About Us

The Zakarison family immigrated from Norway in 1912. Originally having settled in Havre, Montana, they relocated to the Palouse in 1935 to farm a piece of ground six miles north of Pullman, Washington. Ingvold Zakarison, his son Russell Zakarison, Russell’s son Eric Zakarison, and now Eric’s wife Sheryl Hagen-Zakarison, and daughter, Ariel Zakarison, have been stewarding this small, steep farm for four generations.

The Zakarison farm and ranch operation raised registered Hereford cattle from 1935 until 2001. We have had sheep since 1983. We have had both dairy and meat goats since 2010. We have raised pastured poultry (broiler chickens and turkeys) and feeder pigs since the mid 1980’s. We have always fed our animals out on grain and hay grown on our farm.  

Zak Feeds began when Eric Zakarison agreed start selling the feed he was grinding for the farm’s own animals to other local livestock producers. The business grew over the years and became the principle marketing avenue for almost all grain raised on the farm. Sheryl Hagen-Zakarison, who married Eric in 1983, and who has worked full time on the farm since 2010, began advocating for a shift to a low-tillage/low disturbance approach to farming in 2017. The priorities on the farm shifted from prioritizing yields to prioritizing soil health and biologically responsible farming practices. Other changes towards regenerative farming practices included cessation of use of anhydrous ammonia fertilizer in 2013, cessation of use of insecticides in 2015, cessation of use of fungicides 2016, and seed treatments in 2017. The farm also began to incorporate cover crops and shifted to crops such as triticale that provide biomass and raise soil organic carbon levels while allowing a reduction of synthetic inputs.

Sheryl and Eric’s daughter Ariel Zakarison came back to work on the farm and help with the feed mill in 2020. Sheryl and Ariel assumed all farming responsibilities in 2023 including operating the feed mill, planting and harvesting crops, and raising livestock to ensure consistent performance of all feed blends.

Ariel and Sheryl continue to run the farm and operate the feed mill with a commitment to serving small farms and ranches in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. They maintain a deep respect for everything the land gives and for the health of the soil.

We hold in loving memory Elaine Zakarison (October 16th, 1933-June 22nd, 2022), Russell Zakarison (July 14th, 1932-January 29th, 2025), Joyceann Hagen (November 14th, 1937- May 2nd, 2024), and Eric Zakarison (September 30th, 1958-September 2nd, 2024)