It’s a fun challenge for Farm to Market Pork and Beef co-owner Ken Braaten when a customer asks for a product or cut of meat they don’t typically carry.  

“A lot of times we're just trying to listen to customers and hear what they want, and I mean as a sausage maker, there's no such thing as a bad idea,” Braaten said.  

He’s part of the second generation to run Farm to Market Pork and Beef, started by his parents Duane and Janette in 1976. Tucked against rolling hills and lush fields in the West Valley, the pig farm that sits off Farm to Market Road has been a community staple for decades — selling products from animals raised on the farm.  

It wasn’t long after Braaten and his brother Logan took over the family business that they experienced a sizeable uptick in sales. As the population of the Flathead Valley grew following the pandemic, so did the number of people interested in finding locally raised pork and beef.  

“We had a 10-year plan and we kind of met it in a year ... We have very loyal customers. It's very steady. We don't experience the ups and downs of some industries, so to have that happen all at once was very surreal to us,” Braaten said.  

The growth allowed them to invest in the farm, like purchasing new equipment, constructing small additions to the facilities and doing what they could to continue to handle the increase in volume.  

But Braaten said they waited for things to level out before planning their most recent investment: an expansion of their processing facility and retail store.

“That growth hasn't continued. It just leveled off again to be more normal. So, the last few years we’ve been trying to decide where we're at, and that's why we decided to build now. Like hey, we’re going to be here for another 20 or 30 years,” Braaten said.  

The number of animals that can be raised is limited by the size of the facilities, so the goal for expansion is to make sure everything is sized appropriately to handle the increase in volume.  

The farm has 1,000 pigs and 150 steers on feed, according to Braaten, who said they process 30 hogs and three to five cattle a week.  

Construction started in July to build a new processing room and remodel the retail area.  In addition to more offices and a new breakroom, Braaten said they are also building more cold storage for meat.  

Over the last few years, the farm has had to rely on shipping containers for storage. 

"How much cold storage we need limits our volume more than anything,” he said.  

Braaten is passionate about the meat processing side of the business, a skill he learned while growing up on the farm. He took over the family business in 2015, after his father Duane told him he was preparing to retire.  

He feels fortunate to take on running the farm. For its longevity, he credits his father’s resilience and forward thinking. Duane decided to put in a butcher shop in the early 1980s, when there were far more hog farms across the Flathead Valley than there are today.   

Braaten said it was a little unconventional for the time, but it was a way to market the animals. 

“He wanted to raise pigs so bad that he had to figure out a way to make it work, because the way he was doing it didn't financially make sense. So really, it's his love of agriculture of pigs which kept this going,” Braaten said.  

Though Duane passed the reins to Ken and Logan, he’s still active in his favorite parts of the farm.  

“Just taking care of the pigs. That always has been and always will be his passion,” Braaten said.  

Duane continues to serve on several local boards, including the Western Montana Conservation Commission and Flathead Electric Co-op Board of Trustees. But, Braaten said he’s also enjoyed driving for Uber since his retirement.  

“He'll go pick people from the airport and give them this history of the valley and everything — as he does because he just likes to talk to people,” Braaten said.  

It was around 2017 that Braaten started the process of replacing all of the buildings on the farm, beginning with the pig barns. It was a commitment he didn’t take lightly, as Braaten said he wanted to work on the farm for a couple of years before deciding if it was the right move for his growing family. 

“Like ‘OK, I like it here enough, I enjoy this, so let's start reinvesting back into the business again,’” he said.  

Logan joined as farm manager in 2020, while Braaten continues to oversee the processing side of the business. Their children help on the farm just as they did when they were growing up. 

Braaten recognizes running a farm is an opportunity many people would like to have, so he doesn’t take for granted what it took to get them here.  

“The fact we were able to pass it down — a lot of sacrifice went into that from all of our family. My brothers and sisters and my parents have made it possible,” he said.  

Farm to Market Pork and Beef has been in operation for 50 years, but Braaten said the family is holding off on celebrating until 2027 after the expansion is complete.  

To learn more about Farm to Market Pork and Beef, visit farmtomarketpork.com.  

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4440 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.