When Seth and Etta Smith of Coon River Farms near Nemaha accepted an offer to provide their beef to a local restaurant, they didn’t expect to find fame. They just wanted to provide consumers with tasty beef and maybe a connection to the farm.

That changed on May 1 when Smokin’ Hereford BBQ of Storm Lake won the 2017 Iowa's Best Burger contest from the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and the Iowa Beef...