Congratulations To Rod Braga – The 2023 Organic Grower of the Year
October 19, 2023 The Organic Produce Network and Western Growers will honor longtime organic grower Rod Braga as the recipient of the sixth annual Grower of the Year award at the upcoming Organic Grower Summit. Braga, President and CEO of Braga Fresh, was selected based on his ongoing commitment and dedication to excellence in organic production, organic industry leadership, and innovation.
The Grower of the Year award, sponsored by AGCO, will be presented to Braga as part of the keynote presentation at the Organic Grower Summit November 29-30 in Monterey, CA.
“We are honored to present the annual Grower of the Year award to Rod Braga—truly a grower’s grower,” says Matt Seeley, CEO of Organic Produce Network. “His decades-long work exemplifies what hardworking, passionate organic farming means to the success of his family farm and to California agriculture. Rod has worked tirelessly to encourage natural methods for pest control, water conservation, and always found ways to share information about those practices with other organic farmers. His dedication to the environment and community is what makes the organic sector special and makes him so deserving of the title of Grower of the Year.”
Rod Braga
Braga grew up in his family’s multigenerational farming business, starting his first job on the home ranch when he was 8. After graduating from Saint Mary’s College of California with a degree in business administration, he joined the company now known as Braga Fresh full time in 1990. Over the years, he’s helped it expand into today’s operation, which features multiple large-scale growing, processing, and shipping locations in California.
A leader in organic produce production, Braga is a board member of the Western Growers Association and former board member of the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California; he was a founding board member of Pacific Valley Bank in Monterey County; and former board member of Natividad Hospital in Salinas, CA.
Previous winners of the award include Jeff Huckaby, CEO of Grimmway Farms (2022); Vic Smith, CEO of JV Smith Company (2021); the Lundberg Family (2019); Thaddeus Barsotti of Capay Organic (2018); and Vernon Peterson of Peterson Family Farms (2017).
General registration for the Organic Grower Summit is currently open. The sold-out Organic Grower Summit tradeshow floor will feature soil amendment, ag tech, food safety, packaging, and equipment exhibitors who will have the opportunity to connect with organic field production staff, supply chain managers, pest management advisors, and food safety experts.
For more information, visit OrganicGrowerSummit.com.
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