For more than six decades, the Walden family has owned and operated Farmers Investment Co. (FICO) and the Green Valley Pecan Company. FICO is the world’s largest grower and processor of quality pecans.

Keith Walden founded his agricultural company in 1937, and it was incorporated as FICO in 1946. In 1948, Keith negotiated to buy the Continental Farm from Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. The cotton farm Keith bought had been a guayule plantation during World War I. At the time of the purchase, the Crown family joined Keith as investors in FICO, beginning a partnership and friendship that has spanned three generations.

The two families are strong believers in community service and in policies and plans that benefit both current and future generations. With approximately 7,000 acres of agricultural land in the Sahuarita area — 6,000 acres in the Town of Sahuarita (Specific Plan area) and 1,000 acres in unincorporated Pima County — FICO is a vital community partner to the Town of Sahuarita and surrounding communities. Over the years, FICO has donated land for employee housing, a church, and a high school. FICO has also reserved land for a future middle school and hospital.

As farmers, the Waldens have always emphasized stewardship of land and water resources for the region and the state. Leaders of the effort to bring the Central Arizona Project (CAP) to southern Arizona, the Waldens continue to work to extend the CAP pipeline to the Santa Cruz Valley to recharge groundwater and offset pumping of groundwater. For many years, FICO has utilized state-of-the-art irrigation and water conservation technologies to conserve water and reduce its use. Years ago, FICO voluntarily applied to the Arizona Department of Water Resources to designate its farm to be a Groundwater Savings Facility (GSF), and has led local efforts among water companies and users to devise a plan to return to aquifer balance.

Because the Waldens and many of their employees have lived here for three generations, they want to leave a legacy so that their children, grandchildren and neighbors can enjoy life in the beautiful Santa Cruz Valley.