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Lundburg rice farm egg aid program

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In addition, the Lundbergs started a program called Egg Aid to get elementary school children involved in helping rescue bird eggs. Rice fields are attractive natural nesting grounds for all sorts of aquatic birds, especially in the spring when the fields are green with cover crops. When it comes time to turn those cover crops into the soil, the Lundbergs take it upon themselves to rescue the birds’ eggs, delivering them to state hatcheries. No wonder they have received numerous awards including the first-ever “Greenie” from California State University, Chico, at last year’s “This Way to Sustainability” conference and were recognized by the Conservation Security Program which was developed by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to promote stewardship of the land.

As we headed for the car, Wendell offered another answer, out of the blue. “Brown,” he said. “That’s changed too.”

He meant brown rice, the whole-grain version of rice itself and almost unknown back in the ’50s when Wendell and his brothers were first planting. Brown rice has become the core of their business, so much so that the family has developed its own proprietary brands, including Wehani (named as a pseudo-acronym for the four brothers plus their father: Wendell, Eldon, Homer, Albert, Harlan), a red rice that’s nutty and a little crunchy. Today, Jessica Lundberg leads the efforts at the seed nursery where they work to develop new varieties that will stand up to organic production without depleting the soil and damaging their most important resource.

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