Pine Mountain Buffalo Ranch, Bend
Alan Rousseau on his ranch.
Pine Mountain Ranch sits in the heart of Central Oregon, with views of the Cascades, the Wallowas, and the high desert running in every direction. The ranch is owned and operated by Alan Rousseau and is now home to 110 bison, 40 yaks, some sheep, a couple of dogs, and Central Oregon’s newest farmers’ market.
Alan bought the ranch in 2000 and has worked for the past eight years to restore the pasture, build his herds, set up fencing, and develop a market for his grass-fed buffalo and yak meat. This entailed selling at 10 markets a week and spending a few nights a week away from home and his family. So this year, instead of taking the farm to the consumers, Alan has brought the consumers to Pine Mountain Ranch in what is the only farmers’ market on a working ranch in the state of Oregon.
The Friends and Farmers Market is not your ordinary farmers’ market. It offers tours of the ranch, grilled buffalo burgers, live entertainment, a beer and wine garden on occasion, an array of cheese, meat and produce vendors. In addition, there are 24 vendors on consignment in the farm store offering shoppers a variety of fresh farm goods and artisan products. By setting up the market and farm store in this fashion, Alan and business partner Loretta Spahmer estimate that they save producers a total of $3300 a week in gas since most would have to come over the mountains in order to have a presence at the market. With the market and the consignment option, Alan and Loretta have succeeded in opening up more local markets and are providing producers with another outlet for their goods.
Buffaloes at home on the range.
Clearly Pine Mountain Ranch takes their role in their communities, their environment and the local food economy very seriously. In addition to starting the farmers’ market, they take care to use the whole animal once it has been harvested, they are working with neighbors to control weeds, and they are writing grants to put solar panels on the barn and construct a wind turbine on the property. The ranch also sets up a booth with Pine Mountain Ranch buffalo and yak meat at markets in the Portland are and in Bend, and sells to select restaurants, the Tumalo Store, and Nature’s.
The farmers’ market runs every Sunday from 10:30am-3:30pm through October 26th. To volunteer with the market, become a vendor, or to just keep up to date on upcoming events like Frontier Days and Octoberfest, visit the Friends and Farmers Market website.
For more information on Pine Mountain Ranch and their buffalo, yak and elks, visit their website or sign up for ranch tour on Market Day.
