California Ag Network

Category: News

  • Moths, Leafhoppers, Wasps…Oh My! Six California Projects that Reduce Pesticide Use

    Sacramento, Calif., (January 26, 2017) – The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) at a Jan. 26 award ceremony will recognize several organizations for projects aimed at managing pests while using fewer pesticides. The awards recognize innovation, leadership, education and outreach by California based organizations that carry out pest management.

    The six projects use integrated pest management (IPM) to manage pests, combining preventive and natural strategies such as releasing of parasitic insects and providing habitat for natural predators.

    “Integrated pest management is an important tool in today’s society. I am impressed with the honorees’ creativity in finding solutions to pest problems without an overreliance on chemical methods” said DPR Director Brian Leahy.

    Leahy will present the IPM Achievement Awards at 1:30 p.m. in the Sierra Hearing Room at the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters, 1001 I St. in Sacramento.

    This year’s award-winning projects are:

    The Cherry Buckskin Project. Coordinated by the University of California Cooperative Extension, Contra Costa County Department of Agriculture and cherry growers, this project helps to prevent the establishment in Contra Costa County of cherry buckskin disease, which can wipe out entire orchards. It includes tree monitoring, removal of infected trees, and grower education, such as discouraging planting of ornamental plants that can host buckskin-disease-carrying insects called leafhoppers. Media interested in this project can contact Janet Caprile at jlcaprile@ucdavis.edu, or (925) 646-6129.

     

    Virginia Creeper Leafhopper Project. The UC Cooperative Extension and Fetzer Vineyards have teamed up to manage a pest known as a Virginia creeper leafhopper in Lake and Mendocino county vineyards. The project involves teaching growers to identify the insects and the use of IPM practices such as releasing tiny parasitic wasps. The wasps lay their eggs in leafhopper eggs, destroying them before they hatch. Media interested in this project can contact Glenn McGourty at gtmcgourty@ucanr.edu or (707) 463-4495.

    Riverside Unified School District IPM. This program trains custodians, food service workers, and teachers how to keep pests out of buildings, and to manage weeds and rodents without depending on regular pesticide sprays. The comprehensive program includes hiring an in-house IPM technician, continuous staff training, monthly custodial support meetings, and a class in green cleaning. The district has cut the number of cleaning products it uses, and has decreased pesticide use by approximately 70 percent. Media interested in this project can contact Eric Troxel at etroxel@rusd.k12.ca.us or (951) 377-2573.

    The Pink Bollworm Program. This project involves introducing sterile pink bollworm moths to fields to disrupt the pests’ ability to reproduce and spread in California’s main cotton-growing regions. The program reduces dependence on pesticides and has prevented pink bollworm moths from becoming established in California’s major cotton region without the use of conventional pesticides for more than 40 years. It is organized by the California Cotton Pest Control Board, California Department of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the National Cotton Council. Media interested in this project can contact Michelle Dennis at Michelle.Dennis@cdfa.ca.gov or (916) 262-1102.

    San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. The airport authority is being recognized for its work with a pest control contractor and the University of California to educate employees and airport-based businesses on identifying, preventing, and reporting pest problems using a computer app. The program credited with decreasing the presence of rodents. Media interested in this project can contact Rebecca Bloomfield at rbloomfi@san.org or (619) 400-2880.

    San Luis Obispo County’s Project Apis m. This project funds honey bee research and education to protect bees. One undertaking provides almond growers with hedgerow seeds. The hedgerows provide habitat for bees as well as natural predatory insects beneficial in managing plant pests. Media interested in this project can contact Billy Synk at billy@projectapism.org or (614) 330-6932.

     

    If you plan to attend the award ceremony, you can find directions to the CalEPA building.

    The ceremony will be webcast at https://video.calepa.ca.gov.

    For more information, see our IPM Achievement Award web page.

  • Developing Nematode, Salt & Drought Resistant Grapevines

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    At the San Joaquin Valley Grape Symposium held by the UC Cooperative Extension, Andy Walker from UC Davis addressed Central Valley grape growers on the progress of developing new grapevine rootstocks with combined resistance to drought, high salinity and nematode pressures. Watch this video and read American Vineyard Magazine for more information.

  • California Lands More than $5 Million in USDA Grants for Citrus Greening Research

    Sacramento, Calif., (January 25, 2017) – The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has announced four grants totaling more than $13.6 million to combat a scourge on the nation’s citrus industry, citrus greening disease, also known as Huanglongbing (HLB). UC Riverside will receive $5,112,000 of that funding for a program to design and identify bactericides that can cure or suppress HLB.

    “The economic impact of citrus greening disease is measured in the billions,” said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. “NIFA investments in research are critical measures to help the citrus industry survive and thrive, and to encourage growers to replant with confidence.”

