PASO ROBLES, Calif. — Three generations of the Braga family mix innovation with tradition to grow fresh organic vegetables.

“For decades, the Braga family had been supplying raw product to existing salad and cut vegetable processors,” said Eric Morgan, vice president of environmental services and resources at Braga Fresh. “We opened our first processing facility in 2015 with the goal of rounding out our already successful farming operation and optimizing freshness.”

Today, the organic farm exports to North America, the European Union and Asia. Braga Fresh produces five value-added categories: chopped salad kits, organic salad greens, cut vegetables, premium salad kits and vegetable trays.

In addition, it produces conventional, private label and ready-to-eat selections and pan-roasted varieties.

The vertically integrated operation grows, harvests and processes fresh vegetables and leafy greens under the Josie’s Organics and Braga Farms brands. Braga Fresh is the company name.

Spinach and celery are the hardest crops to grow, he said. The crop acreage changes year to year to accommodate the growing retail program.

“Throughout their history, Braga Fresh Family Farms has been an innovator in fresh vegetable and leafy greens production,” said Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau. “Now producing exclusively organic crops and incorporating regenerative practices and cover crops, Braga is stepping beyond the level of sustainable farming.”

It also demonstrates that Salinas Valley farming is leading the way in agri-technology and ever-evolving farming practices, he said.

Morgan said the Braga Fresh team is in its third year of trialing regenerative practices on the Braga home ranch.

The objectives of the regenerative farming trials are to conserve soil carbon by reducing tillage passes, allowing for an increase in soil biology diversity and decrease consumption of diesel fuel that powers the tractors. With these goals, the company hopes to lessen water and fertilizer use.

In response to the company’s efforts the last two years, Whole Foods Market committed to purchasing and selling the scheduled trial crop of organic sweet baby broccoli this summer.

Although small in volume, it is a benchmark.

“This early support from an important customer is helping our team continue the farming trials we do not yet have all the answers or know the ending to yet,” said Morgan.

“The overarching goal is to better understand the implications of these practices in our system and identify the aspects of regenerative systems that can be scaled to current commercial farming practices,” he said. “We hope that our findings can pave the way for reduced tillage in cool season vegetables across the industry.”

The farm is replacing deep tillage with companion plantings of clover and Sudan sorghum hybrids or Merced rye in the center of the beds.

“We are finding that the deeply rooted annual grasses increase water infiltration and gas exchange better than our standard deep tillage operations if we grow them in the field simultaneously with our cash crops,” Morgan said.

Ultimately, he said, “We need to shift our focus from feeding our crops to feeding our soils.”

Hometown: Paso Robles, Calif.

Occupation: Pest control adviser, certified crop adviser, member-manager of Soil Health Lab LLC, vice president of environmental science and resources at Braga Fresh

Education: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, fruit science degree with a concentration in orchard and vineyard management 

 Family: 12-year-old twin daughters, Sophia and Marguerite