Producer

Our family has been farming for over 100 years as Charles Lopes and Sons but in the last few years we have started milling and selling our own rice through a new venture called Lopes Family Farms.

During the drought in 2020 we worked towards adopting the duck rice farming method to become a regenerative rice farm on top of our 23 years of being certified organic on 60 acres of our property. Last year we were able to get our full 203 acres certified organic! By using the transplanting process and the ducks to weed and fertilize the rice fields we learned that we could use 2/3rds less water to grow organic rice than we normally would.

Thanks to the ducks we are able to grow incredibly sustainable rice in California that improves soil health. We are the first duck rice farm in the state and first organic certified one in the USA. We are trying to start a movement to get more farms to adopt this method so the food system becomes more resilient to a changing climate. Help support our mission to improve the food system and educate more people about the benefits of regenerative farming

In addition to the duck method, Lopes Family Farms uses the following Climate-Smart practices: Field Borders, Nutrient Management, Pest Management Conservation Systems, and Prescribed Grazing.