    HLB is currently the most devastating citrus disease worldwide. It was first detected in Florida in 2005 and has since affected all of Florida’s citrus-producing areas leading to a 75 percent decline in Florida’s $9 billion citrus industry. HLB has also been detected in Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas, as well as three residential communities in Southern California. Fifteen U.S. States or territories, including California, are under full or partial quarantine due to the presence of the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), a vector for HLB.

    Since 2009, USDA has invested more than $400 million to address citrus greening, including more than $57 million through the Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program since 2014.  Other projects in the current grant award include:

    • Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, $4,274,523
    • Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, $2,476,099
    • USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Athens, Georgia, $1,821,197

    More information on these projects is available on the NIFA website.

    Information on efforts to control the Asian citrus psyllid and stop HLB in California is available on CDFA’s web site and the California Citrus Threat web site.

  • In Wake Of TPP Decision, Farm Bureau Seeks Improved Agricultural Trade

    Sacramento, Calif., (January 25, 2017) – Calling for continued efforts to break down barriers to agricultural trade, the California Farm Bureau Federation expressed disappointment today in President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

    “Trade in food and farm products benefits both rural and urban areas of California,” CFBF President Paul Wenger said. “For example, farm products represent the top export from the Port of Oakland, and agreements such as the TPP would allow us to reach more potential customers in key Pacific Rim markets.”

    Wenger said he hopes the administration will follow up with policies aimed at opening foreign markets for American farm products.

    “We operate in a world where it’s much easier for crops from other nations to enter the U.S. than for American farm goods to be sold elsewhere,” he said. “We will encourage the administration to work on smaller-scale agreements that would allow American farmers to trade with other nations on an equal basis.”

    Wenger noted the administration has also discussed reopening the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

    “If NAFTA is reopened, its agricultural provisions should be left alone,” he said. “We don’t want successful agricultural trade to be caught in any conflict about other portions of the agreement.”

  • How Much Drought Can a Forest Take?

    Featured Image: Dead trees in the Sierra National Forest in April 2016. Credit: USFS Region 5

    Davis, Calif., (January 25, 2017) – Why do some trees die in a drought and others don’t? And how can we predict where trees are most likely to die in future droughts?

    Scientists from the University of California, Davis, and colleagues examined those questions in a study published in the journal Ecology Letters.

    Using climate data and aerial tree mortality surveys conducted by the U.S. Forest Service during four years (2012-2015) of extreme drought in California, they found that when a drought hits the region, trees growing in areas that are already dry are most susceptible.

    The research also showed that the effects of drought on forests can take years to surface, suggesting that such effects may linger even after the drought has ended.

    Southern Sierra Nevada trees are most vulnerable

    The study said that trees in the driest and densest forests are the most at risk of dying in an extreme drought. In California, that makes crowded stands of trees in the Southern Sierra Nevada the most vulnerable in the state.

    The concept is simple: Trees in dense forests are like multiple straws competing for the same glass of water. In wet climate conditions, that competition goes largely unnoticed. But when it’s dry, few are able to quench their thirst, setting the stage for mass mortality.

    ‘How much drought a tree can take’

    Animated GIF showing dead trees per square mile in California between 2009-2015. Credit: Derek Young/UC Davis

    “Our analysis found out how much drought a tree can take,” said UC Davis Ph.D. student Derek Young, who co-led the study with Jens Stevens, a UC Davis postdoctoral researcher during the study who is currently at UC Berkeley, and Mason Earles, a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University. “If forest managers want to get the biggest bang for their buck in reducing forest vulnerability to drought, this study suggests they should focus on the densest stands in the driest areas. And when we reestablish forests burned by severe wildfire in these areas, we should plant at lower densities from the beginning.”

    Tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada in 2015 was the worst in recorded history. The U.S. Forest Service aerial tree mortality surveys in 2015 estimated 29 million trees in California had died after four years of extreme drought.

    Though the drought began in 2012, major effects on trees did not appear immediately. While some trees died every year, mortality spiked only in the fourth year of extreme drought.

    Tree mortality a delayed reaction

    In a blog post he wrote on the subject in May 2016, Young noted: “This observation highlights the fact that tree mortality can take several years to respond to drought. Such a delayed response is often observed in studies of drought stress, and the existence of this delayed response hints that we are likely to observe high mortality well into 2016 and potentially beyond, especially in Southern California.”

    Indeed, surveys conducted by the U.S. Forest Service in 2016 estimated an additional 62 million trees died that year.

    Other study co-authors include UC Davis associate professor Andrew Latimer, and Jeffrey Moore, Adam Ellis and Amy Jirka with the USDA Forest Service.

