For Eric, embracing biodiversity on the farm started about 15 years ago with the introduction of beneficial habitat plantings at Braga Fresh Farm. Eric is the Vice President of Environmental Science and Resources at Braga Fresh and knew early on that natural enemy insects were a necessity in managing pests without conventional pesticides.

Braga Fresh is a large, vertically integrated, primarily organic grower with operations in the Salinas Valley and Imperial Valley. One of the primary concerns they had in organic production was no ability to put their red lettuce aphids in check. No organic sprays worked well to take care of lettuce aphids, so they turned to natural enemies to help reduce populations.

Eric says the process of farming with nature has been humbling. Having been in the industry a long time, he thought he had all the answers. “And then come to find out that I was really ignorant about the biological process in place. I've been able to answer a lot of questions that I've had for my entire career by observing biological systems and drawing conclusions from that; and then trying to find some level of translation to our production.” Eric enjoys discovering solutions. “I think discovery is what's making this entire process exciting. And I think it's what's exciting our entire team.”