Financing Payments To 2025 Grain Farmers

Cairnspring Mills is a craft flour company, located in Washington's Skagit Valley. They source their grains from regenerative, local growers across the Pacific Northwest to produce high-quality, nutritious flour at a regional scale. Cairnspring serves a diverse customer base, including individuals, bakeries, and food businesses. Cairnspring's customers are highly supportive of the mill, recognizing the tangible benefits it brings to the local agricultural community, such as the creation of quality jobs, improved margins for local growers, and a viable path to economic success through proper stewardship of the land. 

“Buying a loaf of Tartine Bakery’s bread is nothing less than a pilgrimage,” writes The San Francisco Chronicle. For Tartine, and many other bakeries throughout the PNW, that pilgrimage actually begins with the farms and flour produced at Cairnspring Mills:

Use of Funds

Each December, Cairnspring Mills purchases its entire grain supply for the year from its network of contracted farmers. To facilitate this purchase and ensure timely payment, Cairnspring relies on debt financing. Over the course of the year, as the flour produced by the mill is sold, the company repays this debt. The funds from this loan will be used to acquire the recently harvested, 2025 grain from Cairnspring’s network of contracted farmers. A portion of this loan may be funded by Steward Regenerative Capital.

Ecological, Social, and Economic Stewardship Practices

Cairnspring’s commitment to producing the highest quality flours is coupled with their focus on operating a business that has positive ecological, social, and economic outcomes.

Ecological Stewardship: 

• Sourcing from both conventional and organic grain growers and including specific growing practices in the contract language with each grower, recognizing that growers are at varying stages of adopting soil health practices and supporting progression over time. The mix between conventional and organic wheat sourced is directly correlated to the market demand for the respective products.
  
  
• Offering identity-preserved grains which are stored by varietal and are traceable to a specific farm within their network of growers. 
  
  
• Committing to exploring ecologically responsible methods for addressing weed and insect control on partnering farms as well as addressing their fertility needs through responsible strategies.
  
  
• Sourcing approximately 30% of the volume of wheat from USDA certified organic operations. 
  
  

Social Stewardship: 

• Supporting their farmers as they explore regenerative practice adoption based on each farm’s unique challenges. 
  
  
• Focusing on addressing the following:
  
  
• Ensuring local farmers remain financially viable as they face the growing pressures of urbanization and are increasingly forced into the race toward-the-bottom commodity system;
  
  
• Preserving the unique agricultural heritage of their sourcing regions and building markets for grain grown in the Pacific Northwest; and
  
  
• Shortening the physical distance between farmer and customer.
  
  

Economic Stewardship: 

• Paying farmers a premium price above the commodity market, making it economically possible for these farmers to employ regenerative farming strategies while conserving and improving their farmland for future generations. 

Stewardship Statement

Cairnspring Mills is a flour mill that is committed to producing fresh milled flours made from identity-preserved grains. Their commitment to producing excellent flour starts with their farmers. Cairnspring upholds their dedication to rebuilding local food systems through the following practices:

• Individually vetting each farm and including quality and sustainability requirements that advance soil health and biodiversity goals within their sourcing contracts;
  
  
• Prohibiting both neonic insecticides during production and glyphosate (Roundup) as a harvest aid on all crops;
  
  
• Partnering with local technical support providers to help guide trials, and identifying agricultural best practices for growers based on the region and their specific land, climate, and weather patterns;
  
  
• Maintaining a Sustainability Manager position within Cairnspring’s organization to ensure that the business’s commitment to sustainable sourcing standards translates to real on-the-ground improvements; and
  
  
• Ensuring identity preservation for grains from farm to flour, and continuing to pay farmers a premium over commodity grain to ensure the added value returns to the farm level.