California Ag Network

Tag: PD/GWSS Board

  • Why this Grape Grower Urges a Yes Vote on the Pierce’s Disease Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Referendum

    California wine grape growers have the opportunity to vote on whether to continue assessments to support the Pierce’s Disease Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter (PD/GWSS) Board. Ballots are being sent in the mail this month. Administered by CDFA and led by the wine grape industry for the last 25 years, this program funds research and activities to lessen the impact of threatening vineyard pests & diseases. Watch this brief interview with Lodi wine grape grower Aaron Lange as he shares with Matthew Malcolm on California Ag Network why he is voting “yes” on the referendum and explains what the Board has been working on that he finds so critical to the future of the industry.

    Please thank this video’s sponsor SIPCAM AGRO USA for their industry support.

  • PD/GWSS Board Ups Assessment Rate for 2022 California Grape Harvest

    The Pierce’s Disease/Glassy Winged Sharpshooter Board (PD/GWSS Board) recently voted to set the grower assessment rate in support of the Pierce’s Disease Control Program (Program) at $1.25 per $1,000 of crop value for the 2022 harvest. This assessment provides vital funding for research on GWSS and other designated vineyard pests and for research on developing crop resistance to PD.

    “CAWG fully supports this important program and we thank growers for their funding of the program,” said Tom Slater, Chair of the California Association of Winegrape Growers. “Inflation has increased costs of every aspect of our industry which includes research and costs of the Pierce’s Disease Control Program. CAWG appreciates the volunteer work of the PD/GWSS Board members, who represent the industry. Their due diligence, including choosing to invest in a science audit, helps contain costs and assure our assessment dollars are spent wisely.”

    “Wine Institute commends the Pierce’s Disease and Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Board and staff for their decades of work to protect California’s vineyards from invasive pests and diseases,” said Robert P. Koch, President & CEO of Wine Institute. “This commitment to research will continue to provide significant benefits to our wine communities.”

    In considering the 2022 rate adjustment, the PD/GWSS Board sought sufficient funds to support testing of clean plant material at UC Davis and an audit by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). NAS will create an interdisciplinary committee to assess the current struggles facing the California wine grape industry in controlling grapevine viruses, with a specific focus on Grapevine red blotch virus and Grapevine leafroll associated virus type 3.

    “As the PD/GWSS Board discussed the assessment rate, we were mindful of the cost pressures our industry is facing and carefully constructed the upcoming budget to best balance our assessment dollars for maximum impact,” said Will Drayton, PD/GWSS Board chair. “We also know California winegrape growers continue to face pressure from grapevine viruses. As we set the Board’s budget for the coming year, we want to ensure growers have clean plant material and that the Board continues to wisely invest grower dollars in the best research for solutions to pests and diseases.”

    The committee will review the current and recent research activities of the PD/GWSS Board, and help direct a future funding approach to address the knowledge and management gaps required to minimize the spread of, and economic losses due to these viruses. The committee will also identify ways in which the PD/GWSS Board can draw from a wider breadth of researchers and utilize cutting edge genetic tools and platforms to combat these virus problems.

    Over the 21-year history of the program, the assessment has ranged from a high of $3.00 in 2001 to a low of $0.75 in 2015. The average annual harvest assessment is $1.40. The assessment was $1.00 for the 2019, 2020 and 2021 harvests. The 2022 harvest assessment will provide an estimated $3.5 million in funding.

    Since 2019, the PD/GWSS Board has committed more than $11 million to research that benefits vineyard health. Below are a few examples of the outcomes of that research:

    • Discovery of potential biological control of PD using Paraburkholderia phytofirmans by Steven Lindow at UC Berkeley. The Board funded a new project this year at UC Davis to assess efficacy and compare with other biological control PD control tools, with the goal to produce data that would help directly lead to commercialization.

    • The recent successful laboratory use and publication of CRISPR/Cas9 genetic technology in GWSS through work at UC Riverside, which has the potential to revolutionize PD vector control by making GWSS unable to vector PD.

    • Improved understanding of the effects of grapevine red blotch on vine physiology and wine composition through recent work at UC Davis.

    • Improved understanding and communication of research-based control measures for Pierce’s disease as well as Board-designated viral diseases (red blotch, leafroll and fan leaf) through work at UC Cooperative Extension, Cornell University, and UC Berkeley.

      The Program has also had great success in treatment of GWSS in rural, suburban and urban settings. This includes nursey treatments, area wide management and the ongoing treatment for GWSS in residential Vacaville.

      A recent study led at UC Cooperative Extension, Kern County, found that Program-led efforts in area wide management of GWSS in the southern San Joaquin Valley have been a success and a good model for disease control. 

  • Pierce’s Disease/Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Continuation Referendum Passes

    The Pierce’s Disease & Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter (PD/GWSS) Referendum, conducted this spring, passed with 78 percent approval of California winegrape growers. All winegrape producer entities that paid the assessment on grapes crushed in 2019 received ballots and 49 percent cast ballots. Assessment funds are used for research, outreach, and related activities on PD, GWSS, and other designated pests and diseases of winegrapes.

    “It is heartening to know that California’s winegrape growers continue to see value in the joint effort that we’ve built together with the assessment,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Our growers know and understand the importance of research, and – just as importantly – they recognize the value of their ongoing investment in this exemplary partnership between industry and government.”

    The Board advises the CDFA on the use of winegrape assessment funds and has invested over $47 million since 2001 on research and outreach. The Board sets the annual assessment rate, with a maximum of $3.00 per $1,000 of value, at its summer meeting. The annual assessment rate has averaged $1.39 per $1,000 of value and was $1.00 for the 2019 harvest.

    “In these trying times, we appreciate the support of the industry in passing this referendum,” said Domonic Rossini, PD/GWSS Board chair. “The PD/GWSS Board is always focused on growers’ best interests and ensuring our industry has the best research at its back to protect California vineyards from pests and diseases.”

    The PD/GWSS Referendum is conducted every five years by law, and will take place again in 2025. Through the renewal of the assessment, growers’ continued commitment to the industry and government partnership led by the statewide Pierce’s Disease Control Program leverages funding for essential activities, including:

    • Research
    • Maintaining and monitoring GWSS traps
    • Conducting nursery stock shipment inspections
    • Overseeing nursery stock treatments
    • Controlling GWSS using area-wide management programs
    • Operating a biological control program to suppress GWSS populations

  • PD/GWSS Board Designates Spotted Lanternfly as a Pest of Winegrapes

    The Pierce’s Disease and Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter (PD/GWSS) Board officially added the spotted laternfly (SLF) to its list of designated pests and diseases, making it eligible for research and outreach funding.

     

    “The best quarantine efforts happen at the points of origin. By showing that this is a pest we don’t want in California, we have a better chance of getting cooperation and action to control its spread,” said Roger Spencer, Pierce’s Disease Control Program acting statewide coordinator.

    The SLF, a native to Asia, was first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014. It is spreading rapidly and the PD/GWSS Board has been closely following the situation. The pest is primarily known to feed on the tree-of-heaven, but has a wide host range including grapes. It is considered a high risk pest due to its mobility, with eggs and adults easily transported long distances by normal trade and transportation activities, making it a concern for grape growers nationwide. Learn more about the spotted laternfly.