One thing we love about Old Salt Festival is the opportunities it creates to connect with the people who are growing and raising our food, and to build relationship with the land that it’s grown on. The 2nd Annual Old Salt Festival, taking place on the Mannix Family ranch in Helmville, Montana, June 21-23, offers a unique opportunity to delve into the world of nutrient-dense foods through direct engagement with the land and its stewards. This event is not just about enjoying heritage cuisine; it’s an immersive experience where attendees can connect with farmers and thought leaders, discussing the science behind regenerative practices that enrich our meals and health.
The farmers, ranchers, and businesses listed below, whose products will be used in the meals provided at Old Salt, are highlighted because they produce Montana-grown food or use it in their products.
Find out more about Old Salt Festival at oldsaltfestival.com and find more producers like the ones below on our Find Food and Farms Map.
Cordova Farms | Power, MT
Featured Product: Pork
Cordova Farms is stewarded by Ingrid and Josh Hill. Josh and Ingrid are both Montana natives who loved growing up under the big sky. Josh was raised right here on their 100 year old family farm, while Ingrid grew up in Bozeman dreaming of barnyard animals and collecting as many pets as his parents would allow. When Josh and Ingrid met they were both living and working in Bozeman with absolutely no farming aspirations. Just a few visits to Josh’s family farm revived Ingrid’s childhood dreams of raising animals and they quickly started making frequent trips North to help with farm tasks.
They started their farm business while still living in Bozeman and soon realized they needed to be on the farm full time (Read that as- Ingrid doubled their number of pigs and added a flock of sheep). They moved to the farm in 2018 and have continued to grow nonstop. They love working on their land and their drive to raise happy healthy animals only gets stronger. They now raise pastured chickens, pigs, sheep, cows, and turkeys, all of who provide their offerings of gorgeous eggs, beautifully marbled pork, delicate lamb, rich beef, and holiday turkeys! They are proud stewards of their animals and land, and consider themselves lucky to be raising your food.
Find out more about Cordova Farms at cordovafarms.com
Mannix Family Ranch | Helmville, MT
Featured Product: Beef
Since the establishment of the Mannix ranch in 1882, the Mannix family has called their little ranch in the Blackfoot valley home. But they have never thought of themselves as the true “owners” of this land. Instead, they are stewards of the soil, streams, grass, timber, and wildlife that belong to this ecosystem. The land is the lifeblood of their community, and they strive to be worthy caretakers of those resources that fall under their management.
Drawing on the agricultural tradition of the past, they strive to continually improve their stewardship methods for today. It is their conviction that managing land and livestock together in such a way that both animal and ecosystem flourish will continue to provide a healthy ecosystem supporting diverse wildlife, a good living for their family, good food for their customers, and contribute to the long term health of their community. Just as they were handed down a legacy of stewardship from the previous generation of the Mannix family, so they strive to instill the same strong conservation and stewardship values in the next generation.
Learn more about Mannix Family Ranch at mannixbeef.com
Sieben Live Stock Company | Adel
Featured Product: Lamb
In 1864, Henry Sieben traveled on foot and by wagon from Illinois to Montana Territory. From freighting to cattle and sheep speculation, Henry was an entrepreneur. By the end of his life he had amassed two majestic ranches. His two daughters, Berneice and Margaret, each inherited a ranch and the legacy was launched.
Four subsequent generations have maintained the ranch at Adel, south of Cascade, Montana. Each generation has expanded the ranch through acquisitions or leases. After a long history as a sheep ranch, Cooper Hibbard now manages primarily cattle at the Adel ranch.
Chase and Cooper Hibbard work together closely to ensure family legacy continues and thrives. While careers take fifth generation family members in a variety of directions, commitment is strong to ensure Sieben Live Stock Co is a many generation family business.
