Topp Angus of Grace City, North Dakota is a third generation Angus breeder. Paul Topp & Jessica Carlson take pride in our herd. Our family truly cares about our cattle and the families who purchase them. Our goal isn’t to just have the highest quality Angus cattle, but to help other ranchers build their own quality herds. We host an annual bull sale each spring and also ship bull semen nationwide throughout the year.
About Us
Here at Topp Angus we understand that the purchase price of a bull does not simply dictate if that bull is going to put you in the black that year or not. Along with the price of that bull customer profitability hinges on that bull’s influence on number of live calves born, calf vigor, calf performance and selling price. And this is just the immediate effects of your bull purchase.
We understand the long-term effects your bull purchase has on your cowherd as far as heifer development costs, conception rates, cow production, and cow longevity. Knowing that so much of our customers’ success depends upon the genetics they purchase we place our customers profitability at the forefront of all our genetic and management decisions.
Let me be the first to say: Topp Angus is not the best Angus herd in the United States on any one single trait and we will never strive to be.
If you are looking for the lowest birth genetics available in the marketplace, we are not it. While we appreciate low/ moderate birth weights since we calve out on pasture, we will not sacrifice other traits and growth potential to chase low birth weights. We expect our cows and heifers to be able to have a live calf unassisted, with the calf up and nursing shortly thereafter but will never get caught up in chasing the lowest birth weights.
If you are looking for strictly carcass traits in your cattle, again we are not the place for you. We understand that the end product is the ultimate goal and we must keep that in mind. We will forever be looking to improve our carcass traits and will not lose sight of that, however there are so many traits that cannot be sacrificed up to that point so they must all go hand in hand.
If you are looking for strictly growth, again we are not your program. We maintain that if you want the most pounds per cow exposed in the spring, the genetics need to be balanced for live births, efficiency, health, and growth.
We are very proud of the fact that our cattle can be at the top of multiple real world performance tests but rather than focus on strictly being the highest growth cattle in the market we focus on balancing high performing progeny with a cowherd that is proficient in growth, efficiency, and live calves.
Maternal traits are also a main focus here but when it comes to pure milk production, we will not focus on having the highest milk producing Angus around. We believe that a mother cow has to be able to produce adequate milk supply to produce a healthy fat calf in the fall. She must also be able to maintain condition and breed back. We ask a lot of her and it doesn’t begin and end with milk production. We insist on maintaining a cowherd that has enough milk to produce that fat healthy calf, but also insist on strong udder attachments for longevity, proper teat size and spacing for problem free initial nursing and long-term udder quality.
The list goes on and on, but if you are looking for a single trait, there are other herds that are no doubt doing it better. We breed for balance to be near the top of whichever trait you are looking for and are constantly looking for ways to improve the animal as a whole.
Sustainability can be viewed many different ways and as with everything else, we try to be balanced in our goals. Outstanding pure profit is a nice concept and one that our banker would surely appreciate, but that is not what our business can be based on. Our sustainability depends upon your, the customer’s, profitability.
We look to develop a program that keeps you profitable and coming back, we look to provide an atmosphere that is great for raising a family, we look to be great stewards of our land and environment, and most importantly we value the friendships and relationships that can be developed in this business that at the end of the day makes all the time and effort way more than worth it.