The Carriere Family Farms Story

The Carriere family first came to Northern California in 1890 when Albini Carriere arrived from Canada to find work in Glenn County. Albini worked for the Spooner Ranch as a ranch hand where he met his wife Rosanna Spooner. After their marriage November 15th, 1893, they moved to a small farm near the Sacramento River. He and Rosanna lived a typical farm labor life. Albini worked to clear the land of berry vines and willow trees so that they could plant their crops. They had chickens, some cows, a garden etc and 5 children pictured below, Edmond, Anna, Victor, Wilfred and Isadore.

The real foundation of the Carriere Family Farms operation was established by Wilfred A. Carriere. Known in his later years as "Papa", he was the oldest son of Albini and Rosanna's 5 children who grew up on the small farm established by Albini. Papa was born on Jan 9, 1899. From his childhood he loved the farm and was mechanically inclined. He dreamed some day of owning his own farm and building a shop where he could fabricate and build his own equipment.

Papa married Martha Maisonnave on November 18, 1922 and they continued to live with Albini and Rosanna on the farm for some time until they rented a nearby farmhouse that they eventually purchased. That farmhouse would be there home for the rest of their lives.

Through his 20's and 30's Papa farmed dry land crops and held jobs that would allow him to farm as much as he could. Even through the great depression he still continued to farm. For many years he had a night time job working for an irrigation district and farmed in the daytime just to make ends meet.

Papa established a reputation of being a hardworking responsible farmer. During the depression a lot of land was turned over to the irrigation districts and the banks because the owners couldn't pay the taxes. This is when rice became the foundation of our entire farming heritage. Bank of America approached Papa and begged him to buy as much rice land as he could. Rice growing was just being established in the Sacramento Valley at that time. Papa had been struggling just to make ends meet and doubted whether farming was worth it. Because of his love for farming he started developing a rice operation. With the backing of Bank of America he bought 200 acres of potential rice ground and began to clear it to make rice paddies. Papa used dynamite and a Caterpillar 3T7 to remove trees and brush from the fields. The work was long, hard and tedious.

During the 40's and 50's Papa expanded the rice operation to 1,100 acres, some of which was leased land. During this time he and his wife Martha ("Gram") had a daughter, Mildred, and two sons, Herb and Dick. The two boys loved the farm, but Papa insisted that they leave the farm temporarily to get a good education since he had only finished the 8th grade himself. After high school both boys went on and earned degrees from U.C. Davis. Herb, the oldest son came back and started farming with Papa. After finishing college and spending two years in the army, the youngest son Dick also returned to the farm.

Newly married and tired of commuting daily from Willows to the farm, Herb bought a 30 acre walnut orchard on the Sacramento River in December 1963 near his parents' home. Papa told him and his new bride, Aileen, that they had paid way too much for the property and they were crazy since they knew little about growing walnuts. Little did he know that it would be the start of a very successful business.

Herb persisted and over the next few years tried to learn as much as he could about growing and developing walnuts. After some first years of frustrations he gradually became very knowledgeable. Herb was able to convince his father Wilfred and brother Dick, to continue to plant and develop more walnut acres on the fertile soil of the Sacramento River banks over the next 15 years. One of Herb's favorite things to do was to plant a new walnut orchard.

By 1967, the rice operation was well established. Herb and Dick went into business together and formed Carriere Bros. Although Papa officially retired in 1967, he never missed a day of work until the day he passed away in 1999 at 100 years old!

Herb continued to develop the growing walnut business on the property that Papa had purchased along the Sacramento River and Dick took over the rice operation. Some of the walnut property included the small farm that Albini Carriere had originally farmed.

Through the 70's and 80's the farming operation continued to expand. Shortly after Dick joined the farm, he and his wife Nina bought an adjoining property, also perfect for growing walnuts. In just a few years the walnut operation had grown from 30 acres of Payne and Franquette trees into 400 acres of productive walnuts and the rice operation had boomed to 1,350 acres. Another expansion came in 1974 when Carriere Brothers utilized one of the barns on the property to further expand and vertically integrate the walnut operation by building a walnut huller and dehydrator.

With all of this growth, Herb and Dick became well known in the farming industry. More importantly, both Herb and Dick were becoming important leaders in their respective industries. Dick was serving on the board of directors of several industry boards, including Rice Growers Association and the California Rice Research Board. Herb began serving on the Diamond Walnut Growers board and the Walnut Marketing Board. Carriere Brothers was also custom farming and hulling walnuts for several neighboring farms.

By 1985, the Carriere walnut operation had an excellent reputation with over 450 acres. It was that reputation that led to Borges S.A. to offer the Carrieres part ownership and the job of managing an orchard that they purchased in Butte City, just over the river from the existing Carriere property. Borges S.A. is a large buyer of California walnuts with well known bulk and retail brands in Europe. Borges was looking to further vertically integrate their operation by buying an orchard in California as a source of information and supply of California walnuts. This partnership created Borges of California, Inc. and doubled in one year the amount of orchards that the Carrieres were farming. The Borges ranch acquisition also offered the opportunity to take over a second hulling and drying operation. This second, and larger huller, allowed the Carrieres to provide even more options for expansion into the custom hulling and drying services.

The Borges expansion created a perfect situation for another family member return to work on the ranch and have plenty to do. Herb's son Bill Carriere returned to the farm from UC Davis in 1986, and Bill worked on the Butte City ranch for several years while helping to manage the information flow to Borges on their investment. Even today the Borges partnership continues to be a large part of the Carriere operation.

