As a fourth-generation family farm, sisters Ashley and Sara loved traveling across the country showing their cattle and racking up the ribbons. The family’s operation sits on their mom Cindy Hunter’s family farm and together, Ashley and her husband, Jess Recknor, and Cindy and Pete Hunter own Purple Ribbon Beef.

Ashley and Jess met while showing cattle in their younger years. Jess focuses on the show cattle side of their operation called Recknor Show Cattle, where they host a fall sale each year featuring elite show heifers.

“We were very active on the national show cattle level, and she (Sara) was on the National Junior Shorthorn Board, while I was active showing Simmentals,” Ashley Recknor said. “We were very fortunate to be successful showing cattle, and once we were done showing, we paused to think about what our next phase would be. What would we do? That’s where Purple Ribbon Beef came from, building on that cow herd.”

Recknor also showed pigs and enjoyed helping her dad with farm chores in her younger years, then went on to graduate from Iowa State University with a degree in community and public health, and a minor in entrepreneurship. While there, she founded and served as CEO of a student-owned and operated cafe on campus, the Barista Cafe. Recknor went on to earn her master’s degree in public administration with an emphasis in health care.

-Submitted photo
Ashley and Jess Recknor, pictured at left with their daughter Rylan, 8, operate Purple Ribbon Beef with Ashley's parents, Pete and Cindy Hunter. Daughter Rylan can often be found helping in the farm store, packing orders and writing cards to customers.

Before creating Purple Ribbon Beef, Recknor worked off-farm and saw the farm-to-table movement extend from the coasts to the Midwest.

Pete Hunter had been managing a large cattle operation for years, then switched to building up his own small herd. Jess Recknor joined in and helped his father-in-law with that herd. In 2024, Pete and Cindy Hunter were named the Iowa Shorthorn Association’s Breeder of the Year.

“In 2016, we started Purple Ribbon Beef and opened our own storefront in 2018 on Small Business Saturday,” Recknor said.

From there, they started selling their beef at three farmers markets, shipping online orders weekly across the Midwest, offering monthly subscriptions to customers and growing their herd. They ended up purchasing a farm closer to another family farm, and the Recknors relocated from Clarion to Britt where they are now. The Purple Ribbon Beef Farm Store reopened at their Britt farm. They also are raising their daughter, Rylan, 8, on the farm.

Purple Ribbon Beef is BQA-certified, which stands for Beef Quality Assurance, a certification that confirms the highest standard of practices are used on the farm. They also focus on sustainability, with a goal of ensuring their family farm remains for generations to come.

-Submitted photo
More than 40 Purple Ribbon Beef products are available that can be shipped nationwide. A variety of steaks are shown.

Their herd has grown from 30 head to 100, with more than 40 beef products available that can be shipped nationwide.

Purple Ribbon Beef’s cattle are a Simmental-Angus cross and, over time, they have focused their genetics on raising a consistent product that consumers love. They also have Simmental bulls. All cattle are finished on grain for 150 days after being on pasture or shocks. They calve in the spring and fall, so they have a consistent supply for their customers.

“We try to do a very early spring calving before the mud happens, and we have a calving barn where we bring them all in and they spend a day or two after the cows calve,” Recknor said. “Then we have a nursery pen set up where the calves have heat lamps, and we have cameras to watch them. Our fall calvers calve out in the pasture, so we don’t have to worry about the cold.”

A grant from the Choose Iowa Program allowed the family to finish their storefront and add freezers. There are 30 other Iowa producers selling their wares in the storefront that include eggs, cheese, pastas, fresh flowers, pork and more. Their own Purple Ribbon Beef retail products are processed at a butcher shop in Iowa Falls, then a locker five miles away supplies the quartered, halved and whole beef options.

“Our daughter, Rylan, enjoys helping in the farm store and will help pack orders, write cards to our customers and currently has her own calf she’s going to show this summer. She also likes to mix the feed for the show barn cattle,” Recknor said. “Dad runs the cows every day, and Mom is in the farm store and runs all of our financials.”

The beef that’s being shipped across the country is packaged in Styrofoam coolers with gel ice packs. But customers love visiting the on-farm store when they can.

“Just the other day, someone drove here from almost two hours away,” Recknor said. “We’ve built our business over time to be a sustainable entity that we hope to pass on to our daughter, if she’s interested in it. We really work on focusing on the end consumer and having a consistent product for them and building relationships with them.”