California Ag Network

Tag: Kern County

  • Funding Committed to Fight Pierce’s Disease

    The Consolidated Central Valley Table Grape Pest and Disease Control District Board of Directors authorized the use of up to $1.7 million in district reactionary funds, generated through the California table grape industry, to support CDFA activities related to the prevention and control of Pierce’s Disease (PD) and the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter (GWSS).

    The action was taken during the district’s board of directors meeting on Friday, August 21, 2026, in response to an approximately $1.7 million funding shortfall associated with current PD/GWSS program activities.

    The district recognizes continued GWSS surveillance, treatment, and suppression as critical to limiting the spread of Pierce’s Disease and protecting California’s table grape, wine grape and raisin industries. Since there is currently no cure for Pierce’s disease, preventing the movement of the disease and controlling populations of GWSS remain essential to protecting California vineyards.

    Background

    The Consolidated Central Valley Table Grape Pest and Disease Control District was formed pursuant to Article 8.7 of Chapter 9 of Division 4 of the California Food and Agricultural Code.

    Under California Food and Agricultural Code Section 6047.87, the district is authorized to take actions necessary to control, eradicate, remove, or prevent the spread of GWSS, Pierce’s Disease and other designated pests and diseases injurious to table grapes. GWSS presents a significant threat because it can spread the bacterium that causes Pierce’s disease as it feeds on grapevines.

    Historically, USDA and CDFA have provided funding for the GWSS Area-Wide Treatment Program. Due to federal and state funding shortfalls, the funding toward the GWSS program has been cut year-over-year. The district’s board of directors is providing emergency industry funding to prevent disruption of the program while longer-term state and federal funding solutions are pursued.

    Protecting Kern and Tulare Counties

    GWSS and Pierce’s Disease do not recognize county, crop, or district boundaries. A

    coordinated, area-wide approach to surveillance and treatment is critical to reducing GWSS populations and limiting the potential movement of the pest into vineyards and other agricultural areas.

    Citrus plays a particularly important role in GWSS management because citrus trees serve as a primary year-round host for the pest. Area-wide programs use trapping and monitoring to identify areas with elevated GWSS populations and coordinate treatments in citrus and other host areas when necessary.

    The funding commitment from the district will help support continued CDFA-coordinated PD/GWSS activities, including area-wide efforts that provide resources for eligible citrus growers to conduct approved treatments designed to suppress GWSS populations. These activities complement trapping, monitoring, and other preventative measures intended to reduce the movement of GWSS and protect nearby vineyards.

    By committing up to $1.7 million from accumulated district reactionary funds, the board is

    investing industry-generated funds directly into efforts intended to protect table grape

    growers. For growers in Kern and Tulare counties, there will be no assessment change.

    The district remains committed to working collaboratively with CDFA, county agricultural

    commissioners, growers and other agricultural partners to protect California’s grape industry from Pierce’s Disease and Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter.

    For additional information, please contact the Consolidated Central Valley Table Grape Pest and Disease Control District at 559-210-0118. — Story contributed by the Consolidated Central Valley Table Grape Pest and Disease Control District

  • California Table Grape Growers Double Impact of Food Bank Donations

    California table grape growers are doubling the impact of each gift made to the Central California Food Bank between October 20-31 to help provide meals for families facing hunger across the Central Valley.

    October is California Farmer and Farmworker Month, a month-long acknowledgement of California’s hardworking farmers and farmworkers. In celebration of the hands that help feed us, every dollar donated during the two-week campaign, up to $15,000, will be matched by California table grape growers. The campaign is designed to raise awareness and provide essential support to sustain food distributions in the San Joaquin Valley. Specifically, funds raised will help strengthen Central California Food Bank’s Farmworker Community Partnership Program across Fresno, Kern, and Tulare Counties.

    Central California Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in Central California, serving Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, and Tulare counties. In Central California, 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 3 children face food insecurity, which is the limited or uncertain access to adequate food. Through a network of more than 260 member partner agencies, Central California Food Bank distributes nutritious foods to over 320,000 people each month, including more than 100,000 children.

    The campaign is a demonstration of California table grape growers’ collective commitment to building thriving communities in the table grape growing regions. “The commission is a service-based organization, and this initiative is a reflection of the commitment of California table grape growers to the communities they live and work in,” said Ian LeMay, commission president.

