The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), is expanding the citrus greening (Huanglongbing; HLB) quarantined area in California. APHIS is adding one square mile to the Santa Paula quarantined area in Ventura County, which impacts 151.7 acres of commercial citrus. APHIS is adding 10 square miles to the …

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 …

FDA’s 14th EUA against NWS The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Bimectin (ivermectin) injection for the prevention of New World screwworm (NWS) infestations in cattle when administered within 24 hours of birth, at the time of castration or at the appearance of a wound Bimectin injection is not authorized for use in lactating …

American scientific ingenuity in the form of sterile fly releases helped eliminate New World screwworm from the country in the 1960s. Now, ARS researchers are combining that ingenuity with next-generation tools to counter new resurgences of the pest threatening livestock and wildlife in New Mexico and Texas. “Releasing sterile screwworm flies is a proven, decades-old approach to eliminating populations of …

Effective Aug. 19, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), expanded the area quarantined for sweet orange scab (SOS) in the Burbank, Los Angeles and Long Beach areas of Los Angeles County and the Anaheim and Garden Grove areas of Orange County. SOS is a disease caused by …

ARS researchers are helping wheat farmers deal with a devastating crop disease. ARS scientists in Lincoln, Neb. released new lines of common and durum wheat with resistance to Fusarium Head Blight (FHB). FHB, commonly known as scab, significantly affects wheat and barley, resulting in approximately $1B in yield losses annually in the U.S. and worldwide. ARS scientists used modern and …

To stop the glassy-winged sharpshooter from spreading a fatal grapevine disease into Northern California, the Pierce’s Disease and Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter (PD/GWSS) Board at the California Department of Food and Agriculture committed $820,000 to the ongoing emergency response. Preventing the glassy-winged sharpshooter from becoming established in new areas protects winegrapes and other agricultural and landscape plants. California’s wine industry generates about …

California almond growers know the challenge navel orangeworm brings every season. The pest can reduce crop quality, increase production costs and raise concerns around aflatoxin and marketability. Now, new additional funding is helping continue an industry-backed research effort to advance another tool growers may one day be able to use as part of an integrated pest management program. The Foundation …

With this season’s hull rot treatment window now behind growers, recent research shared by UCCE advisors offers timely guidance for evaluating disease pressure this year and planning more precise management decisions next season. Hull rot remains one of the more frustrating and yield-limiting diseases in California almonds, particularly because its full impact is not always visible in the year it …