Nutrient-dense food from healthy soils
Biodynamic • Pasture Raised • Regenerative • Holistic
East Troy, WI
We are a 165 acre, diversified, organic farm. As one of the oldest running biodynamic farms in America, we nourish our livestock with our own crops and grasses.
About the Farm
Our Animals
We have a pinzgauer beef herd with 18 cows that we breed. The herd is rotationally grazed on pasture, moved twice a day during the season and fed hay made on the farm in winter. We also raise heritage pork and pastured heritage chicken on feed that is grown and milled here on the farm.
How to Get Involved
Our mission is to build a like-minded community of individuals that support the farm’s operating budget. In return you partake in all the food grown on the farm. Check out what our membership looks like to learn more and receive nutrient dense, quality food to nourish your family.
Our Management
We focus on a closed loop management system from the principals of biodynamics, regenerative agriculture and holistic management. All of the feed given to the animals is grown and milled on the farm, buying in as little as possible. We compost and put all nutrients back out on the pastures that provide for our perennial pastures, corn, small grains and more.
Creating a new future
Community Supported
Honoring the land
Education focused
Zinniker Farm Stewardship Association
(ZFSA)
-
We are a group of individuals who are committed to help steward the legacy of Zinniker Farm into the future and who wish to benefit from the extraordinarily vital, flavorful, nutrient dense food produced on the farm. We are in the process of forming a new kind of economic and cultural association whose goals are to:
Ensure the farm continues to be selflessly stewarded in perpetuity using the best organic, biodynamic, and regenerative farming practices;
Grow the number of people who can benefit from a connection to the farm and to the vital, nutrient dense food produced on the farm;
Help Mark and Petra Zinniker, the current stewards of Zinniker Farm, earn a good living and start stepping back from full responsibility for the farm operations and move toward, and into retirement;
Help a new farm family to get established on Zinniker Farm who can help move the current farm enterprises into the future and diversify the farm’s offerings so that the farm can provide more and more of the food needs of the ZFSA members;
Nurture the farm’s role as a center for cultural renewal and farmer and consumer education.
-
Each year, the members of ZFSA, through a core group that includes the farmers, will establish an annual budget for the farm. This budget will include everything needed to run the farm in the coming year, provide a dignified living for the farmers, and insure the long-term sustainability of the farm, including capital improvements and the costs necessary to bring new farmers into the land. Members of the ZFSA will then make pledges and contributions sufficient to cover the entire budget of the farm and in turn, the entire output of the farm will be distributed to the members of the Association. The exact legal structures and systems that will be used to operate and manage ZFSA are still in the process of being worked out, but we imagine that in addition to the core group, ZFSA will have committees to manage outreach, distribution and farm-based and community events. At present we assume that ZFSA will need to contract with one or two part time people to help coordinate these efforts.
-
While ZFSA will have some similarities to a typical community supported agriculture (CSA) program, it is different because we are focused on the long-term stewardship of the farm as a whole and not just on buying food for one growing season. Specifically, this means:
The farm’s budget will be developed in partnership with ZFSA members and there will be full transparency with the members regarding every aspect of the farm’s finances and management.
ZFSA members are not simply buying a share in a portion of the farm’s output but rather making financial commitments and gifts to cover the whole annual budget of the farm and in turn receiving the entire output of the farm.
We anticipate that the amount of each member’s contribution will be different based on their unique financial circumstances, rather than paying a common flat rate. Some individuals and organizations may also choose to make contributions to support the work of Zinniker farm who do not wish to gain access to the food.
-
We anticipate that many of ZFSA members will be people who love and want to support Zinniker Farm but who live too far away, or for other reasons, do want to partake of the harvest from the farm. There is a place on the membership form where you can tell us you will be a non-food member. Keep in mind, however, that the Zinnikers are happy to ship non-perishable products like soap, honey and the biodynamic preparations, to members who live at a distance.
-
If you don’t eat pork, we simply won’t include it in your membership. We will never provide food that you or your family do not eat. Please let us know your preferences when you sign up so we can honor them.
-
We are not offering a full vegetable CSA at this time. Our membership is primarily comprised of meat and eggs. Throughout the seasons, we do include select vegetables when available, such as sweet corn, squash, and a few others grown on the farm.
-
We’re happy to adjust quantities based on your family’s needs. If you eat fewer eggs, we can shift your share accordingly and increase the amount of meat instead. Just let us know what works best for your household.