    Study authors were supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, EPA STAR Fellowship, and a USDA Hatch Project.

  • 2016 CA Wine Harvest Report with Nat DiBuduo

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    Nat DiBuduo from Allied Grape Growers gave a great State of the Wine Grape Industry Report at American Vineyard Magazine’s Central Coast Grape Expo. Watch this video for a brief synopsis of his 2016 report, and come and see his latest address at Unified Wine & Grape Symposium this week.

  • CDFA Secretary Karen Ross To Host Farm Bill Listening Sessions – Seeking Public Comments On California’s Agricultural Priorities

    Sacramento, Calif., (January 24, 2017) – California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross is holding several public forums across the state seeking input from farmers, ranchers and other stakeholders on priorities for the 2018 Farm Bill.

    “The farm bill is as important to San Francisco and Los Angeles as it is to the Central Valley,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “This legislation ensures a robust farm safety net, promotes farming and ranching practices that are environmentally sound and provides important nutritional funding for our citizens. How our California Congressional delegation helps to shape the federal farm bill will result in positive investments to our communities, our health and agricultural economy.”

    The current farm bill, the Agricultural Act of 2014 will expire next year necessitating action by Congress. The farm bill provides an estimated $489 billion in federal funding nationwide to support a variety of food and agricultural programs including crop insurance, conservation, nutrition and trade.

    California Farm Bill Listening Sessions:

    • Modesto – Tuesday, February 7th (4:30 – 6:30 p.m.)

    DoubleTree Hotel (Napa Room)

    1150 Ninth Street   
Modesto, CA 95354

     

    • Chico – Wednesday, February 8th (4:30 – 6:30 p.m.)

    Silver Dollar Fair (Harvest Hall)

    2357 Fair Street
Chico, CA 95928

     

    • Tulare (World Ag Expo) – Thursday, February 16th (Noon – 3:00p.m.)

    International Agri-Center Heritage Complex (Theater)

    4500 S. Laspina Street
Tulare, CA 93274

     

    • Salinas – Wednesday, February 22nd (4:30 – 6:30 p.m.)

    Monterey County Farm Bureau

    1140 Abbott Street, Suite C.
Salinas, CA 93901

     

    • Los Angeles – Thursday, February 23rd (1:00 – 3:00 p.m.)

    Los Angeles Trade Technical College (Meeting Room: TBD)

    400 West Washington Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90015

     

    The 2018 Farm Bill Listening Sessions are a public forum allowing individuals input on California’s priorities for the upcoming farm bill. Provided comments will be used to help develop recommendations on the farm bill that will be shared with California’s Congressional delegation and the leadership of the Senate and House agricultural committees.

    Public comments can also be emailed to FarmBill@cdfa.ca.gov

  • Holy Guacamole

    Photo Credit: Sonia Fernandez

    Santa Barbara, Calif., (January 23, 2017) – There’s a new pest in town and it’s threatening one of the area’s top crops: avocados. First discovered in Los Angeles County in 2003, six-legged Asian shot hole borers have been found by UC Santa Barbara researchers in their own backyard.

    Last year, the insects appeared in avocado orchards in Ventura County. The UC Santa Barbara research team also detected them at many sites along the Santa Clara River. Now they’ve been spied in oak and sycamore trees in Montecito.

    “Shot hole borers will bore into almost everything, including avocado trees, which is why they are getting a lot of attention,” said graduate student Shelley Bennett, a member of UC Santa Barbara’s Riparian InVasion Research Laboratory. “But these beetles also affect many native tree species.”

    Dark brown to black in color, the insects are minuscule in size.Bennett and her fellow UC Santa Barbara researchers are tracking the movements and impacts of these insidious insects in Ventura County. Working with Akif Eskalen and Richard Stouthamer at UC Riverside and the UC Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center, they are exploring ways to better detect the borers’ presence and to manipulate their behavior in hopes of curtailing infestations. Eskalen and Stouthamer have been involved with this research in San Diego and Los Angeles counties since the problem was first detected.

    Native to Southeast Asia, the tiny borers are part of an insect group known as ambrosia beetles. Two species, the polyphagous shot hole borer and the Kuroshio shot hole borer, have been found in the area stretching from San Diego to San Luis Obispo. Dark brown to black in color, the insects are minuscule in size. Females range from 0.07 to 0.1 inches long and the males are even smaller, usually about 0.05 inches long.

    Both species carry a pathogenic fungus that affects tree xylem, the vascular system that conducts water from the roots to the leaves. The fungus causes a disease called Fusarium dieback, which stops the flow of water and nutrients in at least 137 tree species.

