Scott Wright

AUSTRALIA’s Angus and Red Angus breed organisations will come together from 1 January, creating one unified organisation representing Angus cattle and breeders across Australia.

Angus Australia CEO Scott Wright said the decision was an important step for both organisations and the wider Angus breed.#

“There is one Angus breed with two coat colours. Bringing our organisations together makes sense genetically, commercially and organisationally,” Mr Wright said.

“The registered seedstock industry faces significant change in the years ahead. A stronger, more unified Angus organisation puts us in a better position to respond to those challenges and continue investing in services, technology and genetic improvement for breeders.

The move follows a resolution by members of the Red Angus Society of Australia Incorporated at an Extraordinary General Meeting to dissolve the Society and transfer its memberships to Angus Australia.

On Friday 28 August, the Angus Australia Board formally welcomed the decision and resolved to progress the integration of the two organisations.

The agreement was further progressed at Dalby on Saturday, 5 September, when Angus Australia CEO Scott Wright and Queensland Director Ben Hill met with Red Angus Society President David Hobbs and Councillor Kirrilie Isseppi.

Mr Hobbs said the decision represented a significant opportunity for Red Angus breeders.

“I believe this is a huge step forward for Red Angus. There are so many advantages and opportunities that will come from joining forces,” Mr Hobbs said.

“The Power of Red Sale at Dalby demonstrated the potential and growing demand for red-coated Angus cattle across Australia, particularly in the tropical northern regions.

“Coming together will give Red Angus breeders access to a broader range of tools and resources, while creating greater opportunities to market both seedstock and commercial progeny.

“We are excited about what lies ahead and look forward to working together as a unified Angus community.”

During the remainder of 2026, Angus Australia will work with the Red Angus Society to transfer memberships, pedigree and performance data and establish a new affiliated Red Angus group within Angus Australia.

The group will operate in a similar manner to existing affiliated Angus groups and retain the ability to specifically promote Red Angus cattle and the attributes associated with the red coat colour.

“This isn’t about losing the identity of Red Angus. It provides Red Angus breeders with the autonomy to continue promoting their cattle and their particular strengths, while gaining the benefits of being part of a larger Angus organisation,” Mr Wright said.

“They are an enthusiastic group of breeders and will be a very welcome addition to Angus Australia.”

Mr Wright said bringing the two populations together would also deliver important benefits for genetic evaluation.

“The strength of genetic evaluation ultimately depends on the quality and depth of the data behind it,” he said.

“Bringing Red Angus pedigree and performance information into the wider Angus population gives us a larger dataset from which to generate Estimated Breeding Values and support genetic improvement.”

The agreement follows several previous attempts to bring the two organisations together.

“This has been a long time coming, but this time we had positive people on both sides who could see the opportunity and were prepared to make it happen,” Mr Wright said.

“In many ways it is a natural progression. Our young people already participate together through Angus Youth activities and events, and Angus Australia already records Red Angus cattle.

“From 1 January, we will have one Angus organisation in Australia, representing a breed that comes in two colours but shares the same fundamental genetic base and a common future.

“We believe Angus will be stronger as a result.”

Source: Angus Australia