Grass King Cattle & Produce Company
In 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found the average American farm operated at a net loss — requiring off-farm income and health insurance just to break even. Today, Jim and Karen Zezas are defying the odds through niche marketing and a diversified operation.
Jim and Karen own and operate Grass King Cattle and Produce Company, a ranch and farm on the same property Jim’s grandfather homesteaded in 1914, 20 miles south of Buffalo, Wyoming. Jim and Karen’s operation operates inside of John Zezas and Sons Inc., Jim’s father’s operation. Jim also helps his father and two brothers run John Zezas and Sons Operation.
Jim and Karen have been married for 34 years and ranching and farming together for 33 years. They love this way of life and are dedicated to this work, despite the hardship that comes with agriculture.
“I love when produce is poking out of the ground and ready to be pulled, I love the bum lambs that I get to bottle feed, I love the new life and growth and change that happens every season, and I especially love sitting down at my kitchen table and looking at my plate and thinking ‘there’s the pork chop we raised, there's the potatoes we grew, there's the green beans we raised,’ everything on our plate is self-sufficient, and knowing our customer is having the same thing that we’re eating, is so very special,” Karen said.
“Our customers are getting the same thing on their table that we put on our own table,” Jim added, “I think that’s pretty significant today.”
Jim’s father is the main proprietor of the ranch and has been able to make a living solely off the ranch. Jim and his brothers, like 61 percent of farmers and ranchers today, have had to work off-farm part-time to support themselves. 52 percent of U.S. farmers actually have a primary occupation and only farm part-time. Seven years ago, however, Jim started work on the ranch full-time when he and Karen started Grass King Cattle and Produce Company.
“We knew we had to diversify and find multiple streams of income to support us through this operation,” Jim said.
The key to the Zezas’ success is niche marketing and diversification. Jim and Karen raise beef, lamb, and pork. They also sell produce they grow on the farm in their hoop houses and they import regional and seasonal fruits, like peaches and pears, to sell at markets. Jim and Karen said they have to be conscious of their consumers and their markets in every decision to turn a profit. Their research and attention to detail is evident throughout their operation.
“We raise Aberdeen Angus cattle and Australian low line Angus -- the cross brings the size of the animal down making it less necessary to finish the animal on grain,” Jim says. “The size is also more convenient for the consumer and supplier to sell the animals one half at a time rather than a quarter at a time.”
Karen said finished, one animal weighs anywhere from 1,000 to 1,100 lbs.
“Consumers can buy 250-300 lbs of meat at a time, giving them more options of cuts, rather than getting stuck with a shoulder or something,” Karen said.
All of the meat Karen and Jim raise that will be sold in-state, they utilize a local processing plant in Buffalo, Wyoming. Pricilla Meats is a state-inspected facility, which allows the Zezas family to sell at Wyoming farmers’ markets and to retail operations in-state. Karen and Jim make a conscious effort to process their meat locally as a way to reinvest in their community.
“This is our community,” Karen said, “our community supports us, so we want to support them in return.”
Jim and Karen use a USDA certified, federally inspected meat processing plant in Columbus, Montana for all of the meat that will be shipped to consumers across state lines.
The meat processed at Pricilla Meats is mostly sold at farmers’ markets and farm stands in Buffalo, Sheridan, Casper, Gillette, and Kaycee. Most out-of-state customers of Grass King Cattle Company learned about products by word of mouth through family and friends. Jim and Karen have customers all over Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, and Montana.
The Zezas family want to provide their customers with choices. They offer grass-fed and grass-finished beef. Grass-fed beef is finished with grain before slaughter and processing. Grass-finished beef, on the other hand, is never given grain such as corn or soy -- it consumes only grass right up until processing. This niche choice is popular among consumers but takes an extra year to finish.
Consumers are drawn to Grass King Cattle and Produce Company products because of the way they stand out at markets. Jim and Karen put out samples for customers to try at farmers’ markets because they know the flavor and quality of their products speaks for itself. They also offer small cuts for purchase at farmers’ markets should anyone want to try their products for the first time without committing to a large purchase.
The couple light up when they talk about their customers.
“What really makes us both happy, is when people come back and say, ‘man, that was delicious,’ that makes us happy because it means we’re doing something right,” Jim says.
