IRVINE, Calif. (October 29, 2018) – Western Growers today announced that Ron Ratto, president of Ratto Bros., Inc., has been elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Taking over volunteer leadership responsibilities from Outgoing Chairman Craig Reade, partner at Bonipak Produce, Ratto will serve as chairman for a one-year term. He joined Western Growers’ Board in 2013 and has served numerous roles including senior vice chairman and Political Action Committee chairman.

“Ron has made significant contributions in his current role as a board member and senior vice chairman, advancing both the innovation and advocacy side of agriculture,” said Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif. “I look forward to working with him as our new chairman, along with the rest of the board, to support the ongoing growth of Western Growers in support of our members and the fresh produce industry as a whole.”

Ratto heads Ratto Bros. with his cousins Ray, David and Frank Ratto. Born in 1951, he received a degree from the College of Agriculture at University of California, Berkeley, and always knew he was going to join the family business. Today, the family-owned business farms over 1,000 acres of farmland near Modesto, California, growing a variety of crops including fresh herbs, greens and other vegetables. The farm takes pride in implementing progressive farming practices and investing in the latest technological advancements, including a high-tech cooling and packaging facility, state-of-the-art irrigation pumping and filtration stations, an on-site solar installation, a robust food safety team and an in-house computer program that can track the dozens of specialty-type vegetables crops.

“For more than nine decades, Western Growers has provided the crucial guidance and support needed to help farmers continue to feed the nation and world,” said Ratto. “As a fifth-generation farmer, I understand how precious this resource is and am honored and humbled to lead the board of directors as we continue to deliver value to fellow farmers.” 

Ratto was named as 2019 chairman during Western Growers 93^rd Annual Meeting in Palm Desert, California. During the meeting, the Board also selected Ryan Talley of Talley Farms as senior vice chairman; Albert Keck of Hadley Date Gardens as vice chairman; Carol Chandler of Chandler Farms as treasurer; and Vic Smith of  JV Smith Companies as secretary. Additionally, the Board welcomed new board members Franz DeKlotz of Richard Bagdasarian, Inc.; Brandon Grimm of Grimmway Farms; Alex Muller of Pasquinelli Produce Company; Dominic Muzzi Jr of Muzzi Family Farms, LLC; John Jackson of Beachside Produce LLC; and Kelly Strickland of Five Crowns Marketing, Inc.

Click here for a hi-resolution image of Outgoing Chairman Craig Reade passing the gavel to Incoming Chairman Ron Ratto during Western Growers Annual Meeting.

About Western Growers:
Founded in 1926, Western Growers represents local and regional family farmers growing fresh produce in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico. Our members and their workers provide over half the nation’s fresh fruits, vegetables and tree nuts, including nearly half of America’s fresh organic produce. Some members also farm throughout the U.S. and in other countries so people have year-round access to nutritious food. For generations, we have provided variety and healthy choices to consumers. Connect with and learn more about Western Growers on our Twitter and Facebook.

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Western Growers, S2G Ventures offers $250,000 in seed funding to Augean Robotics for development of autonomous farming robot

IRVINE, Calif. (October 30, 2018) – Augean Robotics walked away from Western Growers’ AgSharks™ Competition today with a $250,000 equity investment offer, as well as access to farm acreage for pilot testing, to take its collaborative robotic platform from development to market. The seed funding was awarded by S2G Ventures (Seed 2 Growth) after competing against four other start-up companies who also are inventing new technology solutions to solve agriculture’s most pressing issues.

By 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach 9.1 billion, and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that food production will need to increase by as much as 70 percent to feed the growing population. In an effort to identify new and innovative technologies that will play a role in improving global food security, Western Growers created the first agtech competition to offer real-time investment opportunities and decision-making in front of a live audience — AgSharks.

“If we are going to continue providing safe and healthy food to a growing population, there needs to be a systemic transformation of the way we cultivate our food. That’s where technology comes in,” said Tom Nassif, president and CEO at Western Growers. “Providing growth opportunities for cutting-edge companies such as Augean Robotics will play a significant role in improving how we farm so we can dramatically increase food production. Also, investing in these innovations will be crucial to minimizing our need for manual laborers through automation and reducing our environmental footprint through efficient water use.”

Augean Robotics is a hardware/software/data company building robots to help farmworkers work more productively, with the long term objective of automating all of the tedious work performed on the farms and outdoors. Their product, Burro, is a robotic platform that follows workers, moves cargo autonomously, and captures the data needed to further automate farm work. Their technology will enable farmers to make improvements in operational efficiencies, facilitating the growth and future of U.S. farms to produce a sustainable supply of fresh produce.

“In S2G and Western Growers, we see a group with boots on the ground and eyes on the horizon – keenly aware of the day to day needs of farmers and the incredible potential for robots in agriculture over the coming decade,” said Charles Andersen, CEO of Augean Robotics. “We are honored to have their support and look forward to working together as we bring collaborative robots to the industry that needs it most.”

During the competition, the agtech startups pitched to six expert judges and a live audience where they were evaluated on the strength of their solution and potential to scale, among other assessment categories. The panel of judges, which were comprised of venture capitalists and leaders in the agricultural industry, provided feedback to each startup and advanced Augean Robotics to earn the investment offer.

“We continue to value this partnership with Western Growers and their members,” said Sanjeev Krishnan, S2G Ventures’ chief investment officer and managing director at S2G Ventures. “By providing capital to the entrepreneurs at Augean Robotics and WG’s market knowledge, we can feed the changing consumer and generate increased profits for the producers.”

Krishnan was among the judges’ panel, which also included Kevin Andrew, chief farming officer at Vanguard International; Robby Barkley, president & CEO of Barkley Ag Enterprise; Cristina Rohr, vice president at S2G Ventures; Vic Smith, president & CEO of JVSmith Companies; and Matthew Walker, managing director at S2G Ventures.

AgSharks premiered last October, where two agtech startups – Hazel Technologies and AgVoice – received a $2.25 million total investment offer from S2G Ventures. AgSharks is the latest WG effort to identify key innovations in the fresh produce industry and support agtech startups in bringing their technology to market. Previous efforts include opening an agtech incubator—the WG Center for Innovation & Technology—in December 2015, and launching the AgTechx Summit series, which brings new ag technologies to major farming regions.

Click here for a hi-resolution image from Western Growers’ AgSharks™ competition.

About Western Growers:
Founded in 1926, Western Growers represents local and regional family farmers growing fresh produce in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico. Our members and their workers provide over half the nation’s fresh fruits, vegetables and tree nuts, including nearly half of America’s fresh organic produce. Some members also farm throughout the U.S. and in other countries so people have year-round access to nutritious food. For generations, we have provided variety and healthy choices to consumers. Connect with and learn more about Western Growers on our Twitter and Facebook.

About S2G Ventures:
S2G Ventures (Seed to Growth) is a multi-stage venture fund investing in food and agriculture. The fund’s mission is to catalyze innovation to meet consumer demands for healthy and sustainable food. S2G has identified sectors across the food system that are ripe for change, and is building a multi-stage portfolio including seed, venture and growth stage investments. Core areas of interest for S2G are agriculture, ingredients, infrastructure and logistics, IT and hardware, food safety and technology, retail and restaurants, and consumer brands. For more information about S2G, visit www.s2gventures.com or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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