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Derek Caraballo, a Denton, Md. chicken grower, has earned Delmarva Chicken Association's 2026 George ‘Bud' Malone Environmental Award.

Caraballo, who raises chickens in partnership with Perdue Farms, is the fifth recipient of DCA's award for outstanding on-farm conservation and environmental design. Derek and his wife, Pamela, along with their son Owen, received a plaque and a $500 prize, and their Caraballo & Wasn't EZ Farms operation will be nominated for USPOULTRY's Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award, which two past Malone Award winners have also received.

"Longevity was something we really wanted to make sure we succeed at. We want the farm to be passed down, to our son," Caraballo said of the Denton, Md. farm. "In order to do that, you must make sure everything's up to par… If everything looks bad, if there's manure on the pads, then that puts a bad opinion on chicken farming itself."

Caraballo & Wasn't EZ Farms has four 60-foot by 600-foot houses, well-maintained with very cleanly swept heavy use pads, and Caraballo is careful to replenish farm lanes with fresh millings each year. Conservation features on the farm include multiple vegetative buffers – some of them broad swaths of sunflowers, others a mix of tall grasses and hardy trees. In some low spots that would typically retain standing water, flood-tolerant grasses are there to soak up storms. In all, the Caraballo family has invested in 17 best management practices including 1.6 acres of planted buffers, 9.6 acres of natural buffers, and three-quarters of an acre of annual pollinators planted.

"The chicken part, that's half the day," Caraballo said of his daily routine. "The other half is just cleaning and making sure things are running right. Farmers have a lot of pride. If you keep your things clean, you're showing that pride that you have."

The award's namesake, Bud Malone, had the foresight to begin DCA's nationally recognized vegetative environmental buffers program and continues to help the chicken community to this day. This program has resulted in the planting of thousands of trees, shrubs and grasses on family-owned poultry farms on Delmarva and led to improved relations between farm owners and neighboring property owners.

This award directs a spotlight onto Delmarva chicken growers who integrate vegetative environmental buffers and other conservation measures, ensuring their farms are sustainable and are good neighbors.

Practices considered by DCA's Grower Committee in selecting a winning farm include:

• Heavy use pads, well-maintained and well-kept
• Vegetative environmental buffers around chicken houses; at property lines; and around ponds and manure sheds
• Pollinator-friendly vegetative buffer plots
• Overall cleanliness
• Grass buffers near tunnel fans to contain dust, feathers, and odor
• Solar energy on the farm
• Excellent mortality composting practices
• Commendable appearance and maintenance of manure storage structures
• Well-maintained farm roads
• Weed control around chicken houses
• Proper drainage, including stormwater ponds
• Other adaptations or practices the grower has made to benefit neighbor relations

Derek and Pamela Caraballo, at left, receive the George ‘Bud’ Malone Award from executive director Holly Porter and agricultural conservation specialist Liz Warren.

About Delmarva Chicken Association
Delmarva Chicken Association, founded in 1948, is the Delmarva chicken industry's voice as the premier membership association focusing on advocacy, education and member relations. DCA's vision is to be the most-respected chicken organization in the United States. For more information about the Delmarva Chicken Association, visit www.dcachicken.com or call 302-856-9037.