Welcome TO TOPP ANGUS
Topp Angus is a Purebred Angus seedstock operation located north of Grace City, North Dakota, owned and operated by Paul, his wife Jess, and their children Hudson, Sienna, and Holden.
Although 3rd and 4th generation ranchers, Topp Angus is a 1st generation ranch. Being a firstgeneration ranch, growing our herd, building from the ground up, all while raising a family, we know all too well the cost of production and how tight margins can be. We expect live healthy calves, we weed out inefficiencies out of necessity, and most importantly we expect a herd that can excel in production consistently.
Topp Angus began in 2010 with the procurement of 40 cows from the late Vance Uden of TC Ranch out of Nebraska and has grown today to 400 cows being calved out over two different calving seasons – January/February and August/September. We built our herd using a strong base, researched genetics, strict culling, and a commitment to detail in all aspects of the operation. We utilize embryo transplant, A.I., purchased herd sires, and ranch raised sires to create continued genetic advancement focused on fundamentals and balance. We believe in consistency from top to bottom and require our turn-out sires to be every bit as good as the best A.I. sires on the market.
We have an annual bull sale the third Wednesday in March, where we market 130, 12- & 18- monthold bulls and sell another 50 bulls private treaty throughout the spring. Females are marketed private treaty from our ranch direct to our customers.
Thank you for taking the time to evaluate our program. We are excited to be able to offer genetics that we know will move your program forward and improve your bottom line. If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to call, text, or stop by at any time.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Paul Topp
Cow FamiliesTOPP ANGUS
The key to any successful breeding program is the development of a reliable, consistently productive cow herd. We believe that if you can maintain and improve upon a core group of superior cow families, that as a group, the whole herd will become more and more consistent. We will continue on with only the most productive and consistent cow families at the ranch and will continue to add to their stories.
“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.”
- Lawrence Persall Jacks
Predictable
With consistency comes predictability. Predictability allows you to make constant genetic improvement in your herd as a whole. Our herd stems from some of the most proven cow families in the angus breed. A multi-generational pedigree filled with proven, never-miss producers gives you the security in knowing your breeding decisions will always move you forward.
TOPP DONNA
TOPP DONNA
Performance
At Topp Angus, we agree that performance is measured in pounds. But we breed for the greatest combination of pounds and efficiency while also measuring performance in reproduction, production, longevity, soundness, docility, and carcass merit. Performance is not measured once a year but rather a lifelong measurement and analysis of their overall performance.
NUMBERS
We genomic test all of our bulls at Topp Angus. We feel it is important to be aware of the numbers but do not feel that this single piece of data should be what makes breeding decisions. The data is very useful and should not be ignored but at no point should the numbers override your evaluation of the live animal and the raw performance data.
Herd Sires TOPP ANGUS
Topp Angus believes very strongly in developing a breeding program with predictability. We utilize herd sires that excel in the fundamentals and a.i. sires for outside genetics that will continue to advance our program in the same direction. We feel very confident in the sires we are using and expect them to excel in all important traits throughout their progeny.
FOUNDATION SIRES
SVA THE DONALD
The Donald came to us in our pursuit of a bull that can balance the genomic and EPD profile that we desire with the absolute structural integrity that the industry needs.
The Donald quickly became a ranch favorite at Topp Angus. Whether it is his ability to sire performance in the form of extreme length, depth of body, and stoutness all in a moderate frame size or his quiet demeanor that he breeds into every one of his calves it is difficult to determine which part of him we love more.
With their flawless udders and broodiness his daughters have yet to disappoint. We look for the Donald daughters to have a lasting impact on our cowherd for many generations to come.
Wolf Creek came to us as the genetic gem of the 2012 Mohnen Angus Sale out of White Lake, South Dakota.
After touring the Dave and Yvonne Hinman herd in Malta, Montana and witnessing firsthand the base of cows that HA Image Maker provided I was set on owning a son. Soon after I met with and toured the Mohnen Angus operation and set my sights on Wolf Creek.
Combining the maternal predictability of Image Maker and the herd bull producing capabilities of Jilt 1283 it was a surefire guarantee that Wolf Creek could provide us with the genetic consistency we were seeking.
Wolf Creek has gone on to sire some of the finest producing females in the Topp Angus program.
They are the exact functional females that we all desire – they out produce themselves and never miss.
FOUNDATION SIRES
TC FREAL 625
B/R New Design 036
GAR New Design 5050
GAR Precision 706
SIRE: EF Authentic 0829
SS Objective T510 0T26
2 Bar Objective 7836
2 Bar 6807 Traveler 5535
Connealy Right Answer 746
TC Romeo 917
TC Chloe 7036
DAM: TC Grmaker 4063
Connealy Impression
Flag Grmaker 10793
BLC Grmaker 192 520
Consensus
Sitz Invasion 574D
Freal was purchased in the 2017 TC sale in Franklin Nebraska. He was orginally brought in for his calving ease traits but became a constant in our herd for his ability to produce daughters with perfect udder quality and great mobility. Freal currently has 48 daughters with a 102 weaning ratio.
