Triple Helix Institute for Agriculture, Climate, and Society — a nonprofit that aims to build cross-sector engagement and public understanding around ag tech — announced Dr. Nick Dokoozlian as the recipient of its inaugural Triple Helix AgTech Leadership Prize.
Extreme weather, soil degradation, pests and diseases and resource scarcity increasingly jeopardize crops. According to the announcement by Triple Helix, emerging technologies offer pathways to improve agricultural productivity and resilience, but realizing their technical potential requires vision, tenacity and collaboration across sectors. The Triple Helix AgTech Leadership Prize recognizes individuals who have worked across disciplinary and sectoral silos to develop and deploy improved ag tech.
“Dr. Dokoozlian’s accomplishments reflect dedication to long-term collaboration among researchers, growers, industry leaders, and public institutions. By honoring trailblazers like Dr. Dokoozlian, the Triple Helix AgTech Leadership Prize celebrates individuals who build partnerships and infrastructure that drive agricultural innovation from scientific discovery to transformative impact,” said Dr. Sarah Garland, Founder and Executive Director of Triple Helix.
After 15 years as a researcher in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis, Dokoozlian joined Gallo Winery in 2004. Throughout his career, his work has centered on improving the productivity, resilience and quality of viticulture. His achievements include:
● Playing a major role in the formation of the National Grape Research Alliance (NGRA) in 2003 and serving as the organization’s Research Chair since 2008.
● Supporting permanent federal funding for the USDA-ARS Grape Genetics Research Unit in Geneva, NY and Sustainable Agricultural Water Systems Research Unit in Davis, CA. These centers conduct foundational science to address critical agricultural challenges like disease and drought.
● Establishing the landmark GRAPEX project (Grape Remote Sensing Atmospheric Profile and Evapotranspiration eXperiment), a decade-long collaboration involving Gallo, USDA-ARS, Utah State University, NASA and others. This initiative resulted in water use reductions in vineyards and has since expanded to almonds, olives and other crops.
“I am humbled by this recognition from Triple Helix.The AgTech Leadership Prize is especially meaningful because it recognizes the importance of cross-sector engagement and stakeholder alignment for ensuring agricultural resilience. Triple Helix provides an innovative platform and vision for connecting stakeholders to advance solutions for agriculture’s most pressing challenges, a role critical for the future of food production,” Dokoozlian said.
The Triple Helix AgTech Leadership Prize will be presented to Dr. Dokoozlian at an event held during Climate Week NYC in September.
The USDA Ag Research Service is helping grape growers and winemakers save wine grapes impacted by wildfires by finding a natural solution to remove the unpleasant flavors caused by smoke taint — which costs billions of dollars in the U.S. wine industry.
Smoke taint occurs when wine grapes are exposed to high levels of smoke in a vineyard and absorb volatile compounds. The leaves and grapes attach sugars to the smoke compounds and store them, which results in unpleasant flavors in the wine, often described as tasting “smoky” or “ashy.” Consequently, most grapes exposed to wildfire smoke are considered unsuitable for making wine.
In a research study, researchers from the ARS Plant Gene Expression Center in Albany, CA, and their collaborators found that Gordonia alkanivorans, a bacterium that can occur naturally on grape leaves, is able to break down guaiacol, one of the main phenols responsible for smoke taint in wine. Phenols are naturally occurring chemical compounds that are responsible for much of the flavor and color in wine.
“We found two strains of the same species of Gordonia alkanivorans that can use guaiacol as their only food source,” said Devin Coleman-Derr, ARS Research Molecular Biologist.
The researchers sequenced the strains’ genomes and studied which genes were active when Gordonia alkanivorans were given access to guaiacol. They found that a gene called guaA produced an enzyme that was key to breaking down guaiacol into a harmless compound. Furthermore, the guaAenzyme broke down only guaiacol and not the other phenols.
Though guaiacol is just one of several phenols potentially responsible for smoke taint,Coleman-Derr says the findings show that using bacteria as a biotechnological tool in treating smoke taint is a potential solution.
“This research provides a roadmap for finding bacteria and other microbes that can target other problematic chemicals in or on plants,” said Coleman-Derr.