    For more information about the campaign, please visit give.ccfoodbank.org/calgrapes.

  • Increase of Navel Oranges Expected in California this Upcoming Season

    The initial 2025-26 California Navel orange forecast is 80.0 million cartons, up 6% from the previous year. These forecasts, by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, are based on the results of the 2025-26 Navel Orange Objective Measurement (O.M.) Survey, which was conducted from June 12 to August 21, 2025. Estimated fruit set per tree, fruit diameter, trees per acre, bearing acreage, and oranges per box were used in the statistical models estimating production.

    This forecast includes production of conventional, organic, and specialty Navel oranges (including Cara Cara and Blood orange varieties).

    Survey data indicated a fruit set per tree of 375, down 9% from the previous year. The average diameter from the survey was 2.179 inches, up 6% from last year. Bearing acreage is estimated at 109,000, which results in a forecasted yield of 734 cartons per acre.

    Funding for the survey was provided by the California Citrus industry.

    CARA CARA PRODUCTION FORECAST

    Cara Cara variety production is forecast at 10.0 million cartons. Survey data indicated a fruit set per tree of 290, down 4% from the previous year, but 8% above the five-year average of 269. The average diameter from the survey was 2.216 inches, 3% above the previous year and 2% above the five-year average of 2.171 inches.

    SURVEY SAMPLE

    A sample of 804 Navel orange groves was randomly selected proportional to county and variety bearing acreage, and 753 of the groves were utilized in this survey. Once a grove was randomly chosen and grower permission was granted, two trees were randomly selected.

    For each randomly selected tree, the trunk was measured along with all connected branches. A random number table was then used to select a branch, and then all connected branches from the randomly selected branch were measured.

    This process was repeated until a branch was reached with no significant limbs beyond this point. This randomly selected branch, called the terminal branch, was then closely inspected to count all fruit connected to this branch, as well as all of the fruit along the path from the trunk to the terminal branch. Since each selected path has a probability of selection associated with the path, a probability-based method was then applied to estimate a fruit count for the entire tree.

    In the last week of the survey period, fruit diameter measurements were made on the right quadrant of four trees surrounding the two trees of every third grove. These measurements were used to estimate an average fruit diameter per tree. Of the 753 utilized groves, 133 were in Fresno County, 420 were in Tulare County, 174 were in Kern County, and 26 were in the remaining counties.

    SURVEY HISTORY

    A Navel Orange Objective Measurement Survey has been conducted in the Central Valley every year since the 1984-85 crop year, except for the 1991-92 season due to a lack of funding. The data from the first two years were used for research purposes in developing crop-estimating models. The Cara Cara forecast was undertaken at the request of the California Citrus Advisory Committee starting with the 2018-19 crop year.

    Beginning in the 2023-24 crop year, only state level forecasts will be published, and the Central Valley forecasts will be discontinued.

  • Variety and Neighboring Crops are Predictors of Leaffooted Bug Risk in Almond

    Leaffooted bug is a sporadic pest in almond, but damage can be significant in years when pest pressure is high. The pest may evade early detection by growers and PCAs because it overwinters as adults in vegetation outside of the orchard and tends to colonize the upper tree canopy, rendering it generally out of sight. As a result, pest pressure is often realized after damage has occurred. The damage may vary considerably between almond varieties, adding yet another challenge for diagnosis.

    In Tulare County, heavy leaffooted bug damage was observed in May 2025 in almond orchards surrounded by citrus.  Adult leaffooted bugs (Figure 1A) overwintered in the citrus and then entered the neighboring almond orchards in March and April. By early May, symptoms of infestation included extensive nut drop (Figure 2A) and gummosis on the nuts (Figure 2B). Although the adults were not observed in the orchard, the pest was identified based on the observation of the characteristic egg strands of leaffooted bug (Figure 1B). In orchards with Nonpariel and Aldrich, both varieties were affected; however, the nut drop was more extensive in Aldrich than Nonpareil (Figure 2A).

