TOP LINE CATTLE, LLC. - Angus Journal

Top Line CaTTLe, LLCThe Cattle:Top Line Cattle was formed in 2003 with threepartners: Mike Browning, Randy Sternberg and BillKemph.In 2006, Bill moved out of Top Line and into a jointventure with his brother Tom. Zech Browning, Mike’sson and a recent graduate from Montana State Universityat Bozeman, then joined the Top Line Cattlepartnership.Top Line’s first cattle purchase was 81 Red Anguscows from Myers Cattle Co. in Montana in January2004. That number soon climbed to 200 purchasinghigh-end females from Tim Shick of Montanaand Larry Lorenzen of Pendleton, Oregon. Top Linehas focused their breeding program on lower birthweights, moderate frame size and carcass improvement.Top Line’s Red herd is now above the breedaverage in all production traits and carcass traits.After two years in the Red Angus breed, Top Linebegan to develop a small, Black Angus herd. Then,in late 2005, Top Line made a major move by purchasingthe Leachman Mott/Black Canyon Angusherd out of Nebraska. This 450 cow herd was thefoundation Angus herd for Leachman Cattle Companyin Billings, Montana and later for LeachmanCattle of Colorado. Dick Mott started his Angus herdin the late 1970’s with advice from Angus Hall ofFame breeder Lee Leachman. By the late 1980’s, theyounger Lee Leachman assumed the responsibilityof making the matings.As we studied the pedigrees, we quickly saw thatthe Mott herd was stacked four and five generationsdeep with good, “can’t miss” AI sires includingViking, Saratoga, 9J9, Scotch Cap, Bando, Conveyor,6I6, Frontline, New Design 1407, 878, BAR EXT,Papa Forte and more recently, Prime Star, Big Eye,Future Direction and New Standard. In fact, we couldnot find a bad bull in the pedigrees! We appreciatedthe moderate, disciplined size of the cows. Theywere easy to calve, easy to handle and easy to breed.Plus, the herd had produced a number of sires in theAI studs including Saugahatchee 3000C and morerecent bulls like Leachman New Standard (ABS),Leachman Dillon (Select) and Leachman Frontier(Genex).To keep the herd headed in the right direction, weasked Lee Leachman to continue advising us onsire selection. We feel that Lee’s vision of industryand grasp of the breed will keep our herd in frontof the pack. This saw the incorporation of Protégé,Net Present Value, Tehama Gridmaker and Foresightin 2007. The 2008 crop is mostly sired by Mytty InFocus, Dr J Analyst and Connealy Contrast. In 2009,we are putting a strong emphasis on selection forRFI (Residual Feed Intake), because we believe thatfeed efficiency is the key to future profitability.Our goal is to ensure that the Top Line herd deliversthe best genetics available for the commercialrancher. Come see for yourself how our purebredherd is performing under real world conditions. Wehope that we can earn your bull business!Top Line Cattle, LLC • 3