Financing Payments To 2026 Grain Farmers For New Mill

This October will mark an exciting new chapter for Cairnspring Mills, the Pacific Northwest craft flour company known for sourcing regeneratively farmed grain and stone-milling it into identify preserved flour. It’s on track to open a new facility in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR): Blue Mountain Mill, which is being built on tribal land in Pendleton, Oregon. Steward is providing construction financing for the project, which will expand Cairnspring's stone-milling capacity while freeing up room at its original Skagit mill for more specialty grain varieties.

Cairnspring has made a commitment to exclusively source from either USDA Organic Certified Farms or Certified Regenerative Farms through a Greener World by 2028. The Cairnspring team supports farmers with planning and resources to implement regenerative practices, specific to each farm's bioregion. “I’ve never had a company invest in us the same way that Cairnspring is,” says one Cairnspring grower in eastern Oregon.

Paul Glowaski, Cairnspring’s Sustainability Manager, points to these bioregion-specific practices as core to their farmers’ success. “One of the principles of regenerative farming is context,” he says. “What is regenerative in the Skagit is very different from what is regenerative in the high desert in the PNW. So no one practice is the end-all-be-all…I’m most jazzed about the new jobs, economy, opportunities for healing the land, working with new farmers, meeting new people, and building trust and rapport,” says Glowaski. Cairnspring Mills’s dedication to the people and businesses that prop up the regional food system has made their impact as widespread as their chef-approved flour. 

Use of Funds

The funds from this loan will be used to buy recently harvested, regeneratively grown grain from Cairnspring's network of contracted farmers for production at their Blue Mountain Mill in Pendleton. As the mill is in the final stages of construction and on track for an October opening, Cairnspring is poised to leverage Steward’s inventory financing to secure 2026 crop for their very first season at the new facility.

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 include quality and sustainability  requirements that advance soil health and biodiversity goals within their sourcing contracts;

• Prohibiting neonic insecticides during production, glyphosate (Roundup) as a harvest aid on all crops, and the use of biosolids given the high levels of PFAS;

• 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;

• Committing to sourcing from producers with certified organic or certified regenerative through A Greener World by 2028;

• Ensuring identity preservation for grains from farm to flour and continuing to pay farmers a premium over commodity grain to ensure the added value gets back to the farm level.

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 regenerative conventional and organic grain growers; contractually prohibiting farmers from using glyphosate (as a harvest aid), neonicotinoids, and biosolids; and 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.

• Storing identity-preserved grains in dedicated small-scale silos, ensuring traceability from farm to flour.

Social Stewardship:

• Supporting their farmers as they explore regenerative practice adoption based on each farm’s unique challenges.

• Focusing on addressing the following:

• Lifting farmers out of the commodity system by directly sourcing from farmers committed to soil health, and by paying a premium above commodity prices;

• Intentionally building resilience into its supply chain by sourcing regionally, preserving the unique agricultural heritage of its sourcing regions, building markets for grain grown in the Pacific Northwest; and

• Shortening the distance between their farmers and their mill.

Economic Stewardship: 

• Paying farmers a premium above commodity prices.

Photo Credit: Andrew Snyder, Cairnspring Mills