About Rodoni Farms

Welcome to Rodoni Farms!

We are third-generation farmers transitioning into the organic market over the last 20 years. We now have over 100 acres certified organic by CCOF. We currently grow brussels sprouts, leeks, artichokes, beets, peas, beans, leafy greens, broccoli, avocados, lemons, limes, strawberries, and pumpkins.

Our farm began with the first generation of farmers in 1920, when Dante Rodoni came from Italy to the USA at 10 years old. He attended local schools while living at the Younger Ranch. At age 16 he moved, with his family, to the Hoover Ranch on Waddell Creek to work with his father in cattle. In 1935, Dante moved into farming Brussels sprouts with his brother-in-law, Pete Rinaldi. The rest is history…

…In 1937 Dante Rodoni married Andreina; together they moved into Wilder Ranch establishing M.Rodoni & Co. They had 2 sons, Elio and Mario, and daughter Jeanne. They lived, loved, and farmed, on the Wilder Ranch property for 34 years. Even after retirement, Mr. Rodoni continued his active interest in farming, through his two sons, until his death at age 80 ( in 1989).

Over the span of his farming career, Mr. Rodoni saw great changes: from using work horses to tractors, from hand transplanting to mechanical transplanting, from furrow irrigation to sprinkler irrigation, from hand picking to mechanical harvesting, and from hand sorting to mechanical sorting of Brussels sprouts. Mr. Rodoni, always at the forefront of change, proved to be one of the great innovators of the Brussels sprouts industry.

Prior to the 1950’s sprouts were sorted by hand off a table. Mr.Rodoni was the first to see a need for - and develop - a system for sorting and grading sprouts mechanically.

In the early 1960’s when conditions trended toward mechanical harvesting of Brussels sprouts, Mr. Rodoni developed the Rodoni Brussels Sprouts Stripper®, which mechanically cuts the sprouts from the stalk.

Upon his retirement, in 1974, Dante turned the farm over to Mario who, to this day, continues to farm under the label M.Rodoni & Co. with his two sons, Dan and Bill. Mario also had a daughter, Suzanne. The next twenty years the farm continued to grow and farm conventional brussels sprouts.

In the 1990’s the family started to diversify, including a wider variety of crops, as well as transitioning some of the ground to organic. Over the past 20+ years Bill has led the expansion of organic crops, started the label La Costa Nostra, and managed the iconic ‘4 mile’ pumpkin patch, along with his wife Siri ( and their two daughters Andreina and Bella). In the Summer of 2021 they opened The Rodoni Farm Fresh Produce farm stand ( located at the old Fambrini’s spot) on Highway 1, two miles South of Davenport.

Rodoni Farms continues to thrive as an integral part of the local food system; serving local restaurants and farmers markets in the Santa Cruz and the Nor Cal/Central Coast community, and beyond.

Thanks for visiting the Rodoni Farms website! Come visit us in person at the Farm Stand, the Pumpkin Patch, or at the Farmers Market!