This year’s Organic Grower Summit, presented by Western Growers and OPN, will honor longtime organic grower Rod Braga as the recipient of the sixth annual Grower of the Year award. 

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 award, sponsored by AGCO, will be presented to Braga as part of the keynote presentation at the Organic Grower Summit on Nov. 29-30 in Monterey, California. 

The Grower of the Year presentation is part of an educational program designed to inform and engage organic producers and their service providers and supply chain partners.

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“(Braga’s) 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,” says Matt Seeley, CEO of Organic Produce Network. 

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, California.