The 2023 IPM Achievement Awards
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2023 IPM Achievement Awards Ceremony Booklet
2023 IPM Achievement Awards Ceremony Recording (En Español)
The 2023 Awardees are:
Park Farming Organics
Park Farming Organics, based in Meridian, Sutter County, is being recognized for embodying IPM in California agriculture.
Covering 1,400 acres, Park Farming is a leader in organic farming, and has developed a holistic system that focuses on soil health to improve the farm's ecosystem and yield healthy crops without the use of pesticides or other synthetic inputs. In 2022, the farm received Regenerative Organic Certification, which promotes holistic agriculture practices for soil health and land management, animal welfare, and farmer and worker fairness.
Scott Park, one of the farm's founders, recently participated as a member of the Sustainable Pest Management (SPM) Work Group convened by DPR, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the CDFA, and he continues to support and advocate for organic and SPM practice implementation throughout California and beyond. Park Farming Organics is a model example of using safer, more sustainable IPM practices in farming.
Watch the award video for Park Farming Organics
Watch the congratulatory video from Senator Niello
Watch the congratulatory video from Assembly Member Gallagher
More information is available at Park Farming Organics website or by contacting:
Scott Park
Email: parkfarm@live.com
UAV-IQ Precision Agriculture
Los Angeles-based UAV-IQ Precision Agriculture - which specializes in the drone-based release of beneficial insects and other beneficial organisms - is being recognized for advancing traditional IPM practices through new technology.
UAV-IQ's technology allows targeted drone applications of beneficial organisms. Their services provide safe, effective, and sustainable ways to incorporate biocontrol into an IPM program while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating soil compaction. In addition, UAV-IQ actively participates in research and conducts outreach activities specifically to promote biocontrol, and they seek to support their local economy with skilled jobs.
The technology promises to support pollinator protection, enhance biodiversity, reduce pesticide drift and run-off into surface water, and lower the potential of pesticide exposure to farmworkers and local communities.
Watch the award video for UAV-IQ Precision Agriculture
Watch the congratulatory video from Assembly Member Bryan
More information is available at UAV-IQ Precision Agriculture website or by contacting:
Andreas Neuman
Email: info@uaviq.com
Gina Bella Colfer, Lifetime IPM Achievement Award
Gina Bella Colfer, a pest control advisor (PCA) with more than 30 years of experience in organic agriculture, primarily on California's Central Coast, will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work developing and implementing safer, more sustainable IPM practices in agriculture.
Colfer spent more than 15 years honing her IPM-centered pest management recommendations as the in-house PCA and agronomist for Mission Organics/Earthbound Farms, the largest producer of leafy greens on the West Coast. She is currently the sustainable solutions manager for Wilbur Ellis, a global agricultural product and chemical company, where she works to build the company's organics program and help growers maintain healthy soils and reduce synthetic inputs.
Colfer is a highly regarded pest management expert who developed a “whole systems approach” that combines many organic strategies with the goals of supporting healthy soils, reducing pest issues, decreasing the use of pesticides, protecting the environment and pesticide handlers, and reducing the overall cost of pest management.
Watch the award video for Gina Colfer
Watch the congratulatory video from Senator Laird
More information is available by contacting:
Gina Bella Colfer
Email: gcolfer@wilburellis.com
Frank Zalom, Lifetime IPM Achievement Award
Dr. Zalom's work has contributed greatly to advancing safe, effective, and sustainable IPM practices in specialty crops such as almonds, strawberries, tomatoes, and olives.
Dr. Zalom is a retired Distinguished Professor of Entomology at the University of California (UC), Davis who was the first Extension IPM Coordinator for the Statewide UC IPM Program and the director of the UC IPM Program. He is currently a UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus, an advisor to the California Department of Food and Agriculture's (CDFA) Office of Pesticide Consultation and Analysis, and a science advisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Through hundreds of presentations and publications, Dr. Zalom has contributed to broad adoption of IPM practices for numerous agricultural pests, resulting in less insecticide use and reduced run-off impacts and high-risk pesticide exposures.
Watch the award video for Frank Zalom
Watch the congratulatory video from Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry
More information is available by contacting:
Dr. Frank Zalom
Email: fgzalom@ucdavis.edu
For content questions, contact:
Michelle Andreetta
1001 I Street, P.O. Box 4015
Sacramento, CA 95812-4015
Phone: (916) 324-4245
E-mail: achieve@cdpr.ca.gov