Request a Demo

FINDING EFFICIENCY IN NORTH DAKOTA

How Zenker Feeders use technology to move their cattle feeding business forward.

Father-son duo Brooks and Warren Zenker have been in the cattle feeding business for three decades. And while they can’t imagine life any other way, it actually wasn’t their idea to feed cattle for a living.   

Brooks’s uncle, Joel, had plans to build a feedlot in the 1980s, but an unfortunate car accident left him paralyzed from the shoulders down.  

“Joel had all the resources and plans, and everything was in the works, but he just couldn't do the labor anymore. Dad came home from college and started feeding cattle and farming with his dad a little bit more. And that's kind of where it all began,” Brooks says, remembering from Warren’s stories. 

His uncle stayed involved on the operation, taking care of the billing, up until last year.

A family-oriented operation

North Dakota-based Zenker Feeders started with 500 head in 1991. Since then, it has grown into primarily a backgrounding operation, with a capacity of around 2,000 head. 

Zenkers have leaned on local connections to grow their custom-feeding clientele. A customer that accounts for a good chunk of their business, Steven Weigel, Brooks has known since high school. 

“The relationships that we've built with him and his father are amazing. I mean, I would say we're great friends, and we work well together, and I have yet to hear him complain about the way we're doing things and the way his calves are.”   

zenkerfamily2023_119 (1)

Making a switch

For years, the Zenkers fed cattle and manually tracked their ingredients and rations using a notebook and pencil in the cab. But Brooks was searching for something to keep them honest and on top of their game.  

“I honestly was just looking for something to help with our accuracy. I remember feeding as a kid in high school, and you'd get in a hurry trying to get back to school, and you'd forget to write something down,” Brooks says. “It's like, "Okay, so then what do you do?" Well, you just go back to what you had the previous day, and you write it down and hope for the best.”

One day, he stumbled upon Performance Beef while watching a YouTube video. He was eager to get started. Warren, on the other hand, was more apprehensive. 

“He is stubborn, and it's just, "Oh, you can do it on a pen and paper. Why do we need to have an iPad? Why do we need to have all this stuff? There's more to go wrong with technology than there is with a pen and paper." And whatnot. And he picked up on it really quickly. He was surprised at how simple it was to do,” says Brooks.

Accuracy is everything

Performance Beef did exactly what Brooks hoped it would – improve the accuracy of their operation. The software has also given them more peace of mind and confidence in their feeding precision.

Brooks explained how Performance Beef simplifies feed tracking and inventory management, reducing waste and improving profitability. The software has made billing more straightforward and has significantly cut down the time required for manual calculations and data entry.

Brooks sees how the software, thanks to fine-tuned tracking, helped them cut feed costs. It’s also a time-saver.

“We save at least an hour a day feeding with Performance Beef just by sitting down, doing math, and writing everything down.” Brooks says.

READ MORE STORIES LIKE THIS

Chris Urbanczyk Customer Stories

Chris Urbanczyk

Hereford, Texas

Moving from spreadsheets to Performance Beef for feed and health data has helped Road Runner Cattle Co. simplify its business, save time and boost accuracy.

Read His Story
Chelsey Erdmann Customer Stories

Chelsey Erdmann

Camington, North Dakota

For 130 years and counting, Rhein Valley Farm has been home to Chelsey Erdmann’s family. They farm, feed cattle and have a cow-calf operation. Implementing technology on the cattle side has saved Chelsey’s family time and headaches.

Read Her Story
Jill Weber Vanderwal Customer Stories

Jill Weber Vanderwal

Southwest Minnesota

Improving communication and daily workflow is easier said than done. Jill Weber Vanderwal and her husband achieved that and more on their fourth-generation farm with help from technology.

Read Her Story

CHECK OUT PERFORMANCE BEEF FOR YOURSELF

Our digital demo walks you through popular functions in our app, helping you visualize how it can easily become part of your day-to-day tasks.

TRY THE APP