The American Angus Association^® honors McGuire Cattle Company of Waverly, Alabama, with the Historic Angus Herd Award. The Association’s Historic Angus Herd Award recognizes breeders and immediate families who have been in continuous production of registered-Angus cattle for 50 years or more. 

McGuire Cattle Company was established in 1975 when Bob McGuire purchased an Angus heifer at the Macedon Farms 50th Anniversary Sale in Madison, Alabama, as a 4-H project for his son, Mike McGuire. This heifer, known as Macedon Blackbird Anne 79 was the beginning of an active line of Blackbird Anne’s that are still maintained in the herd over 50 years later.

In the 1970’s, Mike McGuire was introduced to Dan and Randy Daniel’s Angus herd in Athens, Georgia. This is where his love for the breed began and the McGuire family established their own Angus operation. 

Mike McGuire attended Curtiss Breeding Service artificial insemination school and started breeding cattle. Mike, along with his father, were early adopters of estrus synchronization protocols and shared many good times together while heat checking, penning and breeding cows. 

“We had a picture in our mind of a marketable, productive and long-lasting cow for our environment and tried not to make too many mistakes in sire selection,” Mike McGuire said.

Some of the McGuire’s early cattle purchases were a few Emulous bred cows from Southside Farms of Hawkinsville, Georgia and a Carter of Wye daughter from Briarhill Farm of Union Springs, Alabama.

One of the most notable additions to the McGuire’s herd was Dark Esteem 798, a female purchased from J.P. Dark of Sylacauga, Alabama. Much of the McGuire’s breeding herd trace back to this female. The influence of this cow family can still be found in several progressive operations around the southeast and beyond.

The McGuire family was recognized by the Alabama Angus Association as Family of the Year in 1986 and again in 2013. They were also recognized as Breeder of the Year in 2001 and 2024. Mike McGuire was named Angus Ambassador of the year in 2024 and was inducted into the Angus Heritage Foundation in 2025.

Today, Mike McGuire and his wife Angelika manage the family operation consisting of 45 fall calving cows, with the support of their two sons, Clay and Reid. 

"It has been a blessing to be a part of the Angus family and the Business Breed for the last half century,” McGuire said. “We look forward to being contributors for as long as we can.”

Visit www.angus.org for more information about the Historic Angus Herd Award or to view a list of awarded members since the program began in 1988.