Madeline Mellinger has dedicated 50 years to Florida’s agriculture industry and is an innovator in the field of integrated pest management. As a business owner, scientist and mentor, she has contributed greatly to the development of Florida’s next generation of growers and our agricultural industry as a whole.

In 1972, Madeline Mellinger founded Glades Crop Care Inc. and remains its CEO today. Glades Corp Care Inc. is an independent agricultural consulting firm that provides integrated pest management and crop counseling services to more than 65,000 acres of plants and over 60 varieties of fresh vegetable crops, citrus, rice and sugarcane.

Madeline’s work through Glades Crop Care Inc. has changed the way farmers in Florida approach pest control. Her work showed producers that they could shift from calendar-based pesticide application to need-based, which saved farmers money and reduced negative environmental impact. Glades Crop Care Inc. was selected as a founding supporter of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program. 

Madeline’s expertise has been a resource to the benefit of several organizations. She has served as an advisor to the U.S. Congress, National Academy of Sciences, the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal and state Extension Service and various universities. Beginning in 1992, she was appointed by three U. S. Secretaries of Agriculture to the National Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Council.

In addition, Madeline has contributed to our state’s agriculture industry by tirelessly advocating for the land-grant system. Since 1997, she has served as a University of Florida delegate to the Council for Agriculture Research, Extension and Teaching (CARET) of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. She also served as the liaison to the Extension Committee on Policy. This service required a great deal of traveling and meeting with officials to advocate for the land-grant university system. She and her husband have been called the “godparents” of the University of Florida's Doctor of Plant Medicine Program by the program’s first director, Dr. George Agrios.

Repeatedly recognized for her service, Madeline has been named the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Outstanding Extension Volunteer, UF/IFAS Friend of IFAS, the National Association of County Agricultural Agents’ Outstanding Agriculturalist, and one of Florida Trend’s Florida 500: Florida’s Most Influential Business Leaders. She was inducted into the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Co-op Research and Extension Services Hall of Fame.

While her accomplishments alone are inspiring, Madeline is also well known for her passion and support for the development of young professionals. She is known among her peers for her work as a mentor to women seeking to become leaders in the agriculture industry and for the establishment of the Foundation of Environmental Agriculture Education, which funds scholarships for students who major in crop production or related fields.