How the craft flour movement could be a boon to farmers and Indian Country

How the craft flour movement could be a boon to farmers and Indian Country

Kirk Siegler

October 25, 2025 / 9:01 pm

PENDLETON, Ore. — It's hard times in America's heartland right now, where many farmers are on the brink of bankruptcy due, in part, to President Trump's trade war shutting off global sales of many of their crops.

Trump's tariffs have also made imported fertilizer and other equipment farmers rely on even more expensive amid already high inflation. But in one corner of Pacific Northwest wheat country, there are glimmers of economic hope due to the burgeoning business of "craft flour."

On the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton, Ore., Washington-state based Cairnspring Mills is building a new craft flour mill that will expand the company's production twelvefold and