As a multigenerational family farm, Zobel Family Farms has always strived to raise a good quality product while also caring for the land around us. Not only do we care for our livestock day in and day out, but we also tend to the land to ensure our legacy continues on for generations to come.
We are honored to have spent a few days in January with the Nebraska Soybean Board capturing the moments you see here. Our main goal is to advocate not only for local producers like ourselves, but also for those who come from all areas of the world. Without the agriculture industry we wouldn't have food on our tables, clothes on our backs, materials to build our homes, and so much more. I think it's quite eye opening to understand the magnitude that the agriculture industry offers.
"I am the fifth generation here with Zobel Family Farms, my great great grandfather started here in about 1880. Back in the early days it was like every other farm, livestock you had some of everything, chickens, hogs, cattle. My grandfather started feeding like in the feedlot situation type in the late 50s, 60s and just kept going on from there. We mainly produce corn, soybeans, alfalfa hay for the livestock, and we do grow some cover crops which we harvest for the livestock also." -Larry Zobel (5th Generation Farmer)
As a direct result of the hardships that COVID-19 brought, we quickly needed to find people or places to take the market ready pigs especially. As Tami mentions, all of the processing plants were closed down and unable to take in the thousands of pigs per day that normally come through their plants, leaving many producers like ourselves in a bind. "Our daughter had told us about this page that we could actually be selling our pigs over Facebook, people would just come and pick them up, so we kind of started that way." - Tami Zobel.
After some time our local processors had a few available dates and so we quickly booked those. Selling USDA certified beef & pork through word of mouth and beginning our online website.
As everyone could imagine, a farm with many different paths of production takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Not to mention the long hours - early mornings & late nights. Everyone here at Zobel Family Farms has their area of expertise. Larry being "chief operating officer" as he calls himself, Tami being in charge of the meat business and book keeping. Morgan is a school teacher, but helps out in the summers and her husband Jesse takes care of the cow/calf operation. Mitchell is the head agronomist and Madison is mainly in the meat business working with the inventory and the social media.
"Growing up on the farm is certainly a lot of work, I joke I didn't realize that other kids didn't wake up at 4 AM and go load hogs before school. I guess my love for just the farm and for crops really started at a young age, just being with my dad and my grandpa out on the farm" - Mitchell Zobel (6th Generation Farmer).
As our head agronomist, Mitchell is always brainstorming and experimenting with new ways to improve farming practices, in hopes to enhance them for the years to come.
If anyone knows a farmer, you can agree with the fact that farmers are usually one to find a good bargain -- and we as a direct farmer to consumer retail business, wanted our customers to be able to get good quality meat at affordable prices.
As Tami mentions in the video "if we're going to be feeding this meat to our own family, we definitely want to make sure it's good meat, let alone what we're selling to our customer as well." Here at Zobel Family Farms we take pride in producing the best beef & pork that we possibly can. One of the ways we ensure good quality, is to feed our livestock our home grown crops.
On behalf of the entire Zobel Family & Crew, We Thank You! We thank everyone who has supported us and our business. Whether you purchased some of our products, spread the word about our business or simply interacted with us on social media. We hope to continue providing everyone with good quality beef & pork for generations to come!
To watch the full video published by the Nebraska Soybean Board, click HERE.
A Huge Thank You to the Nebraska Soybean Board! This opportunity to film a bit about our everyday operations & livelihood was very enjoyable! We hope to continue to educate and advocate for the world of agriculture, as we simply cannot live without it!
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