Rod Braga Earns Grower of the Year Distinction from Organic Grower Summit; Matt Seeley Comments
MONTEREY, CA - An industry veteran is being honored for his ongoing commitment and dedication to excellence in organic production, organic industry leadership, and innovation. Rod Braga, President and Chief Executive Officer of Braga Fresh, was selected as the Grower of the Year by the Organic Grower Summit (OGS), presented by Western Growers and Organic Produce Network (OPN).
Braga grew up in his family’s multigenerational farming business, starting his first job on the home ranch when he was 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.
Additionally, Braga is a board member of the Western Growers Association; a former board member of the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California; a founding board member of Pacific Valley Bank in Monterey County; and a former board member of Natividad Hospital in Salinas, California.
“We are honored to present the annual Grower of the Year award to Rod Braga—truly a grower’s grower,” said Matt Seeley, Chief Executive Officer of OPN. “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.”
Braga will be presented the Grower of the Year award by Cale Sledge, Regional Sales Director for AGCO.
The Grower Roundtable: The State of Organic Growing will be another keynote presentation at OGS 2023, with panelists soon to be announced.
OGS 2023 will be held November 29–30 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel & Spa in Monterey, California, and general registration is currently open. More details can be found here.
Congratulations to Rod Braga on this amazing honor!
