Jeff Denham: “I sadly rise today with fellow colleagues because we lost a friend way too soon. Rick Antle was an ag visionary…”

“I sadly rise today with fellow colleagues because we lost a friend way too soon. Rick Antle was an ag visionary, community leader, family man, and to Sonia and I, a mentor and a friend. His passion and dedication made him not only a leader in California's Salinas Valley, but in the entire ag industry nationwide. At the age of 26, he became the president and CEO of Tanimura & Antle, one of the largest ag companies in the entire country. He would grow this to become the largest leafy greens and vegetable producer in the region. He set it up as an ESOP, making it an employee-owned business. This is now a four-generation legacy that farms over 35,000 acres, distributing to North America, Europe, and Asia. Rick worked right alongside his sons, Brian and Jeffrey. He constantly pushed different innovations, even ideas that were against conventional practice, things that were sometimes mocked or said that they would never work, but are now the important innovations that lead the rest of the industry. Rick emphasized the importance of support and investing in employees, whom he always saw as the backbone of his company. His company's 800-person Spreckels Crossing housing complex has since become a blueprint for other farmworker housing projects across the country. On a personal note, I would just say that Sonia and Tonya--Sonia and Tonya, as they were known to most in the industry--worked side by side. Rick and I worked side by side as well.…”