True North Cattle Co

It sits about seven miles south of Northport, roughly two hours north of Spokane and fifteen minutes from the Canadian border. Phil and Em Creach came to it the long way round, through a year helping run a 460 cow commercial dairy in North Dakota, then years of milking one beloved Guernsey house cow called Elsie for their neighbours, and finally 17 acres of raw land bought in 2016 and homesteaded from scratch. All six Creach children are being trained in the work, and two of them now hold jobs on the crew: Eli as farm manager and ranch foreman, Nate as lead milker.

The family handles every stage of its livestock from birth to butcher, and grows about 80 percent of the feed needed for the winter months when grazing is not available. The beef is Belted Galloway, and the farm states plainly on its own beef page that all of it is grass fed, grass finished and USDA certified. The dairy is built on Guernsey cows, which the farm calls the gems of True North, and sells Grade A raw milk by the half gallon, Grade A raw heavy cream and whole milk yogurt in plain, vanilla and maple. There is also heritage pork from Old Line swine breeds, free range chicken eggs and whole Cornish cross broilers. You can collect at the farm during farm hours, or order online for the weekly drop sites at the farmers market on South Main Street in Colville on Wednesdays and On Fire Ministries on East Pacific Avenue in Spokane on Thursdays.