Rob Yraceburu Elected as New Board Chair for Western Growers

Western Growers’ membership of family farmers and growers have elected Rob Yraceburu, President of Wonderful Orchards at The Wonderful Company, to serve as Chair of the Western Growers Board of Directors for a two-year term.

Yraceburu’s long relationship with the organization, which represents two-thirds of America’s fresh produce, spans more than two decades going back to his many years as a senior banker at Wells Fargo focused on the agriculture industry and, more recently, more than a decade at The Wonderful Company as a grower. Yraceburu was first elected to the Board in 2016 and has served as Vice Chair since 2023.

Today, he oversees nearly 160,000 acres from Bakersfield to Madera County, CA, and from the Sierra Foothills to Paso Robles. With more than 100,000 acres planted, Wonderful is the world’s largest grower of pistachios and pomegranates and one of the largest growers of almonds and wine grapes. At peak harvest, Yraceburu leads a workforce of more than 5,000 people.

In his role, Yraceburu also oversees Wonderful Bees, one of the largest beekeeping operations in the U.S. with more than 62,000 hives; Wonderful Nurseries, which specializes in the production of almond and proprietary pistachio trees; and Wonderful Laboratories, which provides agricultural analyses and supports growers across the industry.

“Agriculture is America’s single most important product and the world counts on our success, which is why the work of Western Growers will always be critically important,” says Yraceburu. “When growers stand shoulder to shoulder, we are the most powerful voice there is and, today, our collective voice has never mattered more. My commitment as chair will be to champion the tremendous momentum we have and support our talented leadership and staff in ensuring the agriculture business stays strong for the nation. As Western Growers approaches its 100th anniversary, it’s an honor to serve as chair and as the custodian of this work.”

For more about Rob Yraceburu and his new role with Western Growers, visit wga.com.