The Zimmerman family poses with their Holstein steer, Bowser. From left are Emerson, Bryson, Mason, Ethen, Kristi and Lee. Submitted Photo

A decision to stay local more than ten years ago has led the Zimmerman family to establish a business dedicated to supplying fresh, local beef to North Dakotans.

Lee Zimmerman, his sisters and parents had owned Sandhills Dairy near Denbigh in McHenry County for several years when they considered a move to Texas in 2010.

“We went through the permitting process down in the panhandle of Texas,” Zimmer recalled. “My sister got to pick the name of the new dairy, and it stuck. Then, we decided not to move. We wanted to expand the business we had locally,” Zimmerman added. “So, we teamed up together, my mom and dad and sisters and myself and we built a feedlot facility.”

Zimmerman said his family gave the feedlot the name his sister had chosen for the dairy they almost established in Texas.

“We named it the Big Sombrero. Since we couldn’t have it in Texas, we would have it in North Dakota.”

Zimmerman said after his family built the feedlot, he thought about moving into a new direction.

“We had so many inquiries about selling hamburger over the last five years,” he recalled.

Zimmerman began thinking about selling farm-fresh beef. “We milk cows at Sandhills Dairy, then we raise all our replacement animals for the dairy, then anything extra, the surplus, we finish out at The Big Sombrero feedlot,” he said.

“I just wanted another little enterprise because there was a lot of demand for it, a lot of inquiries, and we’d always get calls at the dairy, you know, ‘Do you sell beef? Do you sell hamburger?’ That’s where it started. So, about three years ago, we got permitted by the First District Health Unit,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman, his wife, Kristi, and family launched their farm-fresh beef business.

“Then, we had to find a processor in this state that was inspected, that would slaughter the animals under the inspection and also cut and wrap the product under inspection. After searching for a meat processing facility in North Dakota, Zimmerman found Bowdon Meat Processing in Bowdon. “They do all of the inspected beef for resale. Now, we can do so many pounds of hamburger, so many steaks, whatever the consumer desires,” Zimmerman said.

The Big Sombrero not only keeps its operation and processing local to central North Dakota; much of its daily operations involve the family as well. Even Lee and Kristi’s children help out.

“Our kids are 13, 12, 10 and 7,” Zimmerman said. “The kids do all the beef bundles. They box all the beef. They come down to Bowdon to pick up all the beef that’s been packaged and ready for delivery and different beef orders.”

“Ethan, our oldest, is 13 and we call him the Beef Master,” Zimmerman said with a chuckle. “He’s in charge of packaging all the different bundles that are available and separating the quarters of beef and knowing what’s the freshest and which inventory needs to be moved. Kristi works with a young woman in Minot who does our advertising for us between Instagram, Facebook and our website. She does some fun, cool things with giveaways and sponsorships. They keep everything local and help out surrounding businesses and keep the product right here.”

“We pride ourselves in farm-raised, fresh beef,” Zimmerman added. “We know how the cattle are being cared for and we know what the consumers want for an end result.”

“There are so many people that are misled in that area. They’re not sure what they’re buying at the grocery store,” Zimmerman said.

“The feedback that we get on referrals from customers over the last couple of years has been just outstanding,” Zimmerman added. “I can’t say we’ve never had a bad review – we had one person complain about a steak, one time. You’re not going to satisfy everyone, but as long as you satisfy 99.9 percent of your consumers and you educate them about the product that you’re raising and the importance of it, it goes great locally.”

Zimmerman noted, “Last year with the pandemic, it just really showed how important it was to support local people or to be in the industry that we’re in and be able to provide a product at an affordable price right to the local consumers.”

Like many North Dakota farmers and ranchers, Zimmerman said he was concerned with the impact of foreign-raised beef on the American food supply. Much of the beef from foreign countries is packed by large global companies.

“Eighty percent of the market share belongs to four packers,” Zimmerman said. “It’s huge. It’s a tough deal for the local guy. So, the more small processors that have started, the better. In fact, there’s one just starting west of Minot in Berthold. We just delivered a few beautiful finished steers to them this afternoon that they sell out of their showcase. Good things come from good products.”

“It’s more than fair to say word is really spreading about our products,” Zimmerman added. “A big part of it is the processor we work with. Bowdon has done an outstanding job for us. The steaks are table ready. All the meat is packaged, pristine, consumer-ready, looks great. Presentation is everything. You’ve got to have a great product that you’re marketing and you’ve got to have somebody on your side who’s doing the cutting and wrapping that’s of outstanding quality, too.”

The Big Sombrero’s fresh beef comes in several different package sizes, ranging from small packs sold by the pound to full freezer beef. Zimmerman said The Big Sombrero’s hamburger packages are top sellers. “Our number one staple we started with was the hamburger. People just couldn’t believe the quality of the hamburger for the price. It’s not watered down, it’s not like grocery store hamburger. It’s outstanding burger. We just get lots of compliments on the burger and the hamburger is as good as the steaks.”

Like other ranchers and farmers in McHenry County, Zimmerman’s feedlot has felt the pain of exceptional drought in 2021. “The drought is definitely a big factor with cost of production and increased cost of feed,” he said. “But the more we can keep the business local, the more we can help each other out.

“I really think the outlook for the industry is great from the processing side and from the farm and ranch beef raising enterprises out there,” Zimmerman added. “The more we can spread the word and educate the local community how important it is to keep the dollars local, I think that’s an important part of it. I think it’s got a great outlook.”

Ordering information can be found at www.thebigsombrerond.com.