Find out more about Seiben Live Stock Company at siebenlivestock.com
Montana Flour & Grain | Fort Benton
Featured Product: Organic Whole Wheat Bread Flour
Montana Flour & Grain sells high quality flour and whole grain kernels. They offer both organically certified products and conventional grain products. They have built their reputation on quality and service to small customers and larger food manufacturers. Many of their organic grains are sold around the world. Their grain is grown by more than 150 family-owned and operated farms in Montana, neighboring states, and Canada. They feel that the farmers they buy grain from-and the customers to whom they sell it-are important links with them in the food chain. They are committed to ideals of sustainable stewardship of their natural resources for themselves and future generations.
Read more about Montana Flour and Grain at montanaflour.com
Farmer Boy Eggs | Drummond
Featured Product: Eggs
Farmer Boy Eggs provides farm-to-table eggs to Southwest Montana. Stress-free chickens who have the freedom to roam make a tastier and healthier egg without the use of antibiotics. Their cage free/free range hens are cared for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Their hens are antibiotic, hormone, and chemical free providing you the taste and quality you have been searching for. The hens are provided with the highest quality feed to facilitate superior egg taste and quality. And their eggs may have been in a nest that morning and in your shopping cart that evening. That means their eggs spend less time on trucks or warehouses so you can truly enjoy farm fresh flavor.
Find out more about Farmer Boy’s methods at farmerboyeggs.com
Root Cellar Foods | Bozeman
Featured Products From:
Terra Greens | Manhattan – Russet and Red Potatoes
Gallatin Valley Botanical | Bozeman – Soft Neck Garlic
Wild Plum Farm | Dixon – Oregano
Lowdown Farm | Moiese – Parsley
Coyote Smile Farm | Moiese – Cilantro
Root Cellar Foods is an online marketplace for locally grown and produced food. They make it possible for producers to work together to meet the growing demand for local, sustainable food in the Gallatin Valley. Producers benefit from the marketing, selling, packaging and delivering of their produce and prepared foods. They bring fresh, healthy, locally & regionally grown food to you in a cost-effective manner on a weekly basis. When they can’t source from the Gallatin Valley they look to other farms from Montana and then their northwest distributor, Organically Grown Company, sourcing from Oregon and Washington (primarily) and then California and Mexico in winter. Ordering from Root Cellar Foods Market helps them build and support their community, preserving our precious agricultural land for future use.
Find out more about Root Cellar Foods at rootcellarfoods.localfoodmarketplace.com
Winter Kissed Farm | Stevensville
Featured Products: Yukon Potatoes, Kale
Winter Kissed Farm is a small, diversified vegetable farm in Stevensville, Montana. They are a CSA based farm, offering Winter and Spring CSA shares and an online store for a-la-carte shopping. They strive to feed their clientele the highest quality, nutrient dense, organically grown produce all year. They take a step back from sales in July and August to focus on soil health and growing high quality crops to feed customers the remaining months of the year. They believe in providing the community with healthy food, especially in the colder months of the year when local food is harder to find. They use ecologically conscientious practices like solar power generation, use of unheated greenhouses to grow crops all year, cover cropping, crop rotation, and more. The farm is steered by a holistic management system and adherence to kaizen, a concept of continuous improvement. They are committed to a sustainable farm model for the soil, the community, their staff, and themselves, the farmers.
To learn more about Winter Kissed Farm, visit winterkissedfarm.com
Montana Honey Bee Company
Featured Product: Bee Pollen
The roots of MHBC started almost 10 years ago with a desire to replace process sugar. What started out as two boxes of bees has developed into a family owned and operated gourmet honey company. MHBC strives to give the incredible honey bee the respect it earns and deserves. You won’t find any plastic squeeze bears in their store.
Motivated by the adulterated and often fraudulent honey products found on most grocery store shelves, they only carry and use raw, all natural, unheated, unfiltered honey. Honey that the bees are proud of. In addition to selling the best honey and honey products on the planet, they also sell all the equipment the hobby beekeeper needs to start their own adventure. They also sell bees, teach classes, and give presentations about honey bees and beekeeping. MHBC knows bees and love to share this knowledge with anyone who has a minute to listen.
Learn more about the Montana Bee Company at montanahoneybeecompany.com