Dear Members of the American Angus Association, 

First, we want to thank the members who have called, emailed or texted with questions surrounding the livestock efficiency research proposal submitted to the Global Methane Hub and funded by the Bezos Earth Fund. It is our mission to make sure your questions are answered. When we make decisions as an elected board, we are still first and foremost Angus breeders. We want to do what’s best for you, our families and the future of the Association and the Angus breed. 

Second, we know that this topic is controversial and is filled with a lot of emotion and passion. With a membership of our size and diversity, we all have different perspectives. But we hope we can all agree about the priority of supporting families that make their livelihood raising cattle. There are differences of opinion on how to best do this, and so we wanted to walk you through our decision-making process and what led us to our decision.

Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI^®) is our wholly-owned subsidiary that is designed and charged to lead research. AGI has been and is currently involved in numerous different research projects involving things like feed efficiency, fertility, carcass merit, hair shedding, and many others. Research is expensive. Collaborating with universities and other scientists, and seeking funding from our own Angus Foundation, outside partners and grants, have always been critical to the advancement of our research.   

AGI was approached by a group of beef industry researchers from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland to participate in a project studying the influence genetics has on methane emissions and its relationship to efficiency, lifetime performance and beef quality. AGI’s role in the research is to represent American Angus genetics by leading and influencing the project design, coordination, and analysis. 

The research aligns with Association priorities, AGI’s past work, as well as ongoing efficiency work with both Kansas State University and the University of Georgia. This new research allows us to build on that foundation and put more focus on cow efficiency. For us, as registered breeders, and our commercial customers, making genetic improvements and better understanding why some cows on grass are more efficient than others really drives profitability. 

The approach of measuring methane to improve efficiency is being researched heavily in ruminant animals, including beef cattle. Some research is being done by private companies and with the Angus breed outside of our organization, meaning the information may not be available to us as members. These are concerns of ours; so when an opportunity came to be involved in a project like this, we saw potential benefits for our members.   

The research collaborators submitted a proposal to the Global Methane Hub. The hub works to match scientists with financial support. Our proposal was ultimately approved for funding by the Bezos Earth Fund (a funding partner to the hub). Before accepting the funds, we had many questions—most were the same questions you have. Who owns the data? Who can use it? Can it be used against us? 

First, we were comfortable that AGI was heavily involved in designing the project. In doing our due diligence, we learned of the agreements in place that protect the data.  Individual animal information, including the methane measurement and associated genotype, will be submitted anonymously to the Global Methane Hub for use by other contributing livestock researchers. No registration numbers will be tied back to individual animals or breeders in our registry. We will not share any other performance data from our members’ database. And also, standard in research grants, funders have no authority to influence or alter the direction, design, or use of the research, and it cannot be changed by outside parties. In the end, Bezos Earth Fund has no access to the data or influence on how it’s reported. 

Members have also asked questions about the large grant and where the money goes. The Angus Foundation is the recipient and distributes it to the project coordinator at the University of New England Animal Breeding and Genetics Unit (AGBU) in Australia. AGI will receive a portion of the funding to pay for the research equipment, genotyping and cost to collect 4,600 methane phenotypes from participating Angus breeders and research herds in the U.S. For dispersing the grant, the Angus Foundation receives a 3% administrative fee that can go towards scholarships, youth programs and education. The remaining money goes to the other beef cattle researchers collaborating on the project.

While we entered into this to advance our knowledge of how genetics influence efficiency, we also believe that engaging in this research gives us the opportunity to be even better equipped to respond to the negative narrative existing around cows and the climate. Our goal isn’t to take a role in the environmental arena, but instead support what we already know to be true: our cattle are a natural, efficient and vital part of the ecosystem.

We have received some questions about the board’s involvement in decision-making and membership transparency. The research project is in line with past research shared with board and membership, but the funding source was unique. As topics arise between board meetings, the Executive Committee is designed to give direction to staff and make decisions. As was the case here, staff brought the grant to the executive committee and the Chairmen of AGI and the Angus Foundation. After having complete confidence in the answers to our questions, the Executive Committee directed staff to move forward with the project. 

Because of the many questions that have arisen over the past few weeks, our June board meeting largely focused on reviewing all of the details of the project and listening to membership feedback. Ultimately, we have 100% confidence in this project, the protection of our data and the potential results that will benefit breeders in improving the efficiency of the Angus cow. This week, we unanimously voted in support of the project and to continue to move ahead with the research. 

As we move forward with this multi-year effort, we will do everything we can to keep the membership up to date. We recognize communication of the details of this research was  not perfect. We know for some that has eroded trust and confidence. We regret that and will work to do better in the future. 

Keep an eye on the AGI research section of the website for project updates in the near future. In the meantime, if you have questions, please reach out to us. We are happy to explain the project and our thought process further.  For more information, please see: Answering questions about the Bezos Earth Fund grant.

Best regards,

American Angus Association Board of Directors 

Jonathan Perry, President 

Jim Brinkley, Vice President 

Darrell Stevenson, Treasurer 

Rob Adams  

Mark Ahearn 

Paul Bennett 

Art Butler 

John Dickinson 

Ron Hinrichsen 

Mark Z. Johnson  

Smitty Lamb 

Alan Mead 

Charles Mogck 

Danny Poss 

Henry Smith 

Jerry Theis  

Roger Wann