Moon Family Farm

Benton County, WA

There are few farmers we admire more than our amazing friends Garrett and Jessica Moon of the Moon Family Farm. Their wheat is something special and we’d have a hard time getting by without it. But it takes an incredible effort to produce these crops, and we’re constantly amazed by the Moon’s dedication to the task.

That’s because unlike most of our growers, they live east of the Cascade Mountains in a place so dry it takes two years of rain to grow a single harvest. “Everything we do is related to water,” explains Garrett. “You farm according to that, and you get what you get. There's less inputs than almost any other kind of farming. It's just inherently a very sustainable model.”

Raising grain on their 2,400 acres means getting creative. Lack of rain puts regenerative crop rotations and cover crops out of reach. Instead, they practice 100% no - till farming using both a harvester that cuts their wheat's seed heads but leaves its stalks standing to protect the soil and an advanced weed - detecting sprayer that treats only individual weeds and nothing else.

Garrett says it's cut their weed expenses an astonishing 80% even as their stalk - filled fields earned a state commendation for keeping blowing snow off adjacent roads. That's on top of certifications for sustainability from Farmed Smart and Salmon - Safe. It's all part of Garret's desire to work with the Earth rather than against it. “When I get up in the morning the weather dictates what I do,” he says. “I love being in tune with nature and our local ecosystem like that.”