Nearly 75 cattlemen gathered in the east central part of the state for the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association Feedlot Tour. The first stop was near Grace City at Topp Angus. When designing his feedyard in 2014, owner Paul Topp was able to utilize an existing ranch. One unique feature of the facility is a water-spreading containment system. “There isn’t a clay base here to develop a holding pond,” says Topp. “So, we went with the water-spreading system because we have the right slope to utilize the runoff for grazing grasses and there’s no excess standing water. The tour also stopped at Spickler Ranch North near Glenfield. Owner Justin Spickler designed the feedlot to work with the James River that runs right along the ranch. “We’re in an unique location to have a feedlot. Our ranch was increasing in numbers and it was important to keep that runoff contained.” The tour concluded by Leeds at the Kenner Simmental Ranch, which represented a complete relocation of an old facility to a new one. Hear the story.