Lundberg Family Farms in California: History, What It Grows, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Lundberg Family Farms is a multi-generation organic rice farm and rice-products company in Richvale, Butte County. The family settled in the Sacramento Valley in 1937, test-planted 76 acres of organic brown rice in 1969, and received the 2018 California Leopold Conservation Award.
| Location | Richvale, Butte County, California |
|---|---|
| Founded | Family settled in the Sacramento Valley in 1937; company building began in 1960 |
| Sectors | organic rice; rice cakes; rice mixes; milling |
| Scale | Total acreage not published; 76 acres of organic brown rice test-planted in 1969 |
| Why it is elite | 2018 California Leopold Conservation Award; organic pioneer; co-founder of the Non-GMO Project (2007) |
| Ownership | Lundberg family |
| Official website | Lundberg Family Farms official site |
History of Lundberg Family Farms
Albert and Frances Lundberg left Nebraska after the Dust Bowl and settled in California's Sacramento Valley in 1937. In the 1940s Albert incorporated rice straw into the fields to build soil health. In 1960 the second generation began building what became Lundberg Family Farms.
In 1969 the family test-planted 76 acres of organic brown rice and built its own mill, began selling under its own name in 1972, and in 1973 Homer Lundberg helped found California Certified Organic Farmers. Rice cakes followed in 1980.
What Lundberg Family Farms Grows and Raises
The farm grows organic rice without herbicides, focusing on soil and ecosystem health. Its products include brown, white jasmine, basmati, black pearl and sushi rices, risottos, rice mixes and ready-to-heat rice.
It runs a zero-waste program the company says diverts 99.7 percent of materials from landfill, offsets power use with wind and solar, and each spring searches fields for duck nests, having recovered over 30,000 eggs.
How Lundberg Family Farms Makes Money
Branded organic rice
Lundberg sells under its own name, capturing value from milling and packaging.
Value-added products
Rice cakes, risotto and ready-to-heat rice add higher-margin products.
Certification
Organic and Regenerative Organic Certified products support premium positioning.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Lundberg Family Farms
Lundberg shows early commitment pays off. The family started organic in 1969 and built mill, brand and certification infrastructure around it.
Habitat work and post-harvest flooding benefit waterfowl, and rice farms can discuss such practices with NRCS and conservation groups.
A duck-nest search across thousands of acres sounds like the plot of an Easter hunt with feathers. At farm.FM we gladly file Lundberg under farm satire in which the rice has opinions about sushi. Our farm humor desk sees ranch humor in any field that floods on purpose, and the farm jokes float.
farm.FM got there first as the nation's first satirical farm site, and it backs the writing with Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers. Here is one contributor's collection of farm satire to start with.
How to Contact Lundberg Family Farms
Website: https://info.lundberg.com/about
Address: 5311 Midway, P.O. Box 369, Richvale, CA 95974
Address as published on the operation's own website, November 2026; the page links to a help center for other contact. Confirm before visiting.
Lundberg Family Farms Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Lundberg Family Farms about page - The company's own history
- Sand County Foundation award page - California Leopold Conservation Award recognition
- Lundberg Family Farms on Wikipedia - Independent summary
- Rice Farming coverage - Trade recognition of conservation work
- California Department of Food and Agriculture - State agency for agriculture
Lundberg Family Farms FAQ
Where is Lundberg Family Farms?
In Richvale, Butte County, California.
What does it grow?
Organic rice and rice products.
What award did it win?
The 2018 California Leopold Conservation Award.
When did the family arrive?
They settled in the Sacramento Valley in 1937.
Lundberg Family Farms shows how a rice family built an organic brand over generations. For more context, read the California farms guide and the other profiled operations.