ABOUT
MARCHANT CATTLE CO.
Our Story
Three Generations of Agriculture
Marchant Cattle Co. is located in Central Iowa, just 6 miles north of I-80 in Jasper County. Our home base is located on my grandparent’s farm. It’s where I grew up, and where I’ve chosen to spend my life, and raise our family.
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While my grandpa was farming, he farmed 425 acres of his family’s land, as well as ground rented from surrounding family and neighbors. By the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, he was farming a little of 1,000 acres and running a sow to finish pig operation on our home farm. From the age of five I can remember either helping, or riding with grandpa whenever he or my parents would allow; I knew at early age exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up, and right where I wanted to do it. When grandpa retired in 1999, I was a Junior in high school. I was too young to take over, so in the meantime he rented the land to family, and I went to work for a great family farming in Kellogg, Iowa.
Around that time, I realized that I didn’t want to get back into the pig business, and I bought my first group of commercial pairs. I started turning the hog farm into something that could hold cows, and I ran this group of cows for a few years. Eventually I talked my grandparents into giving me a chance to farm their ground and turn 30 acres of crop ground into pasture, and shortly after I transitioned away from working for the family in Kellogg to working maintenance at Iowa Speedway, so that I could continue to cultivate what I was just getting started.
As I got going, I wanted to see more out of my cattle operation, and I started buying registered Simmental cattle from producers around the state. I wanted to sample a little of everyone’s genetics; that’s how I really started learning what I needed to start producing breeding stock of my own. With a chance to purchase the neighbor’s dairy farm, we added another 30 acres of pasture and some additional needed out buildings to the docket, and that’s when I stepped away from the Speedway and chose to focus full-time on doing the best job that I could with what I had going.
Our Farm
Local Family Farm
My wife KayLea and I have two daughters, Kensley and Tori Jane, and three dogs, and together we live in the house that I was born and raised in. I am now up to 800 acres of crop land, and as of 2023 we’re running 60 registered momma cows, along with a couple of donor cows who we are working with to improve and grow our herd. With our herd we’re running an additional 8 momma cows for my father-in-law, Brad Zumbach, owner of Four Z Beef, whom we work in conjunction with for the growth of
our program. We will typically sell 5-10 bulls, and 5-20 heifers a year private treaty. We’ve dabbled in the meat business, but sell out quickly, so that’s something we’d like to work on growing in the future as well.
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As a farm family we enjoy many outdoor activities with open wheel racing topping the list, and for the last few years we’ve worked with both drivers and teams in the World of Outlaw Sprint Car Series (on DirtVision.com) and the All Star Circuit of Champions (on FloSports.com) to advertise our brand locally and on a national level.
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We’re even trying out the world of hospitality, so if you’re ever looking for a quiet and peaceful stay in the country, my mom offers a VRBO rental located on the original home farm. Visitors are always welcome!
Best Regards,
Matt Marchant and Family
Matt, KayLea, Kensley and Tori Jane