Diamond D Angus would like to thank all of our customers for supporting and believing in our program. We have chosen to put a lot more emphasis on functional and economic traits rather than EPDs. During the 1980s, cattle were being bred to look like racehorses—all legs and no guts. Many of the functional traits were left behind in the race for big numbers. We did not follow this trend, breeding instead for classic Angus traits. While we have not bred cattle for carcass numbers, our ultrasound numbers are very good. This is an indication that good, basic Angus have always had good quality meat.

Depending on who you ask, the average cow in this country raises only about 4 calves in her lifetime.  Cow depreciation ranks second to feed in the annual costs of keeping a cow.  Many ranchers try to reduce their costs of production and some are clever enough to sell cull cows for a premium, but most are likely losing money if their cows don't last longer than that.  Starting from scratch, creating long lived cows could take either a long time or much expense to upgrade a herd.  DDA offers folks a genetic short cut to increasing their cows' longevity and profitability.

Our emphasis is on moderate frame, forage efficient, highly maternal mother cows.  We like 4 frame cows that will weigh 1200-1300lbs in good flesh and wean 50% of their own weight.  These are the cows that stay in production long enough to make commercial producers a living.  

Longevity is the only true measure of a cow's real world job performance.  DDA females often last into their teenage years.  Cows that remain productive for that long have proven their abilities.  

We feel that if you breed for extremes, you will lose the basic traits which make the Angus mother cow great. The only extremes you will find at Diamond D Angus are extremely functional, efficient cows.