Rod Braga named Grower of the Year

Longtime organic grower Rod Braga will be honored at the 2023 Organic Grower Summit as the recipient of the sixth annual Grower of the Year award.

Braga, the president and CEO of Braga Fresh, was selected based on his commitment and dedication to excellence in organic production, organic industry leadership and innovation, according to a news release.

“We are honored to present the annual Grower of the Year award to Rod Braga — truly a grower’s grower,” Organic Produce Network CEO Matt Seeley said in the release. “His decades-long work exemplifies what hardworking, passionate organic farming means to the success of his family farm and to California agriculture.”

Braga 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, the release said. 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, Seely said in the release.

The Grower of the Year award will be presented to Braga as part of the keynote presentation at the Organic Grower Summit on Nov. 29-30 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel & Spa in Monterey, Calif.

Related news: Retailer to purchase Braga Fresh regenerative trial crop

Braga grew up in his family’s multigenerational farming business, starting his first job on the home ranch at 8 years old. 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, according to the release.

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. Additionally, he was a founding board member of Pacific Valley Bank in Monterey County and former board member of Natividad Hospital in Salinas, Calif., according to the release.

The Grower of the Year award will be presented to Braga by Cale Sledge, AGCO’s regional sales director. Previous winners of the award include Jeff Huckaby, CEO of Grimmway Farms (2022); Vic Smith, CEO of JV Smith Co. (2021); the Lundberg Family (2019); Thaddeus Barsotti of Capay Organic (2018); and Vernon Peterson of Peterson Family Farms (2017).

The sixth annual Organic Grower Summit, presented by Western Growers and the Organic Produce Network, is designed to provide information vital to organic growers and producers, including an overview of the opportunities and challenges in the production of organic fresh food, the release said.