Pastures of Dreams - Zemke Farms Beefmasters, Goodhue, Minnesota by Tim McCray, Ad Sales Manager American Beef Producer and Jordan Zemke

PASTURE(S) OF DREAMS

By Tim McCray & Jordan Zemke - Photos by Jordan Zemke

Zemke Farms Beefmasters Goodhue, Minnesota

Wildideas sometimes actually work out. Ask Ray about his baseball diamond in the middle of his corn field.

Jordan Zemke grew up on a dairy farm near Goodhue, MN. His parents Jerry & Linda owned 20 cows on the dairy farm owned by Jerry’s parents, who had a little over fifty of their own. Jerry also worked driving a truck for a local garbage business. Jordan always had a passion for cattle and genetics. As a kid he would look through the semen catalogs, that led him to his first look at a Beefmaster bull. This catalog had one Beefmaster bull in it, and Jordan lived with that image in his head for many years before the Beefmaster journey would actually begin.

Jerry Zemke was used to working quite long hours at this point. Between milking cows on his dairy farm, and hauling garbage during the day to make ends meet for his growing family. In 2005 the company he had been working at sold out to a larger firm, and he American Beef Producer was asked to work for another outfit dropping roll off containers. Not a big change, but a change nonetheless. That decision turned out to be a blessing in disguise. In another 7 years Jerry was faced with another proposition: Starting his own roll off delivery company. A life changing decision during his late 40’s – when most people have landed in their retirement job.

It wasn’t too long after this that in 2000 another decision was made to sell off the dairy herd, and start a commercial beef herd. Jordan, (now in his 20’s) started using Genex AI sires. There he found a selection September 2020

of Beefmaster bulls in their added attraction section. Remembering that bull from his younger days, he started doing some research on the breed and decided to try his luck AI’ing a few cows. “We really loved the breeds history and being developed around the 6 essentials of profitability – conformation, disposition, fertility, hardiness, milking ability and weight.”

The first Beefmaster sired calf arrived in the spring of 2013 and a second the following spring. Both calves were the highest and most impressive in their respective year’s calf crop. Those two calves really had grabbed their attention. In the late winter of 2014, they stumbled across an episode of The American Rancher that was about to start.” That episode was what really got our wheels turning. Shortly after that episode we reached out to a Beefmaster breeder looking for a bull and maybe a few females. He told us of an upcoming sale at the McAlester Union Stockyards that was going to be coming up and highly recommended it.”

The crazy idea here is that the Beefmaster bulls started in Texas and no one in Minnesota had any kind of registered herd. Being the first to try something is always unnerving.

“The success of Zemke roll off service really allowed us to invest in the cattle from the beginning.” Remarks Jerry. We bought a bull, a bred heifer, and an open heifer at that first sale. The following year they returned and bought 5 open heifers and a bred heifer. It has been full speed ahead

Meet the Zemke‘s: Jaycie, Jordan, Bri, Linda, Jerry & Finlee

Semen available on this one!

ever since.

Today Zemke Farms Beefmasters has 53 registered purebreds in their herd, spread over 3 pastures. Jerry & Jordan expressed “The cattle work for us, we don’t work for them” as we approach the first pasture on a hot day in August. Beefmaster cattle have been bred to be self-sufficient. “We check on them about once or twice a week” something that didn’t dawn on me until after I found myself standing amidst the herd. The cattle came to us, and they weren’t expecting to be fed. They were just curious, and incredibly calm for being around a stranger. But then again, with Jerry & Jordan only “visiting” on weekends – they too are strangers.

Jordan is optimistic and humble about the future of Zemke farms Beefmasters. “When we started, we were a big believer in what the cattle could do and the momentum the breed itself was building. We aspire to be the only Beefmaster breeders in the state with a head start on what we think are exceptional cattle with a bright future in the cattle business. “We really felt it could work by using the right kind of Beefmasters for our environment. So far it has been more than satisfactory.” The Beefmaster breed is diverse and can adapt to various conditions as any breed you’ll find. We look forward to educating people on not only our program, but the breed itself. We would also like to continue building on the momentum we have been gaining. We currently have semen available on one of our bulls and would like to increase our semen offering. Probably the most important thing, God willing, is that I would love to see my kids get involved and grow a passion for cattle and agriculture.”

Zemke Farms welcomes visitors, and they can be reached via their Facebook page – Zemke Farms Beefmasters.

So in the end, no voices in the corn – but perhaps, by breeding them – others will follow.

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