Side of Ranch

Note: Sexton Ranch will be making their biweekly appearance at Saturday’s PSU Market, May 15th. This profile of Sexton Ranches originally appeared on Facebook in March.

Portland Farmers Market is welcoming 19 new vendors to their neighborhood Markets this year. Of all the new members, Dick Sexton has the longest commute to reach Saturday’s PSU Market. Coming in from Haines, Oregon – for those a little shaky on their Oregon geography…if you take I-84 east to Gresham and keep going for about 400 miles, you’ll reach Haines.

Sexton Ranch raises beef, lamb and chicken on 1100+ acres in Eastern Oregon. To sub/urban dwellers that don’t experience wide-open spaces in quite the same way – an acre is about 90 yards of a football field. 1100 acres are enough to raise 50 head of beef cattle, 240 ewes, around 1,000 chickens and dedicate 150 acres for raising alfalfa hay to put up for the winter.

Out Here in the Fields

There is still enough space left for 6 working dogs and a few horses, although ATVs are often what is saddled up to get around the ranch. The abundance of land and Dick’s method of ranching allows for the livestock, all born on the ranch, to be pastured for life. According to Dick the pastured animals “[provide] our customer a much healthier and much better tasting product”. Additionally, pasture finishing keeps dollars in local communities, instead of shipping the livestock to be finished and processed far away. Along with appearances at Saturday’s PSU Market, Sexton Ranch’s hormone and antibiotic-free meat can be ordered via direct sales. For more information on products, along with prices, visit Sexton Ranch on the web and Dick shares his thoughts and pictures about the ranching life at Sexton Blog.