About Us

Meet Ijme and Ami Zijlstra 

Ijme and Ami are the owners of Prospect Hill Farm LLC, Farm Connection LLC (Farm School), and Y&L Cow Care LLC.  After meeting in 2016 and realizing that they wanted to be a team for the rest of their lives, they did what every "young" couple does.  They got married, built a farm, and started three new business.

Ijme, a 4th-generation dairy farmer, is from Fryslan - a province in The Netherlands.  (Fryslan is also the origin of the black and white, Frisian Holstein dairy cow, the black Frisian horse, and the black and white, Frisian Stabijhoun dog!) With an education in Dairy Farming and Animal Science, Ijme moved to the U.S. in 2000 and built a dairy.  In 2016, Ijme transitioned from dairy farming to hoof-trimming.  He started Y&L Cow Care and began providing services to dairy and beef farms in Michigan and Ohio. 

Ami was born and raised in Washtenaw County, Michigan.  After living and teaching in Missouri, Wyoming, and Alaska, she returned home with a B.Sc. in Education and a goal to make Farm School a reality.  For over 30 years, Ami has taught and worked with people of all ages and abilities.  A guiding passion of hers has always been to connect people and communities to each other and to agriculture.  Her grandparents, Jane and Dean Wilson were also farmers and teachers, originally from Ann Arbor.  They spent their lives teaching in communities around the world as well as on their own farm, in Hillsdale County.  Ami's passions were ignited and greatly shaped by their teachings and examples.

Prospect Hill Farm  

On a 15-acre plot of vacant land in 2017, Ijme and Ami broke ground and started building the farm and the Farm School you see there today. 

Working with cattle is in Ijme's blood. So, beef cattle are at the heart of what the farm produces for the local community.  The beef herd quickly outgrew the 15-acre property.  They were moved six miles down the road, to a 150 acre farm where they are grass-finished using rotational grazing management practices and hay produced on the farm.   

In additon to cows, you can also find dairy goats, Frisian horses, chickens, cats and dogs (and sometimes a turkey, duck, or pig!) on the Farm School property.  

"Providing healthy food to families and knowing how the animals are treated, fed, and cared for is important to us. It is a job that we are truly grateful to be able to do."  - Ijme and Ami Zijlstra

Farm Connection LLC  (Farm School) is Prospect Hill's Education Program 

Throughout the initial years of building the infrastructure of the farm, the education program was always one of the clear goals.   The plan was to create an environment that welcomes all ages to experience the benefits of working and being on a farm. 

In 2021, Farm School was ready to invite students to register for the first session of classes!

However, being "ready" in no way meant that everything was perfect or finished.  Even today, you will see unfinished projects, mud, and opportunities for improvement.  But, that is farming in all of its glory!  It is a life that never leaves a farmer bored or looking for something to do.  There a lot of plans in store for the Farm School program.  It has a big future ahead. 

"Parents asked us to just start offering classes, even though our driveway wasn't completed and our classroom wasn't finished. This made me realize that kids don't have time to wait for perfection tomorrow.

There is so much teaching and learning to do TODAY."

We Invite you!

We invite you to join our Little Farmers Preschool classes or the Farm Club for elementary-aged students! 

We invite you to secure a month… or year's supply of local, grass-finished beef for your family! 

We invite you to schedule a Farm Tour to see the cattle and meet your farmers!

We invite you to connect to the Prospect Hill Farm and Farm School in our early years, so you will be able to say, "I remember when...". Connect now and become a part of our farm family for years to come.