The Angus Advantage is a joint effort of three North Carolina Angus Farms: Pasquotank Farms in Elizabeth City; and FairCrest Angus in Cedar Grove. Each of these operations has been successful in producing bulls which have excelled in North Carolina BCIP Bull Tests (both grass and silage) as well as Bull Tests throughout the Southeast. Females from the three programs have been sold to other seedstock producers and have performed well in their new herds. The concept of the Angus Advantage is the result of our concerted effort to better serve the cow-calf producer.

The Angus Advantage aims to bridge the gap between seedstock producers and the commercial cow-calf producer. Success in other business ventures taught us that BEEF production must be a coordinated effort among all production levels. This coordinated effort has to be built on mutual trust — rather than being adversarial — when ownership of an animal is exchanged. The future in the beef business belongs to those who build successful partnerships with other levels of production to enhance the quality of beef on America’s table.

Seedstock is an important part of the complex system of beef production. Genetic choices made by the seedstock producer and subsequently made by the cow-calf producers have a tremendous impact on the consumers’ acceptance of our product. Today’s consumer has many choices for bringing home protein for the dinner table. We, collectively as beef producers, have to work together to bring a consistent, quality product to the consumer.

The Angus Advantage members have a combined 65 years of experience and success in the cattle business. What makes the Angus Advantage unique is our willingness to change. We accept that genetics of our cattle must evolve to reflect the desires of the consumer and we must change to take advantage of new technologies and marketing techniques.

Single trait selection, regardless of how important the trait, will result in deficiencies in the total beef production system. For instance, single trait selection for growth will lead to calving difficulties, nonpreferred carcass characteristics, and high maintenance cost of the cow herd. Conversely single trait selection for low birth weight can result in an animal without satisfactory growth. It is our challenge to blend acceptable levels of all economically important genetic traits into one balanced breeding package that economically rewards the cow-calf producer.

The Angus Advantage is pursuing cow calf producers who share our philosophies and are interested in cooperative efforts to produce the beef desired by today’s consumer. The Angus Advantage is building relationships necessary to advance our common goal: to produce better BEEF.