Wayne Thornburg

Wayne Thornburg was an American politician from Arizona. He served two consecutive terms in the

He was chairman of the public lands committee which was the driving force behind getting the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 passed into law. He pioneered the growing of both cardinal grapes and winter sweet corn in the Salt River Valley, and his ranch in Litchfield Park was one of the largest producers of cardinal grapes in the country. At one point, he and his partner, Floyd Smith were the largest producers of sugar beet seed in the world. He also developed and patented a variety of grape, the "robin grape". In addition to his grapes, he also grew cotton and alfalfa, as well as raising cattle. Thornburg died on August 8, 1980, in the Beatitudes Care Center in Glendale.^[2]

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