Soledad family farm blows up into one of California’s biggest organic producers.

When Swiss immigrants Sebastian and Josie Braga arrived in Soledad in the 1920s, the dry Salinas Valley soil wasn’t promising. But they coaxed corn, tomatoes, onions, beets and hay from it anyway, giving birth to Braga Fresh Family Farms.

They had three sons: Norman, Ernest and Stanley. That generation passed the farm on to Norman’s sons, Rodney and Chris, and Stanley’s kids, Carson and Marshall.

In the 1980s and ’90s, the Bragas began expanding from their 1,200-acre home ranch to other Salinas Valley plots throughout San Benito and Monterey counties. About 10 years ago they added Imperial Valley – from El Centro, California to Yuma, Arizona – for winter harvests.

Rod Braga is now CEO of an expanded operation that harvests 52 weeks a year and nets $100 million in annual sales. But even at that scale, Braga Farms remains under-the-radar outside of produce circles because its goods are sold under other names. Braga’s scale also allows it to have specialty positions, he says, like a staffer dedicated to water permitting.

“You can’t be farming 100 acres and have those positions,” he says. “You have to have a certain size in today’s world.”

The operation produces more than 20 varieties of broccoli, romaine, celery, kale, chard, radishes, beets and spinach. The leafy greens are especially booming, Rod says: “Everything’s about kale now.”

The products fall under three labels: Josie’s Organics (named after the Braga family matriarch), Fresh ‘n’ Healthy (conventionals) and Golden State (broccoli for export to the Asian-Pacific market).

With the organics, Braga Farms deploys beneficial plants like cilantro and insects like ladybugs for pest control. Still, they lose some crops. That’s why land diversity is critical to organic farming, Rod says: If aphids destroy the broccoli in Hollister, they can still count on the broccoli in San Ardo.

Those lower yields, plus expensive inputs like organic fertilizer, hike up the cost, Rod says. Still, Braga Farms is converting more acreage to organic production every year.

As the harvest expands, so does its marketing. Just this month, Braga partnered with The Produce Mom to plug the Josie’s Organics brand.

Lori Taylor is the blog’s author and marketing manager – though “blog” isn’t quite the right word. The site is the consumer brand of Indianapolis Fruit Company and what Taylor calls “a central destination for the industry to market their product directly to the consumer.”

“The perspective is mom first, produce industry professional second,” she says.

Taylor says her vision for Josie’s Organics involves eco-friendly cooking tips for parents, like how to use the veggie parts people usually throw away. “We’re encouraging families to be as sustainable as the Braga family is in their methods of farming,” she says.

As big as Braga Farms has gotten, the 1,200-acre home ranch is still operating in Soledad. And the Braga Barn – tracing back several generations, and filled with historic farming equipment – is a favorite meeting place for farmers and 4-H kids.

The Braga family is growing, too. The fourth generation since Josie and Sebastian first settled into the home ranch finally includes a couple of girls. One of them is Rod’s 1-year-old daughter, Sterling.

Rod says he’s not pushing the family business on his kids. He wants them to focus on school first, then decide on their careers. Still, 3-year-old Sebastian – his great-grandpa’s namesake – is showing hints of a farming gene. The kid just loves being on the ranch, watching ladybugs and climbing on the equipment.

“He wants nothing more than to hang out with his dad and look at tractors,” Rod says with a laugh.

Braga Farms, meet your future.

For more on Braga Farms, visit www.bragafresh.com