The research was done in collaboration with University of California, Merced’s Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Biosciences Division, and Washington State University’s Viticulture and Enology Program. – By Jessica Ryan, ARS Office of Communications
The Almond Board of California released its March position report on April 10, showing that industry shipments totaled 258 million pounds. Blue Diamond Growers notes that this is an increase of 16.5% year over year, surpassing expectations. March exports were up 21% compared to last year at 2025.2 million pounds. Export shipments are surpassing last yers pace, leading by 3% at 1.38 billion pounds and domestic shipments for March came in at 1.9% ahead from last year.
“While domestic year-to-date shipments remain behind at 391 million pounds, down 15.9%, the increase this month is worth celebrating after months of softer results. Total industry shipments through March stand at 1.78 billion pounds, down 1.9% versus last year,” Blue Diamond Growers wrote in its March Almond Market Update. “The California almond industry has shown resilience and strong performance despite logistical delays associated with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. With concern around Australian crop quality due to late season rainfall, we may see additional opportunities for California almonds ahead.”
The March shipment performance confirmed an effectively functioning market, with global demand continuing to absorb supply. Export markets remain the primary driver, supported by consistent movement into Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, despite recent disruptions. This includes 39.2 million pounds shipped to India. China/Hong Kong, also saw a 123% increase to 4.1 million pounds following last year’s tariffs. Shipments to Vietnam were at 5.6 million pounds, an 8.5% increase.
The Middle East remains difficult, with reduced activity in the United Arab Emirates, but Turkey has seen an increase of 30% and Pakistan has seen an increase of 170%, indicating that demand is being redistributed rather than eroded.
“The conflict in Iran has been a concerning factor for the industry for over a month. The March report serves as proof that demand across the Middle East remains intact as the region took 21.9 million pounds for the month. The current geopolitical conditions have introduced disruptions and logistical challenges to traditional trade flows in the Persian Gulf,” the Blue Diamond update read. “Saudi Arabia is also expected to act as an alternative routing option to supply regional buyers. The region remains a key demand center with creative execution strategies, and the normalization of logistics is expected to support future activity.”
The market in Europe remains steady, with year-to-date shipments tracking ahead of 2025 by 7%.
Pesticide registrant Syngenta voluntarily cancelled registration of Gramoxone SL 3.0 — a product containing paraquat-dichloride — in California.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have both designated paraquat as a restricted material, meaning only licensed dealers can sell it and only professionally licensed applicators can use it. Paraquat is under DPR reevaluation.
Products containing paraquat that are registered by other companies are not affected by Syngenta’s voluntary cancellation. Gramoxone SL 3.0 may continue to be possessed and sold by DPR-licensed dealers for up to two years following the following effective date (April 1, 2028) of the company’s voluntary cancellation under California law. Growers using these products must do so in accordance with all applicable label directions, as well as state and federal regulations. Syngenta indicated that it will continue stewardship practices like training and safety resources while remaining stocks are distributed and sold.
The DPR is continuing to move through the process of reevaluation of paraquat products registered in California, in alignment with AB 1963. The Department has released two preliminary assessments and will continue to require data and additional information from remaining registrants. The reevaluations is expected to be completed by January 2029.
Four wineries and vineyard companies received the 2026 California Sustainable Winegrowing Leadership Awards.
The winners were based on a comprehensive judging process focused on viticulture and winemaking to assess their sustainability practices and innovation. Several California wine organizations devoted to sustainability presented the medals, which were awarded in the Leadership, Environment, Community and Business categories
“Each year of the past dozen years, the California wine community has paused to pay tribute to four wineries and vineyards that demonstrate outstanding leadership and innovation in sustainable wine growing,” said Allison Jordan, Executive Director for the Alliance. “Not only do this year’s winners grow and make exceptional grapes and wine, they do so while preserving natural resources, protecting the environment, enhancing wine quality and enriching the lives of employees and wine country communities.”
Winners of the 2026 Awards are:
St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery — Leader Award
In 2022, Jeannine Lowrimore Onstott, technical sales representative for Pacific Biocontrol, got a call from independent PCA Paul Precissi, asking if she had any mating disruption (MD) pheromones for lilac borer, Podosesia syringae, a clearwing moth that was infesting olive trees under his watch.
In 2022, PCA Paul Precissi started finding lilac borers in olive trees he advised for. Photo credit: Precissi Ag Services
Does the Peachtree Borer Pheromone Work for Lilac Borer?
