By Dori Modney with files from CAA and The Canadian Press

Half century milestone for Red Angus registrations in Canada

Apr 30, 2018 | 3:03 PM

 LETHBRIDGE — They are known as the power couple of Canadian beef.  However, the couple aren’t producers — they’re actually the product — red and black Angus beef.
 
The Canadian Angus Association (CAA) is celebrating 50-years of Red Angus registrations in the country, even though the breed has been here a lot longer than that.
 
According to the CAA, the first Red Angus was imported from Scotland in 1886 and Matthew Cochrane imported the animals for his ranch west of Calgary in 1889.
 
At that time, the red colour was seen as in impurity in Angus breeding, and it wasn’t until 1968 that Red Angus were officially approved for registration in Canada. Rob Smith says it’s now known that there is no difference between Red and Black Angus, other than the colour of their hair coat.

The first Canadian-raised purebred Red Angus bull was sold at the Calgary Bull Sale in 1970 for $1,800, and in 1972, a group of 12 Red Angus breeders from Alberta and Saskatchewan formed and Saskatchewan formed the Canadian Red Angus Promotion Society, to promote the breed. 

The CAA is Canada’s largest purebred beef breed organization and represents more than 2,000 members across Canada. 

Red Angus cattle now account for more than 40 per cent of Canada’s national Angus herd.