On The Farm – Lundberg Family Farms

A note about our farming practices...

At Lundberg Family Farms, we lead with a holistic view of sustainability. We are committed to not only reducing our carbon footprint but also increasing our positive impact on the planet. With this in mind, we grow and sell Sustainable Rice, Certified Organic Rice and Regenerative Organic Certified® Rice. It’s all part of our mission to nourish, conserve, and innovate for a healthier world so we can keep growing together for generations to come!

What makes Lundberg Rice better than other brands?

The biggest difference is that the vast majority of our rice is grown in California and if we partner with a grower outside of this region, we choose farms that meet our high standards in food safety, sustainability, Organic Certification, Fair Trade, etc.

All of our Organic and Sustainable (AKA non-organic) rice is farmed with the following criteria:

Minimizing applications of reviewed and allowed conventional inputs—no carcinogens, mutagens, or PAN Bad Actors
Practicing crop rotation
Growing cover crops as part of the soil’s well-balanced diet
Returning rice straw to the soil after harvest instead of burning or removing it
Implementing water-conservation practices
Providing habitat for hundreds of species
Rescuing duck eggs
Treating everything in our handling and processing facilities as organic
Vertical Integration - We farm, dry, store, mill, manufacture, market and distribute our rice from our HQ in Richvale, CA

We've been growing rice for four generations and quality comes first along every step of the way - from the seeds we use, to the soil we plant in, to our drying, storage and milling process.

Last but not least - we also rescue duck eggs from the nests that are in our fields each year! https://www.lundberg.com/pages/ducking-good-rice

What does Regenerative Organic Certified® mean?

IF YOU ASK US, IT STARTS WITH ORGANIC

Ask 10 different people what regenerative means and you’ll probably get 10 different answers. Heck! Lots of people don’t even believe regenerative has to be organic. But Regenerative Organic Certified® uses the USDA Certified Organic standard as a baseline and adds important criteria and benchmarks that incorporate the three major pillars of regenerative organic agriculture into one certification.

Head over to the Regenerative Organic Alliance for more info or check out our page dedicated to how we grow our Regenerative Organic Certified® rice.

View our certification here: Regenerative Organic Certification

What is Certified Organic?

Our “organic” or “made with organic” products are grown, handled, and processed in accordance with the USDA National Organic Program. In order to bear the organic seal, California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) inspects our fields, farms, granaries, mill, production facilities, organic system plan, and records. Our Certified Organic rice is also grown using above and beyond farming practices that prioritize the health of our soil, planet and consumers.

View Global Market Access Certificate | View National Organic Program Handling Certificate | View Client Profile

What is Sustainable Rice?

Our Sustainable Rice is grown using sustainable farming practices, but it is not certified organic. In short, it our fancy way of saying “non-organic”.

Though it’s possible we’ve used an herbicide or pesticide, we minimize applications of reviewed and allowed conventional inputs—no carcinogens, mutagens, or PAN Bad Actors or glyphosate. It is still grown with farming practices that are above and beyond that of conventional rice.

What are the sustainable farming practices you practice?

At Lundberg Family Farms, we prioritize the health of our soil, planet, and consumers by:

Saying no to GMOs from seed to shelf
Minimizing applications of reviewed and allowed conventional inputs—no carcinogens, mutagens, or PAN Bad Actors. No glyphosate or Round Up.
Crop rotation
Growing cover crops as part of the soil’s well-balanced diet

Returning rice straw to the soil after harvest instead of burning or removing it
Water-conservation practices
Providing habitat for hundreds of species
Rescuing duck eggs
Treating everything in our handling and processing facilities as organic
Offsetting our Richvale, CA facilities with 100% renewable energy
Maintaining TRUE Zero Waste certification

Some people say we’re a bit “unconventional.” But doing things our way—sustainably at every step—allows us to make better food for the table while leaving a better world for the next generation.

Does Lundberg Family Farms grow all of their own rice?

Lundberg Family Farms manages approximately 5,000 acres of farmland. We also proudly work with a strong network of rice farmers who grow an additional 12,000 acres of rice for our products.

Does all of your rice come from California?

More than 90% of our rice comes from California, where our family has been farming for four generations. When the available rice supply in California is not sufficient to meet demand, we work with trusted farmers in the Southern United States, Minnesota, Italy, Argentina, and Thailand whose high standards for quality and sustainability are consistent with ours.

Where do you source your rice from?

Packaged Rice: All the rice in our 1 lb., 2 lb., 4 lb., 10 lb., and 12 lb. packages is grown in California, with the exception of Wild Blend, which contains rice grown in the US and Thailand and the Sustainable Arborio, which contains rice grown in Italy.

Snacks: Our Rice Cake Minis and Rice Chips are made from rice grown in California. Currently, our Rice Cakes, Thin Stackers, and Chocolate Thin Stackers may contain rice grown in Argentina due to a shortage of California-grown rice.

Boxed Side Dishes: Our Rice Pilafs and Whole Grain & Wild Rice boxed side dishes contain rice grown in California. Our Risottos contain Arborio rice grown in Italy and California.

90-Second Rice Pouches & Bowls: Our Heat & Eat Bowls contain rice grown in California. Our Ready to Heat pouches contain rice grown in Thailand. These are made with authentic Thai Hom Mali jasmine rice that is unique to Thailand’s climate and cannot be grown in California.

Syrup: Our Brown Rice Syrup is made with rice grown exclusively in California.

25 lb. Bulk Rice: The growing regions for rice packaged in 25 lb. bulk bags vary. Each bag is labeled with the country of origin so you know where its contents were grown.

Let's talk about water!

Our fields are nourished by water from the snow melt of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range which flows naturally to the fertile Sacramento Valley by way of the Feather River. We use this water to grow rice AND support wildlife. Our region’s heavy adobe clay soil holds water like a bathtub, which means water sits on top of the soil instead of sinking into it. We even return some of the water to rivers and streams, where zooplankton from the fields nourish endangered salmon populations.

We call it Fish Food on Floodplain Farm Feilds - say that five times fast!

Where do you get your seeds and how do you maintain their purity?

We pride ourselves on our seed to smile practices. At Lundberg, we do not support the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and saving good, clean seed for next year’s crop may be one of the most important parts of our harvest. Our on-site nursery takes seed from the harvest yield each fall. It is cleaned, dried, tested for purity and stored for use the following spring.

This practice helps us maintain the quality of over a dozen different varieties of rice, which has allowed our company to grow and produce nutritious food for over four generations.