Peerman Family Farm takes root near Whitefish

Not all businesses need a large profit margin to remain viable.

For the Peermans, recent transplants from California, any sales made are simply to help cover the costs of their business. Their goal is to pay for raising whole, healthy animal products for their own family and to share with their new Montana neighbors.

Peerman Family Farm is an eponymous new 15.45-acre organic farm on Wollan Way west of Whitefish. The Peermans left behind a life made in the fruitful fields of California real estate for their new rural home in the woods.

“We just wanted a change of pace of life, mostly” said Brandi Peerman.

On the farm, the family of two adults and three kids (with one on the way) raise KuneKune Pigs, Dorper Sheep, Romeldale Sheep, Numian Goats and chickens. Once they settle in and obtain the proper licensure, they plan on selling both animals they breed and extra animal products they grow.

The farm is both a way for the family to obtain the kind of food they want for themselves and to educate the children, who are homeschooled, about the importance of whole foods and how to harvest foods from the earth in a sustainable way.

“This is all part of their education,” Brandi said.

Brandi Peerman said they were initially attracted to the farming lifestyle when their son, Malakai, wasn’t growing as fast as a toddler as the doctor thought he should be.

When the doctor offered to prescribe some medicine that might help him, Brandi asked him to give her one month to find a different way to get him the nutrients his body needed to grow more robust.

At the time, the family lived next door to a family that had goats. She began buying raw goat milk off of them and feeding it to Malakai. In a short period of time his body was growing more regularly, and within a couple years he was bigger than many of his peers.

As Malakai grew, he began to require more milk than the neighbor’s goats could produce, so the Peermans decided to raise their own goats. Malakai, now 11, is still drinking raw milk along with the rest of his family.

“I thought if it was helping him, it would probably help the rest of us too,” Brandi said.

Goats led to sheep, chickens and pigs, and nearly a decade later, a relocation to a beautiful corner of northwestern Montana.

They don’t have as many animals on their property now as they did in California, largely because they have a slightly smaller amount of space here and still need to build up the infrastructure to handle a bigger number of animals.

Additionally, moving the animals from California to Montana was quite the process. Brandi said they didn’t mind being the family that was taking small goats and sheep out of trailers and feeding them at truck stops, but it is nice to have the trip behind them.

“Sheep are very sensitive animals,” Brandi said.

Brandi believes they are the only breeder west of Wisconsin to raise the rare, purebred Romeldale Sheep that are registered with the Romeldale/CVM Conservancy.

She said the wool is as soft as Merino wool, and has lots of natural coloring, which makes it easier to make beautiful products without the use of dyes. The Peermans plan to sheer the sheep and hand spin wool this winter.

Brandi also said they are the first KuneKune pig-breeders in Montana. KuneKune pigs are known for being smaller than other breeds, and their fatty red meat makes for great bacon, according to Brandi.

The KuneKune pig were brought back from the brink of extinction in the 1970s, when an unadulterated population was found near the Maori Islands of New Zealand. KuneKune pigs are distinguished by their hairy appearance and mottled dark coloring.

The Peermans also plan to remain active in the real estate game while here. Brandi still maintains ownership of a real estate firm back in California, and the couple plans on buying, renovating, renting and selling housing units in the valley while they live here.

More information on the Peerman Family Farm can be found on their website at www.peermanfamilyfarm.com. Pictures are kept on their Instagram page. The handle is @peermanfamilyfarm.

Reporter Peregrine Frissell can be reached at (406) 758-4438 or pfrissell@dailyinterlake.com.