Pacific Biocontrol did not have a lilac borer pheromone, but they did have a pheromone called Isomate P for another clearwing moth, the greater peachtree borer, Synanthedon exitiosa. The pheromone is a synthetic version of what greater peachtree borer females release from their abdomen to attract male moths for mating. Usually, moth pheromones are species-specific, but Onstott decided to test Isomate P on the lilac borer anyway.
For monitoring, two delta traps with peachtree borer lures from Alpha Scents were hung in both the control block and the MD block on April 26, 2022. On April 29, Isomate P-containing twist-ties were deployed at the rate of 134 per acre — one for every fifth olive tree — in the MD block. The traps were checked the same day, and six more times through June 17.
Twist-ties containing pheromone are used for mating disruption of the lilac borer. Photo credit: Pacific Biocontrol.
The twist-ties released pheromone at a consistent rate for 170 days — way more than was needed to cover the mid-March to early-June flight time of the lilac borer. Each twist-tie released a higher concentration of pheromone than did the traps.
The pheromone-treatment “shut down” the traps for the duration of the flight due to the pheromone load from the MD twist-ties being stronger and more numerous than the pheromone lures in the traps.
Achieving “trap shut down” (few or zero moths caught) was the first measure that the pheromone was effectively disrupting mating.By the end of the test, only five moths had been caught in the MD block (all on April 29), whereas 415 were caught in the control group.
Since the male moths could not find the traps, presumably they also could not find the female moths to mate with them. The moths remained in the orchard until early June, but presumably most failed to reproduce and create the next year’s population.
Once the effectiveness was confirmed, Pacific Biocontrol applied for approval to use Isomate P to control the lilac borer. Even though growers were waiting to use it, and it was registered in other states for organic use, not to mention that pheromones have zero toxicity, the application sat on DPR’s (California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s) desk for 18 months before they finally approved it in 2025.
What Is the Lilac Borer?
Native to North America east of the Rockies, the lilac borer, or ash borer, was first noticed in California in the 1970s.
A clearwing moth that flies in the daytime, it resembles a large paper wasp — as a way of defending itself.
It should not be confused with the emerald ash borer, a beetle native to Asia that has decimated North American ash tree populations.The lilac borer does infest ash trees, though, and other trees in the same plant family, Oleaceae, including lilac, privet and olive.
What Is the Lilac Borer’s Life Cycle?
The adults emerge early to mid-March and immediately start mating.Each mated female lays about 400 eggs in crevices in the bark within 7-14 days of emerging.
The eggs hatch in another 14 days and then burrow into the wood, leaving sawdust protruding from the hole.The following March, the larvae pupate and the cycle starts over.The pupal case often is left hanging at the entrance hole.
Where Is the Lilac Borer Found?
No one knows why the lilac borer is now infesting olives, nor the exact range of where they are a problem.San Joaquin County extension specialist Jhalendra Rijal reported the borer in olive trees in the northern San Joaquin Valley in May of 2020.It has also been reported as far south as Modesto and as far north as Corning, 100 miles northwest of Sacramento — overall, in Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Yolo and Tehama counties.
Matt Morelli, a Nutrien PCA based in Woodland, finds the borer infestation to be most severe in the Picual cultivar of oil olives. Photo credit: Nutrien Ag Solutions.
Precissi says he would love to see most California olive growers put at least one trap in each olive orchard to get an idea of how widespread the borers are.(California is the only US state that produces olive oil on a large, commercial scale.)
Onstott concurs with him.The moths are very sensitive to the pheromone and “super easy to trap,” whereas “the sawdust and tunnels are easy to miss,” she notes.
Precissi finds the lilac borer to be more common in riparian areas and near ornamental olives.He says the borers can kill trees aged 1- 4 years and damage stressed trees, whereas mature, healthy trees seem to weather the infestation.
He mainly consults for oil olives, but people have called him about ornamental olives, and the borer was present in those, too.
Matt Morelli, a Nutrien PCA based in Woodland, finds the borer infestation to be most severe in the Picual cultivar of oil olives.
He recalls pulling out a block of 15 or 20 acres in an orchard west of Yolo after about 12th leaf. The moth was boring into the base of the tree even though it usually likes smaller diameter wood, girdling half the tree.
Morelli thinks Picual may be more susceptible because it has softer wood. For the most part, though, he agrees with Precissi.
“It’s not common to see a mature orchard go out like that — it usually affects young trees more,” Morelli says.
