Farming Philosophy
The growing and processing techniques of Lundberg Family Farms® have developed out of the family's deep-rooted beliefs about the land and surrounding ecology. While most of these methods are more time-consuming and expensive than conventional rice farming techniques, we continue to develop our special relationship with nature, farming this way and researching new methods that put our philosophy into practice.
In the 1930s, Albert and Frances Lundberg left western Nebraska with their four sons, Eldon, Wendell, Harlan and Homer. During the Dust Bowl years, Albert saw huge tracts of land across the midwest erode. Nutrient-giving organic matter had disappeared from the soil, and fierce winds created enormous dust clouds that made life miserable and farming impossible. Albert decided to take his family to Richvale, and begin a life of farming in northern California.
The four Lundberg brothers were deeply influenced by their late father, Albert. He believed in ecological farming long before it was fashionable. "He didn't really fit in with the thinking of the time," Harlan says. Influenced by his Dust Bowl experiences, Albert "always had the attitude that he wanted to make the soil better." He wanted to act as nature's caretaker from the ground to the living things residing there. Now, Albert's sons think and farm that way, too.
"We believe a healthy soil will produce healthy food. We believe the soil is living, and as such needs to be fed and cared for," says Harlan. The Lundbergs have spent decades experimenting and investing in the development of farming practices that put their principles to work, and strengthen their partnership with nature.