Recently, several CNFC employees were given the opportunity to spend 4+ hours touring and learning about Lundberg Family Farms.  We had a great time with Bryce Lundberg, a 3rd generation rice farmer, who played tour guide for the day.  To learn about the beautiful family history of Lunberg Family Farm, visit their website!  Below are photos from our trips with a few of the things we learned.

Bryce standing in a field of Organic Akita Komachi Rice (sushi rice).  Lundberg grows 17 varieties of rice.

Lundberg plants all their rice by seeds, not by transplants from a nursery.   For grass invasion management they use water rather than chemicals.  They do this by drowning the grass for 24 days.  For some weeds, such as Red Berry, they do the opposite and dry the soil. 

Bryce claims that Lundberg rice is the best in the world because of it's location between the Feather River and the Sacramento River.  This allows us to have wet area in winter and dry in the summer.  Other rice producing areas, such as Asia, have consistent humidity which causes disease and insects.

A view from the top of one of Lundberg's many storage bins.  They currently utilize 20,000 acres of rice.  5,000 of which is their own (split between 4 Lundberg families branches).  The rest is owned by 35 local farmers, some of whom have grown for them for over 30 years.  Of the 20,000 acres, 15,000 are farmed organically.

One of the original shippers.

A view of more Lundberg buildings from the top of the rice storage bins.