What Are the Signs & Symptoms of Lilac Borer?
The best way to detect lilac borer is to set up pheromone traps in the orchard, by March 1 if possible. One visible sign is 3 mm diameter holes in pruning cuts. Digging into such holes reveals the larvae. Adults can be seen from March through early June.
Some of the entry holes will have a pupal case hanging out, left behind by the emerging adult. The holes tend to have frass around them, too.
The bark was cut away to reveal a lilac borer larva in a young olive tree. Photo credit: Randy Post.One sign of lilac borer infestation is a pupal case protruding from the 3 mm entry hole. Photo credit: Matt Morelli.
How to Prevent and Manage Lilac Borer
“It’s easier to prevent rather than battle your way out — especially since it is a borer, so hard to control,” says Onstott.
Randy Post of Agricultural Advisors recommends using the pheromone lures plus insecticides plus pruning out dead limbs and burning them before March 1. Photo credit: Agricultural Advisors.
According to Precissi, prevention includes avoiding suckering or pruning soon before or during the lilac borer’s flight, because wounds tend to be the entry point. Olive knot infections, frost damage, wet feet — anything that weakens the tree makes it more enticing to the opportunistic lilac borer.
Management of the borer is three-fold, according to Randy Post of Agricultural Advisors.First, use the pheromone.
Onstott says the 2026 price for Isomate P is about $45/acre for 100 dispensers/acre and about $60/acre for 134 dispensers/acre, the rate used in the study.
To give an idea of the labor involved, the test run required six people 1.5 hours to cover 13 acres, hanging 134 dispensers/acre at five to six feet in the canopy.
Second, use insecticides.Not many are registered for oil olives, but the ones registered are effective in combination with the pheromone. Altichor or Danitol attacks the egg and larval stages. If sprayed on the tree, and the female lays her eggs on it, the eggs should not hatch.
Carbaryl, in turn, attacks the adult stage of the borer, and has the side benefit of controlling olive scale as well.
Third — according to Post — is to cut out dead limbs and burn them before March 1 when the overwintered generation starts emerging as adults.“It’s very labor intensive but it’s the life of your orchard,” he asserts.
Lilac borers infest and girdle the branches of young olive trees. Photo credit: Randy Post.
Since olive trees do not age out at 20 years like almond trees, he sees it as a big hit to the grower if a tree dies or is impaired. “With a pest like this that is detrimental to the tree, you want to throw the kitchen sink at it to eradicate it, not manage it,” he proffers.
Biocontrol of Lilac Borer
So far, biocontrol is not being used in commercial olive orchards in California to combat the lilac borer, but some options may be developed in the future from the borers’ natural enemies. One such enemy is ichneumonid wasps that parasitize the borers within their tree galleries.
The University of Massachusetts recommends the fungus Beauveria bassiana, which is commercially available for organic use for borers in some states.
The Missouri Botanical Garden recommends spraying gallery entrances with Steinernema carpocapsae nematodes on ornamental trees infected with lilac borer.
Finally, woodpeckers are important predators of lilac borers.
Even without commercial biocontrol options, growers can prune before March and use pheromone lures, insecticides and sanitation to prevent this new pest from causing major disruption to California olive growing.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced it is expanding its sweet orange scab (SOS) quarantine in the La Puente area of Los Angeles County (grids 456 and 457). The quarantine is effective as of April 8.
SOS is believed to be caused by Elsinöe australis, a fungal pathogen. The disease results in the formation of pustules and lesions on the skin of the citrus.
Regulated articles and conditions for intrastate movement under the quarantine can be found at Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations section 3443. Interested parties and local entities may request to lift the quarantine area designations by submitting a written appeal supported by convincing evidence. Appeals must be filed within 10 working days of the notification. Quarantines will remain in effect during the appeal’s pending. Appeals can be mailed to: CDFA – Citrus Division 1220 N. St. Sacramento, CA 95814.
CDFA Invites Organizations to Apply to Deliver SWEEP Funding
Register for a free webinar series for military veterans and transitioning service members on how to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to prepare for a career in production agriculture. This webinar series is designed to provide information about USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher programs and resources for the military community.
