Old Hands and Newcomers: What the Association Offers Both

Walk into any Angus event and you can sort the crowd quickly. Some have worn the same boots through four decades of sales. Others are holding their first catalog. The Association has to serve both, and what you get out of it depends on how you use it.

The crowd by the numbers

The Association has published a few figures. A member survey reported in an October 2025 column found that 43% of respondents had been members over twenty years, while 23% had been members five years or less. A December 2025 column said 31% of Regular and Life members had joined within five years, and that most active members registered fewer than 20 head while the biggest registrants supplied a large share of the total. A spring 2026 column said 30% of members joined in the last five years. The numbers do not match exactly because they were measured differently. A survey only counts people who answer, and registrations are not the same as cow numbers. The message holds: lots of long-timers, lots of newcomers.

If you are an old hand

You have something no catalog can give: you have seen what works. You know which cow families last and which ones faded, how a dry year or a price crash treats a herd. Share it. Newcomers will listen to a man who has been through a drought. Open your gate for a field day, let a young breeder ride along at calving, and tell the truth about your mistakes.

You also owe it to yourself to keep learning. Genomic tools and new traits can pay, even if they were not around when you started. Our guide on bull care covers the basics, and farm.fm's page on Angus genetics for quality and profitability is a plain look at how the newer tools fit.

If you are new

Do not pretend to know more than you do. Ask. Walk the pens at a sale and talk to the breeders. Go to the field days. Start with a few good females and a clear goal. Read our bull buying checklist before you spend big on a sire, and use the Association's site to see what programs exist for people just starting.

You have advantages too. You probably are comfortable with records, spreadsheets and testing, and you may see markets old hands have overlooked, such as direct beef sales or youth projects. Do not apologize for that.

The middle ground: data

One place both groups meet is data. The Association's Data Driven Herd program recognizes members who send in records on many traits, and it recognized 299 herds in 2026, with cow herds from six head to more than 4,000. Record requirements scale with herd size, so a small herd is not asked to do what a big one does. That gives a newcomer with fifteen cows the same seat at the table as a ranch with hundreds. Records improve the numbers for the whole breed.

Young or old, new or settled, we all like to be heard. If you have a gripe with the Association, put it in plain words and send it to the right person. If you have an idea, say so at a meeting or call. A letter or a phone call does more than a month of grumbling at the sale barn. Many members would be surprised how willing staff and board members are to listen.

Keep in mind that a membership this big has people with very different problems. What helps a man with five hundred head may do nothing for a woman with ten. Be patient, and ask what the other fellow needs before deciding a program is a waste.

Where it can get rough

Not everyone agrees. A big breeder may want sale and promotion tools, and a small one wants lower costs and simple options. Some want to push the cattle toward one set of traits, others want something else. That is normal in any big group. The way to deal with it is to show up, speak up and vote when there is a vote. An association is only as good as the members who take part.

One last thought on succession. Many long-time breeders have no one to take over, and many new ones are looking for a place to start. If you are older and thinking about the end of the road, consider selling or leasing cattle to someone who will carry on what you built. If you are young, ask the old fellows whether they have a plan. A good handoff keeps the cattle, the customers and the knowledge in the breed.

Take it home

Veterans, take a newcomer to lunch. Newcomers, call a veteran and ask for ten minutes. Everyone, keep honest records and tell the truth about your cattle. For more, the Nebraska beef program has free material for any size herd, and agriculture.directory can help you find services. Figures and programs change, so check current Association publications. This site is independent and is not affiliated with Certified Angus Beef or the American Angus Association.