An American Dream Story
In 1853, a young man by the name of Wilhelm Zellmer came to the United States aboard a cattle ship from Bieniew, Prussia to start a new life for himself. Wilhelm met a beautiful German girl, Louisa, in Wisconsin and began traveling toward Kansas in pursuit of that promised fresh start in life. The travel to Kansas was difficult; Louisa and Wilhelm encountered the grasshopper plague and the loss of some members of their wagon train. It was, however, the death of one of their oxen that ended their journey to the free land available in Kansas. As Wilhelm looked around the land near him, called Iowa, he realized the beautiful rolling hills reminded him a bit of his native Prussia. Wilhelm soon found a job building the railroad tracks that now run through the town of Atlantic, while Louisa fed the railroad crews meals to earn money. Wilhelm realized that the rich black soil and climate was well suited for farming, so he and Louisa saved up their coins and purchased a plot near the current home of the Zellmer family farm. Thus began a farming operation that spans six generations, run by Wilhelm’s ancestors, who love the land and appreciate the nutrient rich soil in Iowa.
Alan Zellmer and his sons, Ethan and Gage, are the 5th and 6th generation of Zellmers, farming the land, now a century farm. Along with crop farming, the Zellmers’ land is also used as pasture for the Wagyu and Angus cattle herds being produced by Zellmer Farms.
A to Z Feeders 
Hello, I am the exc. chef at Bulldog N.E. in Minneapolis. http://www.thebulldognortheast.com Almost all of our burgers are ground with your wagyu chuckroll and I am wondering if there is anymore information you can give me about your raising process and other things that might stand out from other farms. I have been working more closely with our sources to insure a well informed staff is behind what gets put on the table.
Hello JR,
We just sent an email to the only email address listed on Bulldog N.E.’s website. Hope that was okay! We’d love to chat about our operation and answer any questions you have! Sorry for the late response, we aren’t used to this sort of dashboard! Ours usually comes in a tractor!
A to Z Feeders
Its nice to know where my burger comes from! Thanks Mr Zellmer and Bulldog NE!