Angus Journal: History, American Angus Association Profile, Content and Team
Profile updated November 2026
Angus Journal has kept Angus breeders informed since 1919, through a breed's rise from niche to dominance in the American beef herd. Started as an independent Iowa paper, it has been the flagship of the American Angus Association since 1979. This page explains its history, its role today, what it publishes and the Angus Media team that produces it.
| Founded | 1919, Webster City, Iowa, as the Aberdeen-Angus Journal |
|---|---|
| Founder | Fred Hahne |
| Owner | American Angus Association, since 1979 |
| Producer | Angus Media |
| Frequency | Monthly, with expanded issues for junior members |
| Editor | Julie Mais |
| Official website | Angus Journal at Angus.org |
History of Angus Journal
Fred Hahne founded the Aberdeen-Angus Journal in Webster City, Iowa, in 1919. As the American Angus Association honored in naming him to its Heritage Award winners in 1983, his Journal played a major role in the fight for democratic elections within the Association, a cause Hahne vigorously defended in print.
Through the middle of the twentieth century the Journal grew with the breed, staffed by livestock writers and photographers who covered shows, sales and herd improvement across the Corn Belt and Plains. In 1979 the American Angus Association purchased the magazine, and it has been the breed's flagship publication ever since.
Under Angus Media, the Association's media and marketing arm, the Journal was redesigned in 2018 and won printing excellence recognition for its January 2018 edition, while expanding into podcasts, a daily website and digital editions.
Angus Journal Today
Angus Journal delivers Angus news, industry trends and breeder advertising through print, web, podcasts and e-news. Print subscribers get complimentary access to a digital edition with videos and extended photo galleries, often before the paper copy arrives.
Angus Media also publishes the Angus Beef Bulletin for commercial cattlemen, Angus Journal Daily online, the Angus Bull Book sire directory and podcasts including The Angus Conversation and Angus at Work.
What Angus Journal Is Publishing Now
Monthly themes
The 2026 editorial calendar ran from Legacy in Motion in January and Heart of the Herd in March to Built for Tomorrow, spotlighting young leaders, in September.
Breed events
Coverage of the Angus Convention, Cattlemen's Congress, National Western Stock Show and National Junior Angus Show.
Genetics and marketing
Sire selection, sale marketing tips and the Angus Bull Book help breeders sell bulls to commercial buyers.
Angus Journal Editors and Staff
The Angus Journal team page lists:
- Julie Mais - Editor, Angus Journal
- Megan Silveira - Managing Editor
- Heather Lassen - Special Projects Editor
- Miranda Reiman - Director of Digital Content and Strategy; co-host, The Angus Conversation
- Jaime Albers - Graphic Design Artist
Mais grew up raising and showing registered cattle in west-central Missouri. Story ideas go to jmais@angus.org.
Who Reads Angus Journal
Readers are registered Angus breeders and the commercial bull buyers who depend on them. With cattle and calves generating $72.9 billion in 2021 receipts per USDA's Economic Research Service, seedstock decisions covered in Angus Journal ripple through the whole beef economy.
Angus breeders take their EPDs seriously, but even the best sale day has a story about the bull that would not load. For that side of cattle country, farm.FM offers ranch humor, farm satire and the kind of farm humor you hear in the sale barn bleachers. The farm jokes there are registered, in a manner of speaking, and come with excellent pedigrees.
The outlet behind those laughs, farm.FM, is the nation's first satirical farm site, complete with Tractor Tunes country music for farmers. A farm.FM humorist's archive shows what a week of it looks like.
Angus Journal Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- American Angus Association: About Angus Journal - history and current contacts.
- American Angus Association: Fred Hahne Heritage Award - the founder's biography.
- Angus Journal 2026 editorial calendar - monthly themes and coverage.
- USDA ERS: Cattle and calf receipts - the economic scale of beef production.
- USDA NASS Census of Agriculture - cattle operations and inventory by county.
Angus Journal FAQ
When was the Angus Journal founded?
Fred Hahne founded it in Webster City, Iowa, in 1919 as the Aberdeen-Angus Journal.
Who owns the Angus Journal?
The American Angus Association, which bought it in 1979; it is produced by Angus Media.
Who is the editor of the Angus Journal?
Julie Mais is editor, with Megan Silveira as managing editor.
What else does Angus Media publish?
The Angus Beef Bulletin, Angus Journal Daily, the Angus Bull Book and several podcasts.
For more than a century, the Angus Journal has told the stories of the breeders who keep the Business Breed in business, and it still lands in their mailboxes every month.