    The full impact of the pest may not be realized until harvest because the quality of affected nuts remaining on the tree may also be compromised, thus reducing crop value. Nuts that are stung in late April to early July can be severely shriveled, have sunken lesions, or a brown spot depending on how developed the kernel was prior to feeding (Fig. 3, row 2-5).  These nuts stay in the tree, are harvested, and can significantly increase the percentage of nuts classified as inedible during nut quality assessments.  When examining a library sample of damaged kernels at harvest, nuts damaged by leaffooted bug fall into the same category as stink bug damage, as kernels damaged by these two pests are indistinguishable.

    In 2007, UCCE Kern County Farm Advisors David Haviland and Mario Viveros had the opportunity to evaluate the relative susceptibility of 15 almond varieties to leaffooted bug damage. That year, leaffooted bug invaded a Kern County variety trial research block that included 15 varieties planted in replicated, randomized blocks. This unique situation allowed for unbiased evaluation of the performance of varieties under equivalent pest pressure. Results indicated that the average number of aborted nuts per tree ranged from 0 to 33% of the total crop. Additionally, at harvest, the estimated rejects from leaffooted bug damage ranged from 0 to 30% of the harvested yield. Researchers also noted that crop loss varied by variety, with Fritz exhibiting the highest crop loss at 63%, followed by Sonora, Aldrich, Livingston, Monterey and Carmel.  The other varieties in the block had 3% or less total damage from the pest.

    The underlying basis for the differential susceptibility of almond varieties to leaffooted bug is unknown. Damage does not appear to be related to harvest date or shell hardness at harvest. Other factors such as plant volatiles, hull thickness, or shell hardness in April and May when the bugs are present may play a role in varietal susceptibility. Haviland and Viveros also noted that varietal susceptibility is somewhat relative, explaining that Wood Colony exhibited low susceptibility to leaffooted bug in the research plot, but significant damage was reported on Wood Colony in commercial orchards when combined with less susceptible varieties (ie. Nonpariel and Carmel).  These observations indicate that leaffooted bug prefers certain varieties, but in the absence of a preferred variety, the pest will remain in the orchard and feed on the most preferable variety of the less-preferred varieties present in the orchard.

    The 2025 observations in Tulare County, taken in consideration with the 2007 data from the UCCE variety trial suggest that the best way to monitor leaffooted bug is to focus attention on the most susceptible variety in the field. Gummosis and nut drop in the most susceptible variety will serve as an indicator of pest pressure in a given orchard. Growers with Fritz, Sonora, Aldrich, and Livingston should be extra vigilant in monitoring pest pressure.  Haviland and Viveros note that orchards composed of relatively unsusceptible varieties will have characteristically lower risk of leaffooted bug damage. Additionally, growers and PCAs should consider pest pressure from surrounding orchards and landscape plants that may serve as overwintering sites for the adults, thus contributing to the cryptic nature of the pest.

    Management programs for leaffooted bug consist of monitoring for the pest and spraying primarily with pyrethroids, when needed. Pest management guidelines for leaffooted bug and other pests can be found at www.ipm.ucanr.edu and reports of Almond Board of California-sponsored research can be found at https://www.almonds.com/research-database. — By Elizabeth Fichtner, UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County, and David Haviland, UCCE Entomology Advisor, Kern County

    Figure 2. Aborted nuts were prevalent on Aldrich, but the neighboring Nonpareil exhibited minimal damage (A). Gummosis and egg strands on aborted nuts indicated leaffooted bug damage (B).

    Figure 3. Leaffooted bug predation affects the quality of nuts remaining on the tree. Unaffected nuts are represented in row 1; affected nuts of varying quality are represented in rows 2-5.

    Figure 1. Leaffooted bug adults (A) are difficult to scout. Pest pressure is evident by the gummosis at feeding sites and the deposition of eggs in strands (B). Alternate hosts may harbor overwintering populations of leaffooted bug (C and D). Photos A, C, and D: W. Bentley.
    Figure 2. Aborted nuts were prevalent on Aldrich, but the neighboring Nonpareil exhibited minimal damage (A). Gummosis and egg strands on aborted nuts indicated leaffooted bug damage (B).
    Figure 3. Leaffooted bug predation affects the quality of nuts remaining on the tree. Unaffected nuts are represented in row 1; affected nuts of varying quality are represented in rows 2-5.