    The insects carry the fungus in special compartments called mycangia. Pregnant females bore through the bark and create galleries underneath, where they plant the fungus. If the tree is susceptible, the fungus grows and spreads. The females then lay eggs and, when they hatch, the larvae eat the fungus.

    It takes about a month for the larvae to reach adulthood, with more developing into females than males. Within seven weeks, one female can produce 57 more females. Virgin females can produce unfertilized male eggs and mate with their male offspring to produce a new colony. Once pregnant, females pick up some of the fungus and leave through the entry holes created by their mothers to start the process again.

    The UC Santa Barbara team’s efforts are largely focused in Ventura County, which has the second largest avocado crop in the state. Valued at about $400 million in Southern California alone, avocado production is a critical part of the state’s agriculture, making threats to the industry crucial to address as quickly as possible.

    At the same time, natural riparian areas are fundamental for protecting biodiversity, with roughly half of the listed species locally — and nationally — associated with wetland ecosystems. A better understanding of the direct interactions between agricultural lands and adjacent riparian systems is imperative to protect and sustain both agriculture and natural resources.

    “We need to confirm whether shot hole borers are resident in riparian systems regionally and, if so, what potential risks there are of dispersal from these areas into the agricultural system,” said UC Santa Barbara’s Tom Dudley, whose team hopes to find additional funding to extend its research efforts into Santa Barbara County. “Protecting high-value locations, such as nest sites of endangered birds, expensive ornamental trees or at-risk avocado orchards, can be accomplished by implementing measures using deterrent chemicals.”

    Pesticides can provide a certain level of protection for trees with no or recent beetle colonization, which according to researcher Adam Lambert, another investigator on the UC Santa Barbara team, is not enough. “The search is intensifying for biological solutions specific to this species and its biology,” he said. “The goal is to provide a cost-effective, environmentally compatible and permanent solution to the problem.”

    Adam Lambert, Shelley Bennett and Tom Dudley with a shot hole borer trap in a sycamore tree.

    The UC Santa Barbara researchers are also working with the UC Cooperative Extension, the Santa Barbara County Agricultural Commissioner, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and local partners such as the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

  • Preventive Controls for Human Food Training

    Tulare, Calif., (January 23, 2017) – The Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation is intended to ensure safe manufacturing/processing, packing and holding of food products for human consumption in the United States.

    This course was developed by the FSPCA is the “standardized curriculum” recognized by FDA and fulfills the FSMA requirement for a PCQI (Preventive Controls Qualified Individual).

    Join us for this 2.5 day training that is certified and approved by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA) and the FDA. The class will be taught by a FSPCA Lead Instructor.

    Topics include:

    • Good Manufacturing Practices
    • Biological Food Safety Hazards
    • Chemical and Physical, Food Safety Hazards
    • Hazard Analysis and Preventive Controls Determination
    • Process Preventive Controls
    • Food Allergen Preventive Controls
    • Sanitation Preventive Controls
    • Supply Chain Preventive Controls
    • Verification and Validation Procedures
    • Recall Plan
    • Regulation Overview-cGMP and Hazard Analysis/Risk Based

    More information on costs, times and locations for the Tulare and Fresno classes can be found here.

  • Test Uses Novel Antibodies to Detect Shiga Toxins

     

    ARS molecular biologist Xiaohua He (right) and technician Stephanie Patfield observe results of a new test that can detect Shiga toxins from E. coli bacteria.

    Albany, Calif., (January 23, 2017) – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have developed a highly sensitive test that for the first time is able to detect all known Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC).

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, STEC bacteria are responsible for more than 265,000 cases of illness and 3,600 hospitalizations each year in the United States. Nearly 8 percent of patients hospitalized from these infections develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a life-threatening disease.

    Developed by scientists at the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Western Regional Research Center (WRRC) in Albany, California, the new test relies on ARS-patented antibodies.

    Most people have heard of E. coli O157:H7, which is often the cause of publicized foodborne outbreaks. However, many other kinds of E. coli can cause disease.

    Several commercial tests are used to detect these bacteria, but none are capable of recognizing all STEC. Antibodies used in current tests only recognize a subset of Shiga toxins but not all Shiga toxins.

    Tests using the newly developed antibodies are very sensitive. They can identify all known subtypes of STEC and rapidly detect new and emerging serotypes, according to molecular biologist Xiaohua He. They also can be used to screen foods early on for contamination.

    Additional studies have shown that these antibodies also can detect Shiga toxins in blood, an indication that they can potentially be adapted as therapeutics for human diseases caused by Shiga toxins, according to research leader Luisa Cheng.

    The new antibodies have been licensed to Abraxis LLC, TechLab, Inc., and List Biological Laboratories Inc.

    Read more about this research in the January 2017 issue of AgResearch magazine.