Pacific Farms: Growing Prunes and Walnuts in Tehama County
Pacific Farms has grown walnuts and prunes in Tehama County since the 1940s. We met with the third-generation prune and walnut grower Brendon Flynn to learn more about how he embraces sustainability – not as a buzzword but as a business strategy – to ensure that his family can continue farming for generations to come.
Brendon Flynn grew up in a farming family, with the typical “farm kid” experience. He started helping on the farm at a young age. By high school, he spent his summers working in the orchards. After completing an Ag Business degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Brendon moved back to the small town of Gerber, California to join the family’s farming operation.
Even with years of experience, Brendon thrives on the unpredictable nature of farming, noting, “Every day’s different. We always have new challenges and new opportunities – it’s not a nine-to-five office kind of job.”
Some of the most common challenges farmers face include pests, diseases, swings in weather patterns and temperature – and it’s Brendon’s job to determine the best way to tackle whatever Mother Nature throws their way.
Sustainability just makes sense
Like most California farmers, Brendon embraces sustainable agriculture – but he’s quick to point out that these practices aren’t just about protecting the environment. Often, they’re practical, economically sustainable decisions that support the long-term success of the family business. He explains, “Sustainability and being in harmony with nature go hand in hand with agriculture and farming – but it’s not just necessarily the environmental aspects of it. It’s running a business in a sustainable manner so that you can be here the next year to do it again.”
How economic and environmental sustainability align
Brendon continues, explaining how environmental and economic sustainability often align. “Economic sustainability is really what drives a lot of our decision-making processes, which ends up being the right thing to do from an environmental perspective or a labor perspective.”
He pauses and then shares an example to illustrate his point, “It’s really expensive to apply some of the materials that we use to produce a high-quality piece of fruit or a nut. So, we are motivated to use them as sparingly as possible. We’re also motivated to use those products in the right amounts to be in harmony with nature. When you do things excessively or in the wrong way, you’re gonna get penalized by nature.
If you overwater something, you drown it and it dies. If you overspray something. It gets toxified and it dies. Our job is to keep things alive and producing high-quality and high-quantity fruit.”
When asked to share a few examples of environmentally sustainable practices employed at Pacific Farms, Brendon rattles off an extensive list: “We do a number of things to promote sustainability here. Our irrigation practices are quite advanced. We’re doing a lot of things to monitor water use; soil moisture monitoring, pressure bomb of the leaves, and monitoring evapotranspiration to determine the right amount of water to use. We use integrative pest control. We do a lot of monitoring, both disease pressure and insect pressure, so that we can hopefully spray the least amount as possible or not at all.”
Tehama County: The perfect place to grow prunes and walnuts
Situated at the northern end of the Central Valley, Tehama County is an ideal place to grow prunes and walnuts.
Brendon elaborates, “This area of California is a great place to farm because of our climate. We have good winters with lots of chill hours and plenty of rainfall. The summers are warm and can be very hot, but we have well-delineated seasons. It’s very conducive to the crops that we grow.”
Get a taste of Tehama County
Tehama County’s economy is rooted in agriculture. Tree nuts, olives, prunes, livestock and poultry are the region’s primary crops, but countless other commodities, including winegrapes and nursery products, thrive in the area. Brendon shares some of his favorite ways to get a taste of Tehama County.
Farmers Markets
“There are lots of farmers markets in our area. Red Bluff has a Wednesday night farmer’s Market, and Chico, which is nearby, has a Thursday night Farmer’s market. They both have Saturday markets that are less festival-like, where you can just buy your produce from lots of smaller producers.”
Fruit Stands
“Julia’s fruit stand, located in Ville on the other side of the river from here, is a great place to visit for your fresh fruits and vegetables. They start in the spring, go through Labor Day and have a pumpkin patch in October. It’s a lot of fun there and they do a great job with a number of heirloom tomatoes and peaches.
Wine Tasting
“Another site to see in this area of our state is the monastery located in Vina. They have a winery there, New Clairvaux Vineyards. Another point of interest there is the abbey they have rebuilt using original stones imported from Europe by William Randolph Hurst.”
Want to learn more about ag experiences in and around Tehama County? We’ve got you covered…
Article by Hilary Rance. Photography by James Collier and Hilary Rance.