and tree fruit. Ron calls Ratto Bros. “a medium to small company” noting that its size “is viable for us” but admits to being an outlier as other vegetables grower-shippers are much larger, more geographically diverse and located elsewhere. No product dominates sales for Ratto Bros. but in aggregate, the sales add up. “There is only so much turnip greens a customer is going to buy,” he quipped. It might have been being a small guy in a big pond that pushed Ron into being an active member in the agricultural community. Ratto Bros. joined Western Growers Association about 20 years ago and Ron was one of the early board members of the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement. He noted that it was his participation on the LGMA board that acquainted him with growers from other districts and got him more involved in industry issues. When the WG board seat for the Central San Joaquin Valley opened up about a decade ago, he ran for it and won. He’s not sure he would call himself an “activist farmer” but Ratto said he is willing to get out and talk to people about the issues and explain agriculture’s viewpoint. He said that is important as there are host of issues, including food safety and labor concerns, in which agriculture needs to have a voice. He is confident that both the staff and board leadership of Western Growers is moving in the right direction and he sees his position as chairman as continuing the good work that is already being done. He said the organization is an industry leader and has a history of innovative thinking. He pointed to the development of the Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology as a testament to that. “It is still in its infancy, but there are some really exciting and useful developments coming out of that program.” But in his year as WG Chairman of the Board, change is going to be a prevalent theme. The association’s top two staff leaders—President Tom Nassif and Senior Executive Vice President Matt McInerney—have announced their retirement dates. Nassif will retire at the end of 2019 while McInerney is leaving in late March. Ratto said finding a new CEO will undoubtedly be an important task that the board undertakes. In late November, he said the details of the search were still under discussion but a plan would be forthcoming. “I will tell you that I have not been involved in a
WESTERN GROWERS OFFICERS – 2019
RON RATTO, Chairman RYAN TALLEY, Senior Vice Chair ALBERT KECK, Vice Chair CAROL CHANDLER, Treasurer VICTOR SMITH, Executive Secretary THOMAS A. NASSIF, President DIRECTORS – 2019 GEORGE J. ADAM Innovative Produce, Santa Maria, California KEVIN S. ANDREW Vanguard International, Bakersfield, California ROBERT K. BARKLEY Barkley Ag Enterprises LLP,Yuma, Arizona STEPHEN J. BARNARD Mission Produce, Inc., Oxnard, California BARDIN E. BENGARD Bengard Ranch, Salinas, California GEORGE BOSKOVICH III Boskovich Farms, Oxnard, California NEILL CALLIS Turlock Fruit Company,Turlock, California DON CAMERON Terranova Ranch, Helm, California EDWIN A. CAMP D. M. Camp & Sons, Bakersfield, California CAROL CHANDLER Chandler Farms LP, Selma, California LAWRENCEW. COX Coastline Family Farms, Salinas, California STEPHEN F. DANNA Danna Farms, Inc.,Yuba City, California JOHN C. D’ARRIGO D’Arrigo Bros. Co. of California, Salinas, California THOMAS DEARDORFF II Deardorff Family Farms, Oxnard, California FRANZW. DE KLOTZ Richard Bagdasarian Inc., Mecca, California SAMUEL D. DUDA Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Inc., Salinas, California WILL FELIZ Wawona Packing Company, Cutler, California CATHERINE A. FANUCCHI Tri-Fanucchi Farms Inc., Bakersfield, California DAVID L. GILL Rio Farms, King City, California BRANDON A. GRIMM Grimmway Farms, Arvin, California JOHN JACKSON Beachside Produce, LLC, Nipomo, California A. G. KAWAMURA Orange County Produce, LLC, Irvine, California ALBERT KECK Hadley Date Gardens,Thermal, California FRED P. LOBUE, JR. LoBue Bros., Inc., Lindsay, California FRANK MACONACHY Ramsay Highlander, Inc., Gonzales, California JOHN S. MANFRE Frank Capurro and Son, Moss Landing, California STEPHEN MARTORI III Martori Farms, Scottsdale, Arizona HAROLD MCCLARTY HMC Farms, Kingsburg, California TOMMULHOLLAND Mulholland Citrus, Orange Cove, California ALEXANDERT. MULLER Pasquinelli Produce Co.,Yuma, Arizona DOMINIC J. MUZZI Muzzi Family Farms, LLC, Moss Landing, California MARK NICKERSON PrimeTime International, Coachella, California THOMAS M. NUNES The Nunes Company, Inc., Salinas, California STEPHEN F. PATRICIO Westside Produce, Firebaugh, California RON RATTO Ratto Bros. Inc., Modesto, California CRAIG A. READE Bonipak Produce, Inc., Santa Maria, California JOSEPH A. RODRIGUEZ The Growers Company, Inc., Somerton, Arizona WILL ROUSSEAU Rousseau Farming Company,Tolleson, Arizona VICTOR SMITH JV Smith Companies,Yuma, Arizona KELLY STRICKLAND Five Crowns, Inc., Brawley, California RYANTALLEY Talley Farms, Arroyo Grande, California BRUCE C.TAYLOR Taylor Farms California, Salinas, California STUARTWOOLF Woolf Farming & Processing, Fresno, California ROBYRACEBURU Wonderful Orchards, Shafter, California
search of this magnitude before but I know many members of the board have. I will be relying on their expertise as we move forward and think this through. Finding a new president is going to be a very important task.” Personally, Ratto still lives in the general area in which he grew up. He lives in the East Bay, not too far from Oakland, and about an hour’s drive from the Modesto office…when traffic cooperates. He has been married to his wife, Catharine, for 38 years, and has known her for quite a bit longer as they were family friends growing up. The couple has three sons in their 30s— Anthony, Andrew and Robert—and their first grandchild on the way. Anthony works for Ratto Bros. mentoring under Ray Ratto on the production end of the company. Andrew is also in the business, working in sales with a Salinas area shipper.
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JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2019
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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