Tuesday, April 21
2:00–4:30 p.m. Eastern
Farm Service Agency – Farm Loan Programs
Natural Resources Conservation Service – Regenerating Land, Empowering Veterans
OARS invited public comments on the draft application guidelines and supporting documents in early 2026. The application guidelines have since been updated based on that feedback. The remaining supporting documents will be revised this spring to reflect additional public input in preparation for the full proposal period. In the meantime, you can find the public comments and OARS’s responses to the public comments here.
Who Should Apply?
At this time, CDFA is only accepting Concept Proposals from eligible organizations to become Block Grant Recipients.
Eligible organizations must submit a Concept Proposal in order to be considered for invitation to submit a Full Proposal.
This is not a funding opportunity for individual farmers or ranchers. Producer funding opportunities will be made available at a later date through awarded Block Grant Recipients.
How to Apply
Eligible organizations may review the Application Guidelines and submit a Concept Proposal here.
Application Deadline: May 15th 2026 at 5pm Pacific Time
HSP and SWEEP will offer joint informational webinars to guide prospective Block Grant Recipients through the Concept Proposal application process and address applicant questions. Registration is required.
Register for Webinar No. 1 on April 13 at 1 to 2:30 p.m. HERE.
Register for Webinar No.2 on April 20 at 10-11:30 a.m. HERE.
In addition to informational webinars, OARS will offer a question-and-answer process. General questions may be submitted through April 27, 2026 to cdfa.sweeptech@cdfa.ca.gov,and responses will be standardized and posted to the website according to the timeline below:
April 17, 2026
May 1, 2026
Technical Assistance for Block Grant Applicants
We are working with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources to support Block Grant applicants through technical assistance. Community Education Specialists (CESs) across California can help develop projects that benefit disadvantaged communities (DACs) and vulnerable populations.
SWEEP is committed to expanding access and participation for California Native American Tribes and Tribal-serving organizations.
For this funding cycle, SWEEP will offer a tribal set-aside of up to $4M for qualified Tribals governments and nonprofit organizations affiliated with a Tribal government. Tribal applicants will apply through the same process and manage the same format of block grant project as all other applicants. This effort aligns with the priorities of Proposition 4 and acknowledges that Tribes have been historically underserved by SWEEP. Through this work, CDFA aims to support water efficiency and energy-saving projects on Tribal agricultural lands and strengthen long-term engagement with Tribal partners.
Note for Producers
Producers will not be able to apply for the Block Grant funding until OARS selects Block Grant Recipients for awards and executes agreements. At this time, OARS expects execution of Block Grant Recipient agreements in January 2027. — By the California Department of Food and Ag
The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) today announced the agency is reopening the 2025 crop acreage reporting period required for specialty crop producers who want to apply for the Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers (ASCF) program. Announced by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins on Feb. 13, the ASCF program is designed to help address market disruptions, elevated input costs, persistent inflation, and market losses from foreign competitors engaging in unfair trade practices that impede exports. Specialty crop producers now have until April 24, 2026, to report 2025 acres to FSA.
The ASCF program is authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act.
*Dry edible beans and peas covered by the Farmer Bridge Assistance program will not be eligible for ASCF. Commodities covered by FBA will not be eligible for ASCF.
Program Participation
ASCF payments are based on reported 2025 planted acres. Eligible farmers should ensure their 2025 acreage reporting is factual and accurate by Friday, April 24, 2026. USDA will release commodity-specific payment rates soon after the acreage reporting deadline.
Following completion of acreage reporting, producers are encouraged to prepare for the eventual announcement of the ASCF program application period by creating a Login.gov account. Doing so ensures that once FSA starts taking ASCF program applications, those producers who wish to apply online will experience an expedited application and payment process. Assistance will also be available through local FSA county offices.
Login.gov is the public’s one account for government engagement. Producers can use one account and password for secure, private access to participating government agencies, including FSA. Begin the Login.gov process by visiting fsa.usda.gov/fba to create a Login.gov account. Producers who have an existing Login.gov account can work with FSA using their existing account. For assistance creating a login.govaccount, visit https://login.gov/help/.
Crop insurance linkage will not be required for the ASCF program. However, USDA strongly urges producers to take advantage of the new One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) risk management tools to best protect against price risk and volatility in the future.
More information on ASCF is available online at https://www.fsa.usda.gov/fba. Producers can contact their local FSA county office to make an appointment to complete their 2025 crop acreage report. — By the USDA Farm Service Agency
