Walnut Farming & Hulling

Carriere Family Farms has been in the walnut farming business since 1963 when Herb and Aileen Carriere bought their first orchard on the Sacramento River. Walnuts need deep well-drained soil to do well and the banks of the Sacramento have been layered with fertile soil deposited over the years by the water running down from the Sierra for centuries, perfect for growing walnuts.

Since that first orchard purchase the Carriere's have planted many more acres in the Glenn area. Today, Carriere Family Farms manages over 1,300 acres of orchards, producing over 4 million pounds of walnuts. When all of the young orchards currently planted come into full production the total pounds of walnuts produced will exceed 5 million pounds.

Rick Enos is the partner in charge of the walnut farming operations. Quality and managing the orchards for the long term are the main goals of the farming operation. Carriere Family Farms follows an Integrated Pest Management approach utilizing the latest in cutting edge university research and technology to keep quality at peak levels while minimizing both costs and potential negative impacts on the environment.

For example, as early as 1990, Carriere Family Farms has been using various forms of Pheromone for the control of Codling Moth in the orchards. Codling Moth is a major pest for many crops and pheromones have been a new and effective non-pesticide tool to lower insect populations to manageable levels. Our codling moth pheromone dispenser is used for mating disruption of codling moth. Codling moth larvae can cause severe damage to walnuts. We have been working with the University of California and Suterra for the past 6 years to perfect this pesticide free, environmentally friendly option. It has been successful for codling moth control in many of our orchards and has helped to reduce traditional pesticide applications.

Also, beginning in 2004, Carriere Family Farms has been shredding and/or chipping all of the prunings from the orchards to eliminate the smoke pollution that results from burning each year. Both of these management techniques are part of the integrated pest management approach that we hope will sustain our quality product and the life of our orchards for the next generation.

The harvest season is definitely the busiest season of the year for Carriere Family Farms. It is also the most rewarding because we get to see the fruits of our work all year long.

Our orchards are often harvested twice during the season. Once early, to get the majority of the crop off at peak ripeness and quality, then a second time 10 to 20 days later to get the remaining nuts that were not ready on the first pass. This results in our equipment covering over 3,000 acres in about 60 days. We also do some custom harvesting for our neighbors in the area.

Carriere Family Farms grows 10 different varieties of English Walnuts. The main three varieties are Chandler, Howard and Hartley. Many of our orchards are newer high density plantings. The range of varieties allows us to harvest each variety at the peak of ripeness and spread our harvest out over the 2 month harvest season.

A few years after purchasing that first orchard in 1963, Herb Carriere also decided that it would be beneficial to control his own walnut hulling and drying. Utilizing an existing hay barn on the ranch, he installed a walnut huller and dryer. That huller has been expanded considerably since then, as well as the addition of another walnut hulling and dryer location near Codora 4-Corners. Between the two hullers Carriere Family Farms has the capacity to process over 4,500 tons of walnuts each year both from our own orchards and from our neighbors.

In 2002 we installed a new solar technology called "Solar Wall" which preheats the air entering the dryer with heat from the sun's rays. This simple, yet effective, addition to our dryer roof cut our natural gas usage by 12% without increasing our drying times. Additionally, in 2008 we completed the installation of traditional solar panels to provide 90% of our electric usage annually for several of our facilities including the huller and dryer at Codora.

Carriere Family Farms operates orchards in 5 different locations in Glenn and Colusa counties. The walnut farming operation employs 13 full time employees, several whom have been working on the ranch over 20 years. During the harvest season the number of employees peaks at about 20 people working in the fields and at the huller.

With new orchards being developed on several of the ranches there is a constant need for more help in management. The fifth generation of family members are now joining the operation in many different aspects. Nick Perez is the nephew of Rick and has taken the role of managing our Butte City and Colusa ranches as well as helping with the day to day activities overall.

Carriere Family Farms strives to continue the tradition started by Herb Carriere of producing the highest quality walnuts possible while contributing to the prosperity of our family, our employees, our customers and our community.