and the milk produced from cows and heifers bred to an Aberdeen-Angus bull, particularly with its outstanding reputation for easy calving.
Improve yields: It is tempting to think that a larger calf will make more money in the sale ring, but a difficult calving can drastically reduce milk yield, quickly eroding that extra income. Combine that with a gestation period which is a week to two weeks shorter than most Continental breeds, an Aberdeen-angus bull can soon improve your calving index and maximise milk output.
Profit from calves: The calf crop is an important element of income from the dairy herd. Use an Aberdeen-Angus bull and you will produce a heifer calf that is much sought after as a suckler replacement, or a fast growing steer calf which will provide a lean and easily marketable carcass.
Aberdeen-Angus for the beef finisher
 An increasing demand for naturally reared beef and the ability of Aberdeen-Angus to finish off grass, unlike any of the larger frame Continental crosses, makes the breed a popular choice with the farmer who wishes to maximise his profits and be satisfied of a superb tasting end product for the consumer.
The breed combines medium size with earliness of maturity and high carcass yield. Its cross bred progeny are often best suited to production systems with a high dependency on forage. As well as traditional finishing methods, some dairy and suckler farmers are taking bull calves right through on a rapid finishing system. The early maturing Aberdeen-Angus bulls being ideally suited for this intensive form of production.
Aberdeen-Angus for the butcher and consumer
 Carcass quality: The breed is famous for its superior carcass quality with a high ratio of lean meat to fat and bone. Fine tissues of marbling through the lean muscle, ensure tenderness, juiciness and flavour when cooked. It is those characteristics which make the breed first choice for high quality butchers, restaurants and housewives throughout the world.
Choosing quality beef: Quality beef has smooth, close grained texture which enables easy and economical carving. Choose your beef with fine threads of creamy white fat interwoven throughout the lean muscle, known as marbling. Marbling is a characteristic of Aberdeen-Angus beef and prevents beef from becoming hard and leathery and ensures a superb flavour of first class beef.
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