Meinecke Farms is a beef cattle farm located in Millington, MI. It is owned and operated by the family of John Henry Meinecke. We farm between 700 and 800 acres mostly dedicated to the production of beef cattle with a small amount of cash cropping. We currently raise alfalfa, corn (for both silage and grain), soybeans, and wheat.

We have a herd of approximately 120 head of cattle, Hereford and Angus, consisting of cow/calf (pictured right), feeder steers, replacement heifers, and finished steers. The work on the farm never seems to be caught up but that's common on most farms.  For us, it's not a job or occupation, it's a way of life, one that we enjoy very much. It is our hope that we can share with you some of the "country farm" goodness and hospitality that we are fortunate enough to enjoy every day.

Kellie Zochowski (pictured right), and her pet steer Martin. He is a big teddy bear who loves to follow Kellie around the yard stealing an apple or pear any chance he can. Martin can be out in the back 40 but when you call his name he comes running.

Meet Kellie :

I am sure many of you have met and seen Kellie doing Home Deliveries as well as working at the Farmers Markets. (pictured right with grandson Ty)

Something tragic happened the beginning of the year and because we see our customers as Friends and Family we wanted to let you know what our family has been going through this year.

After a bad case of the flu in the middle of January, 2010 Kellie seemed to be back to herself again, then on February 5, 2010 she became extremely weak, and was in severe pain. I took her to the hospital where the admitted her into emergency and after several hours of test they advised us that she had an extremely rare condition called "Guillain-Barre Syndrome" (www.guillianbarresyndrome.net/)and that she was going to get a lot worse before she gets better. With-in the next 24 hours Kellie became completely immobile and was at risk of being put on a ventilator. She spent 10 days in severe pain in ICU but the doctors were able to keep her off of the ventalator. On February 22 Kellie was released from the hospital and taken to a rehabilitation center where she has begun her long road to recovery. She has been very brave through it all and has insisted that we do not compromise JOHN HENRY'S nor its service to her customers.

As of the middle of August 2011, she has recovered about about 60-70%. She gets tired very easily and we have had to cut down on the number of  farmers markets we used to do because it has become to much for us to handle. We are focusing on our Home Delivery Routes and hoping to grow those as much as possible.

Below you will meet Kellie's Daughter - Katie.

Meet Katie:

Ever since my mom's illness, I have taken a more active roll in John Henry's.  I am sure many of you have met me either through emails or over the phone or even at the Royal Oak Farmers Market I love working with my mom and John Henry, They are the best family. I am truely blessed to have this awesome opportunity to help people learn about where their food comes from while supporting local farmers. It amazes me that you can buy a pound of ground beef at the grocery store and there can be 1000 different cows in that one pound. Plus, they may be from all over the world, Brazil, Mexico, Canada. I know how important good meat is to me and my family. So I want to pass my knowledge on to others. Many of our customers have become my friends and I care about each of you. On March 9th i gave birth to a baby girl ~ Aurora Kathryn Marie. 6 lbs 10 oz. and 20" long.(Below) My Husband Rick and I (Right - at a Tigers vs. Rangers playoff game - yes we actually had a date day! Thanks Mom!!!)  were excited to add another addition to our family since we also have a 3 yr old little boy named Ty Thomas( Below). Things are a bit more hectic than I had antisipated and I am forced to limited what I do now. Two little ones are a lot of fun and a lot of work. Because we plant a huge garden and I am really into canning and making my own baby food I will be pretty busy this summer. I will continue however to take your order either over the phone or email and answer any questions you might have. I recently started a small food blog. I have learned so many great cooking tips from my grandmas & I want to share some of them with you. I am going to try to post 1 recipe per week. Here is the address: www.domesticdiva-katie.blogspot.com Please check it out and let me know what you think.

P.S. Rick has recently started working at the Royal Oak Farmers Mkt :-) I hope you all are getting to meet him as well.

I look forward to talking to you soon!.