PENDLETON, OR — Cairnspring Mills, a Burlington, WA, stone miller committed to sourcing local grains from farms using regenerative practices, is opening a 27,000-square-foot mill in Pendleton, OR. Blue Mountain Mill, which will begin commercial production in November, was built through a first-of-its-kind partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR).
Once fully operational, Cairnspring’s annual milling capacity will increase from 8 million pounds to more than 115 million pounds. The company will source wheat from approximately 60,000 acres, generate more than $22 million annually for farmers and create more than 22 local jobs. Cairnspring Mills worked with the CTUIR’s Workforce Development and Tribal Employment Rights Office to create training and educational opportunities for tribal members.
“Flour has been treated as a commodity for so long it’s easy to forget how much the grain, healthy soil, the farmer and the milling process matter,” said Kevin Morse, co-founder and CEO of Cairnspring Mills. “Blue Mountain Mill is an example of the remarkable middle infrastructure we’ve been working toward: a human-scale mill and model that serves real markets, supports farmers and keeps value in the community where the grain is grown and processed.”
By expanding its capacity, Cairnspring will significantly increase the amount of grain it purchases directly from farmers at prices above the commodity market. As a result, it can better serve larger regional and national customers that sell flour under their own labels.
“We were one of Cairnspring’s early customers, and ever since the Skagit mill came online, I’ve wanted to fill one of our silos with their flour,” said Mel Darbyshire, head baker at Grand Central Bakery. “We buy 5 million to 6 million pounds of flour a year, all of it grown and milled in the Pacific Northwest, so local sourcing at that volume matters to us, and with Blue Mountain, that dream could finally happen.”
Blue Mountain will produce high-volume hard red wheat. The original mill will shift its focus to unique grain varieties for bakers seeking specialty flours and also serve as Cairnspring’s center for innovation. This mill is the second stone mill in the Pacific Northwest, with future sites under consideration in Maryland and Colorado.
