Meet Our Growers: Morter Family

Farming has long been in Brian Morter’s blood. He grew up near his grandfather’s land in Oregon, which is where he always envisioned his future.

Brian now lives with his wife, Courtney, on the family farm in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Brian’s parents, Roger and Carla, farm the Oregon homestead. Brian and his dad manage the farms together and travel the 330 miles between the two to ensure each farm’s unique needs are met.

Because of the geographical distance, the two farms have very different land qualities. The Oregon farm is dry, high desert and only supports a crop every other year, due to lack of moisture. The Idaho farm benefits from significantly more moisture, making the timing of each growing season different. While seemingly cumbersome and challenging, this allows Brian and his dad to work each farm as needed.

The Morters are very proud of their self-sufficient farms. “We don’t hire a lot of outside help. We try to do as much as we can ourselves. We build our own grain bins, haul our own wheat and manage our own equipment. We sell alfalfa and keep the grass hay to feed to cattle. We try to be diversified—hay, cattle, timothy seed and wheat. That helps save money, which we can put toward buying more land.”