Drive has proven himself as a bombproof calving ease sire with the ability to consistently produce functional, no-miss females year after year. Drive’s ability to successfully breed 2 seasons a year until seven years old adds in a factor of longevity that cannot be ignored. A combination of his moderate birth, structural integrity, and maternal strength allowed him to be used in many ways in our program and we feel the sons and daughters will continue to do the same.
Sitz Game Day 748A
Sitz Pride 88T
DAM: Sitz Miss Burgess 304D
GAR Predestined
Sitz Miss Burgess 138Y
Sitz Miss Burgess 112T
SuperMama 7042 GDAR Game Day 449
FOUNDATION SIRES
TOPP BINFORD 8343
Binford was used in herd for his power, bone, mass, and docility while maintaining a 6 frame. Where his lasting impact will end up being is in his daughters. They are docile, moderate framed and broody with the most ideal udder quality you could ever ask for on a cow. They breed and produce with the best of them. Binford’s influence on the bottom side of a pedigree will always be a benefit to the true functionality he brought to the table.
Domain was purchased as our pick of an incredible set of flush brothers from the great Woodhill program in Wisconsin. Combining the consistent proven producing cows from the Blackbird and Evergreen cow families adds another layer of predictability into our program. Domain consistently sires added length, structural sound cattle with the best feet in the pens. You can pick them out simply by looking at the front leg structure and how properly squared they are followed with their excellent depth of heel. His docility is phenomenal and he continues to pass it on time and time again.
Sitz Dash
FOUNDATION SIRES
Topp Barron 6148 is a true performance bull that cannot be ignored. After Barron sold to Nic Harding Angus, McHenry North Dakota in the 2018 sale we decided to purchase part of him back for in herd use. Combining our extremely influential herd sire The Donald 4030 with SAV Blackbird 5297 created a powerhouse of a bull that we all desire when feeding out calves. Barron possesses extreme length of body, supported by a strong topline, incredible muscle expression, a full heart girth and extra bone, all being carried on a big, solid foot. No different than his sire The Donald, Barron stamps all of his bull calves with the same power and performance as himself and his daughters with a strong, balanced build coupled with femininity.
Standout has been used heavily in our program since selling to Lone Oak Cattle, Mechanicsvile Iowa, in the 2022 sale. The udder quality, functionality, and production capabilities of his mother and full sisters has us eagerly awaiting a replacement pen full of Standout daughters. His sons carry the excellent disposition and foot quality with the Standout thickness and dimension that is evident in all his calves.
Beef Breeding Basics
CONSISTENCY
Consistency is one of the most sought-after traits in the beef industry. The consumer demands a consistently enjoyable eating experience, the retailers and restaurants need to know that the product they are selling will be consistent with their customers’ expectations, the packer is expecting consistency in carcass size and grade, the feeder wants to acquire pot loads of healthy calves that will perform in the feedlot consistently without having to sort into groups, and the buyer looks to purchase loads of calves of similar type and kind with consistent expected performance. The most obvious next step is for the cow/calf producer to demand genetics that will consistently produce the offspring that will deliver a uniform end-product.
PREDICTABILITY
Consistency is the product of predictability. Single trait selection for outliers can have ill effects on the overall genetic advancement not only for the non-selected traits being focused on but also ironically the trait that has been singled out to try to improve. Huge variability in genetic makeup will produce huge variability in genetic outcomes. To make matters worse, when the next trend comes along and outliers for those traits are used heavily, you now have two traits that were considered important enough to breed solely upon them, but those traits are now your two most unpredictable, inconsistent traits. When buying bulls, take the time to seek out the poorest bulls in the offering. Your list of bulls that you would not take home should be way shorter than your list of bulls that you would buy. Predictability comes from sourcing genetics from a producer that can breed consistency, predictably. Then take the next step and cull through your own cowherd the way you would when buying bulls. You know the history of your cows. Cull the poor producers, the bad docility, the poor udders, the bad feet, the hard doing cows, the cows whose calves don’t do well in the feedlot or whichever criteria is most important to you. Predictability starts at home and is greatly influenced by the genetics you bring home.
PERFORMANCE
If I asked you how you performed in school how would you answer? How would you answer if I asked how you performed in sports in high school, choir, academics, socially, leadership? I bet your answer is not the same for all those areas. In much the same way, performance needs to be measured across all traits in your cowherd. Consistent, predictable improvement should be expected across the board in your herd. In the end, your cowherd is measured on total profitability and profitability is affected by not only weaning weights but development costs, longevity, conversions, end product value, death loss, fertility, animal health, and feed costs.
The beef industry is one of the greatest industries on earth. Let’s work together to advance our quality, our image, our message, and our product.
Attention to Detail
DOES NOT STOP AT genetic selection.
