Archives: Speakers

Consultant/Researcher

Ron Britt & Associates

Reed Britt is an independent consultant and researcher who works for Ron Britt & Associates. He works with growers developing programs to control pest and disease issues in their orchards in Washington’s Yakima Valley. As a researcher, he conducts residue and efficacy studies on new and existing chemistries for both commercial and organic products. 

Reed has also worked for Washington State University’s Irrigated Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Prosser, WA, as a lab technician focused primarily on pollinating insect research including honeybee toxicity studies under Dr. Dan Mayer. He also worked for Crop Data Management Systems (CDMS) as a program trainer for the advisor program. 

Reed received a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Denver in Denver, CO. He worked for the 18th District Attorney’s Office and then practiced on a contract basis for the Alternate Defense Council, an independent branch of the state’s Public Defender Office. 

VP, R&D, Agronomy

True Organic Products

Ramy Colfer works for True Organic Products, conducting research in agronomy in the R&D department with a team of scientists. He has been with the company for more than three years.

Before coming to True Organic, Ramy spent 18 years farming organic leafy vegetables, working in the areas of fertility management, pest management, and seed selection. From 2013 to 2018, he worked for Internal Farming at Earthbound Farm. Prior to that, he was employed for 13 years by Mission Organics, a company that produced organic leafy greens for Earthbound Farm.

Ramy has a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. He studied the biological control of mites/insect pests in agricultural systems.

Southern Business Development Manager

Agro-K Corporation

Jeff earned a B.S.A. in agronomy from the University of Georgia in 1987. His career began with A. Duda & Sons in Florida as a Citrus Production Supervisor. Jeff has worked with leading basic manufacturers of traditional pesticides as well as biologicals, fumigants, and new chemistries throughout the Southeastern U.S. He has diversified experience in product development, research, sales, marketing, key account management, and leadership. Currently, Jeff is responsible for the development and sales of agricultural inputs in the Southeast for Agro-K Corporation where he has gained extensive experience with sap analysis. Jeff has personally been involved in more than 300 sap analysis projects, from pulling the actual leaf samples to evaluating results and making recommendations. 

Chief Science Officer

NEW AGE Laboratories

Jenny Garley is the Chief Science Officer at NEW AGE Laboratories, located in South Haven, MI. Jenny is from, and currently located in, the Monterey Bay area in California and grew up in agriculture. She received a master’s degree in food science and technology from Oregon State University in conjunction with University of Alaska Fairbanks. This dual degree was brought forth by being awarded an Alaska Industrial Sea Grant Fellowship which involved both universities. 

Jenny has been immersed in plant sap analysis for almost eight years, creating sap sampling protocols, sap data analysis, and research and development. Initially training and working with Nova Crop Control, a sap lab in The Netherlands, she then moved to NEW AGE Labs in 2020.  

NEW AGE Labs was founded in 1998, as an environmental lab, quickly moved into the agriculture space, and has been providing plant sap analyses for more than six years. Jenny oversees the teaching and training of sap analysis for both growers and agricultural companies throughout the U.S., Mexico, and South America.  

Global Portfolio Manager

Certis Biologicals

Rob Gibson is Global Portfolio Manager at Certis Biologicals, supporting the company’s portfolio of biological solutions. Gibson focuses his marketing efforts across Certis’ broad biological portfolio, ensuring that growers and supply channel partners domestically and globally have the biological solution they need and available when they need it.  

Prior to Certis, Gibson served as the Associate Director of Business Development for Virginia Tech, where he supported the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty with opportunities to license research technologies for start-up potential. Before that, he worked in various capacities at Novozymes Biologicals, including Regional Strategic Alliance Manager for BioAg Commercial where he led the Asia-Pacific region. Gibson also held the roles of Technical Support Specialist and Research Scientist at Novozymes. 

Field Development Manager-Western U.S.

Certis Biologicals

Scott Ockey is the Field Development Manager in the Western U.S. for Certis Biologicals. He has been with Certis for 13 years and has helped research and launch products such as Double Nickel, LifeGard, Cyd-X HP, Madex HP, and many others. Prior to joining Certis, Scott had a short stint with Chemtura where he focused on research in the Pacific Northwest (PNW).

Scott received his master’s degree in biology/plant pathology from Utah State University where he also ran the plant disease diagnostic lab for 10 years. The past nine years at Certis working with California and PNW agriculture has been an extremely rewarding experience for Scott, due to the diversity of cropping systems and pest spectrum, but more importantly because of the support people in the industry.

Vice President Environmental Science and Resources

Braga Fresh

Eric Morgan is Vice President of Environmental Science and Resources at Braga Fresh. Prior to this role, Eric was a Pest Control Advisor and manager for Valley Farm Applications.

In 2009, he founded Soil Health Lab to help growers reduce fertilizer inputs daily, based on real-time laboratory results and his professional experience. Still in operation today, this soil lab provides same-day analysis of soil and water for nitrate, ammonium, and pH levels for cool season vegetable growers in California’s Salinas and Imperial Valleys.

In 1928, the Braga family started farming Salinas Valley. Today the third generation continues the family values of sustainable farming.  Now vertically integrated, Braga Fresh combines innovation with tradition to grow, harvest, and process fresh vegetables and leafy greens through the Josie’s Organics brand. With Eric’s leadership, Braga Fresh sets aside 10% of farmland to beneficial habitat and has the goal of being carbon neutral by 2025.

Editor

American Vegetable Grower

Carol Miller, Editor of American Vegetable Grower, has reported on specialty crops since 1998. During that time, she helmed several magazines, covering many aspects of the specialty crop industry, from ornamental crops to produce, and from production to retail.

Organic Agronomist & Entomologist

Grimmway Farms

Kim began farming insects in 1998 as a part-time job in college, and it was an immediate perfect fit.  In addition, it was her first introduction to the use of biological control strategies to control an insect pest that eluded traditional chemical pesticides. Her interest in biological control led her to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in entomology and nematology at the University of Florida, Gainesville.  

She continued rearing insects and mites for the biological control industry for the next 15 years working with a wide array of conventional, sustainable, organic, and biodynamic growers. In 2015, she joined Grimmway Farms to expand the use of integrated pest management solutions on the farm as well as working to strengthen the organic fertilizer program, conduct field trials, and many other soil-based activities. Her primary focus is to support the farm in order to grow the healthiest crops possible. This includes troubleshooting plant growth, disease, and pest issues. She has a Pest Control Advisor license and a Certified Crop Advisor license, and her favorite insect is the dung beetle.