PASTURE(S) OF DREAMS By Tim McCray & Jordan Zemke - Photos by Jordan Zemke
Wild ideas sometimes actually work out. Ask Ray about his baseball diamond in the middle of his corn field.
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.
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
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
Zemke Farms Beefmasters Goodhue, Minnesota
26
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
