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Industry	Agriculture
Occupation	IPM Specialist, Certified Nurseryman, Pomologist
Location	Harvard, IL, United States
Introduction	Dennis Norton is the Integrated Pest Management Specialist, Pomologist and Certified Nurseryman at Royal Oak Farm Orchard, a family owned and operated 16,000 tree u-pick apple orchard, nursery, and agri-tourism operation located in Northern Illinois near the Wisconsin state line. At Royal Oak Farm we use an entirely new approach to managing pests called Biointensive Integrated Pest Management (Bio-IPM) to minimize the insect and disease damage to our fruit. Biointensive IPM utilizes a systems approach to pest management based on an understanding of pest ecology. It begins with steps to accurately diagnose the nature and source of pest problems, and then relies on a range of preventive tactics and biological controls to keep pest populations within acceptable limits. Our preventative tactics include a combination of ecological, biological, natural, and cultural controls to keep applications of chemical controls to a minimum.