Also seeing a need for more help on the rice side of the operation Herb and Dick decided to bring in their nephew Gary Enos who is Mildred's oldest son. In 1992, Gary joined the operation and became a partner in the business. Gary brought with him over 20 years of Pesticide Control Advisor experience as he had been working for local farm chemical companies right out of Chico State. Gary and Dick continue to run the rice operation to the present day.

The relationship with Borges is Spain continued to grow as did the base Carriere operation. Another nephew, Mildred's second oldest son, Rick Enos joined the farm in 1997. Although Rick had quite a bit of farming experience from working on the Enos Ranch in his youth, Rick was a contractor with vast experience in construction. Initially he found many projects of fixing barns, building houses, and general repair work as he learned from Herb how to grow walnuts. Rick was ambitious and learned quickly. The Carriere/Borges ranch was now over 1,000 acres and Herb, Bill and Rick were busy covering the duties involved.

In 1998, tragedy struck as Herb was diagnosed with a fast growing brain tumor. Herb passed away in November of 1998. Sadly, this was just as he was beginning to take more time to play golf and do a bit of traveling. Fortunately, Herb and Dick had set things up well bringing in family members to help with the farm so that Carriere Family Farms and Herb's legacy could continue.

In 2000, yet another family member was tapped to help the growing business. Gus Lohse, married to Rick and Gary's sister Donna, joined the ranch. Gus also had a background in farming having worked several years on the Lohse family ranch. Gus had been managing a local water district and brought his farming and water knowledge to the team.

The year 2000 also brought a new level to Carriere Family Farms operation. Borges of California opened the in-shell walnut processing plant in October 2000. This was a major turning point for the farm. The Carriere operation made it's transformation from simply farming and selling products at the farm gate to becoming a handler, processor and buyer of other farmers products.

Initially Gus took control of the in-shell plant and off season he managed a newly purchased property in Colusa County for the development of 400 acres of walnuts. Gus was joined by his son, Matt Lohse a recent graduate from Cal-Poly SLO, in the management activities of the in-shell plant and orchards. The company was growing very quickly and special care was taken to make sure that there was separation of duties and responsibility.

In 2004, Matt Doyle, married to Dick's daughter Alison, also joined the team. Matt brought his ten years of experience working for Applied Materials to the sales and processing side of the business. Matt quickly took over the management of the walnut plant and worked his way into the head sales position.

Part of the transformation and transition in 2004 was the purchase of a ranch in Artois. After successfully developing the Colusa walnuts orchard for the first few years and getting the in-shell plant up and running, the opportunity to shorten Gus's commute and take on an entirely new venture came about. In 2004, Carriere Family Farms began planting Olive Glen Orchards.

Gus and Matt continue to manage the olive operation near Artois, CA. With the next planting of 75 acres being developed this year, Gus and Matt will have over 850 acres of olive oil olives under their care. The first several harvests have yielded excellent results. Plans are still underway for a possible future mill on the ranch.

In 2005, Jason Enos, Gary's son joined the farm. Jason has taken the position of ranch manager under Rick Enos' direction. Jason had the opportunity to work for an outside pest control service after graduation from Chico State University. This experience has been an invaluable addition to the knowledge base for producing quality walnuts on the ranch.

In 2006, came the latest addition to the Carriere Family Farms operation when the walnut shelling plant was put into operation.

Jeni Carriere, Dick's youngest daughter, initially looking for a part-time job has become a permanent and vital member of the walnut plant management.

Carriere Family Farms Today:

1. Manages over 1,300 acres of walnut orchards
2. Produces 4 million pounds of walnuts and on the way to 5 million pounds.
3. Operates 2 walnuts hulling and drying operations processing over 4,000 tons.
4. Grows 1,350 acres of rice producing 11,600,000 pounds annually.
5. Employs 35 full time employees, many who have been with us over 20 years.
6. Ships walnuts all over the world under the Carriere and Borges brands.
7. Farms 800 acres of olives producing 1500 gallons of olive oil.
8. Handles 9 million pounds of almonds under the Premier Nut Company brand.

Honorable Mentions:

It wouldn't be fair to not include others in this story who gave at least part of their career to Carriere Family Farms. Other family members and long time employees have been an integral part of the success of Carriere Family Farms. We would not be where we are today without their contributions:

In 1976, Herb and Dick's nephew, Clifford Perez was hired on as the ranch manager while he continued to pursue his own farming ventures. Clifford was instrumental in helping Herb develop many of the orchards. He also maintained and ran the walnut huller and dryer during the harvest season. Clifford spent 11 years working for Herb and Dick. Clifford is still farming walnuts in the Glenn area today.

Michael Carriere, Ph.D., Dick's son, graduated from UC Davis in 1988 and received his Masters in 1992 in Plant Science Agronomy. Mike worked on the ranch for two years where he worked mainly in the rice production. Mike decided to pursue his doctorate and a career in research. He currently works for the University of California and is the Business Development and Intellectual Property Manager for UC Davis's Innovation Access department.

Julie Carriere, Herb's oldest daughter, returned home to work on the farm during Herb's illness. Julie became the office manager in charge of everything from paying bills to shipping product. After 5 years on the ranch Julie returned to her first career of teaching, and is currently teaching at North Monterey County High School in Castroville.