About
M&P
Merrit and Pierre Monnat started M+P Ranches in 2014 above the Columbia Gorge in the arid high desert plains of South Central Washington State. Before this move, they met while living on Vashon Island, WA. Pierre had grown up working summers at his family’s dairy in Wisconsin, and then later working side by side with John Huschle of Natures Last Stand Farm growing 8 acres of vegetables. When family friend and James Beard Award winning Chef Matt Dillon asked him to start and run Old Chaser Farm on Vashon Island, Pierre was ready. Merrit grew up in Texas, and made the move North after high school. She worked on a number of farms growing vegetables and raising animals- chickens, dairy goats, pigs… when she landed on Vashon Island herself. After meeting, an idea sparked, and the rest is history.
The Sheep
Since our start, we have grown from 8 coarse wooled ewes to 250 fine wooled Targhee and Rambouillet ewes. We strive to produce the highest quality lamb, wool, and breeding stock to serve the Northwest sheep industry. Our breeding pedigrees range from Washington to Montana, and our breeding choices focus on lamb vigor, ewe health and self-sustainability. Healthy sheep provide high quality fleeces, and delicious, high quality meat. Our sheep are exclusively pastured and grass fed; our focus throughout the year is developing, maintaining, and bettering perennial grass and farm land which improves long-term forage health, and creates great long-term habitat for wild creatures. We feed hay produced locally during the snowy winter months, to ensure our ewes produce enough milk for the lambs. After lambing in the spring, the sheep move from pasture to pasture, grazing on dry sagebrush country, perennial grassland and alfalfa fields throughout Klickitat County. We believe that our management practices create a unique product that is apparent in the flavor and texture of our lamb, and in the quality of our wool.
While we spend much time focusing on mothering instinct, lamb growth, and overall vigor as genetic markers in our sheep, we also spend a lot of time focusing on the quality of their wool. We strive for a very elastic, crimped, bright white fleece that can be tested at below 22 micron fiber diameter. This is achieved two ways: by selecting our replacement ewe lambs not only on their mothering traits but their fleece traits, and by carefully selecting the rams we use in order to ensure a high quality fleece in generations to come.
Our Products
-
The Wool
We are very excited to offer our own small, but growing line of yarns. Our yarns range from natural colored brown, greys and white, to naturally dyed hues. In addition to a finished product of yarn, we also have skirted fleeces available to those wishing to process and spin yarn themselves. The fleeces that don’t get sold or processed for the farm are sold to other local NW businesses such as Pendleton Woolen Mills and Olympic Yarn and Fiber.
-
The Meat
We believe that the flavor and texture of our lamb meat is unique and exceptional. Our lamb is pasture raised and grass fed. We feel strongly that the flavor is due to a grain-free diet, and a life on the high desert plains. Available as whole carcasses or individual cuts.
We raise a variety of heritage breed meat chickens during the spring and fall. We raise our chickens on pasture where they are free to eat grass, bugs, and chicken feed. Our finished chickens weigh between 3 and 6 pounds.
-
The Garden
We focus on growing shallots, cipollini onions, and winter squash, while keeping room for flowers, greens and dye plants. This is a new venture- leasing land from our neighbor to turn an old orchard into a thriving garden.