Patrick Cavanaugh, Author at California Agriculture News Today

Pressure Builds Against EPA Water Proposal

By: Kate Campbell; Ag Alert

Proposed changes to the federal Clean Water Act have roiled farmers across the nation and created an uproar among many other water users—including cities and counties with parks and recreation areas, golf courses and local water agencies.

If adopted, the proposed rule changes would expand the definition of “waters of the United States” to potentially allow federal agencies to regulate virtually every area of ground in the nation that gets wet or has flow during rainfall.

California Farm Bureau Federation leaders were in Washington, D.C., in mid-May to explain to lawmakers face to face the damage the proposed changes could have on food production. They called for more time to review and comment on the proposal.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said last week it will extend the comment deadline on the proposed rule, allowing farmers, ranchers and other interested stakeholders more time—until Oct. 20—to comment on its proposed redefinition of waters of the U.S. The extension adds almost three additional months to the comment period, which had been scheduled to end July 21.

Comment on a companion interpretive rule governing agricultural exemptions that accompanied the waters of the U.S. rule also will be extended—from June 5 to July 7.

The Clean Water Act was signed into law in 1972 to protect the nation’s “navigable” waters from pollution. The current proposal to amend the act would greatly expand EPA’s regulatory powers. Farm policy experts say Congress gave states, not the EPA, primary responsibility for land use oversight.

Farm Bureau, together with dozens of other business groups, is protesting the proposed changes.

Farmers and ranchers say the proposal would expand regulatory authority to many common land features including puddles, ponds, ditches, and temporary and small wetlands. The proposal would give federal agencies power to regulate and potentially prohibit many common land-use and farming practices on or near privately owned land.

Solano County hay and forage farmer Sean Favero said the proposed rule change gives him serious cause for concern. Fields where he plants alfalfa, wheat and triticale can retain seasonal moisture in low spots, which under the proposed changes could trigger additional permits and fees, including prohibitions against planting at all.

These are naturally occurring land contours that don’t connect to streams or other bodies of water, he said, adding that he’s concerned about regulations made thousands of miles away by people who don’t know what’s going on at ground level that could further complicate or prevent him from farming. Favero made those points as part of the CFBF federal policy delegation to Washington.

“Judging by the amount of interest from legislators in what we had to say about the proposed changes to the Clean Water Act, I’d like to think our office visits had something to do with the extension announced last week,” Favero said.

CFBF Federal Policy Division consultant Erin Huston said extension of the comment periods “allows us more time to flesh out our objections and explain how the proposal sits on top of the regulatory layers California already has to protect water quality.”

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a hearing last week on the proposed changes, and the House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing this week on the possibility of an agricultural exemption under the proposed rule changes, Huston said.

“That hearing will address our concerns about how the proposed rule would specifically tie in with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s voluntary conservation practices established by farmers and ranchers through the Natural Resources Conservation Service,” she said.

“We spent a lot of time talking to legislators while we were in Washington and I felt they listened closely to what we had to say,” said Kris Gutierrez, partner in a San Joaquin County vineyard management company and a participant in the CFBF Washington trip. “I believe we got our points across and appreciate the thoughtfulness of our lawmakers.”

American Farm Bureau leaders said the EPA has “misrepresented” its proposed rule changes and downplayed impacts on land use.

“If more people knew how regulators want to require permits for common activities on dry land, or penalize landowners for not getting them, they would be outraged,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said, noting that the proposal “broadly expands federal jurisdiction and threatens local land-use and zoning authority.”

Stallman described the EPA proposal as “an end-run around Congress and the Supreme Court.”

The proposal to regulate everyday farming practices isn’t just impractical, it’s illegal, Stallman told the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment last week.

The EPA has said farmers would face less regulation under its proposal. In response, Stallman said the rule would micromanage farming via newly mandated procedures for fencing, spraying, weeding and more. Obtaining permits, meanwhile, could delay time-sensitive tasks for months, potentially ruining crops in the process.

“EPA is deliberately misleading the regulated community about the impacts on land use,” Stallman said.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:23-07:00June 20th, 2014|

Cal Ag Today Founder Recognized at Journalism Award Ceremony

Written by: Monique Bienvenue – Cal Ag Today Associate Editor

As the Senior Intern and the current Associate Editor of Cal Ag Today, I’d like to personally congratulate my colleague, Patrick Cavanaugh, for being awarded at the 20th Annual Journalism Award Ceremony last night.

Patrick is not only hard working; he’s extremely dedicated and passionate about promoting all issues pertaining to the California agricultural industry. As somebody who understands the importance of agricultural literacy, I’m extremely proud of Patrick’s accomplishments and cannot wait to see what’s in store for Cal Ag Today and its impact on the agriculture industry.

The following Press Release has been provided by the Fresno County Farm Bureau:

FCFB announced the recipients of its 20th Annual Journalism Award Ceremony at the organization’s Celebrating Friends of Agriculture social tonight.

Recognized for excellence in agriculture reporting were:

Print/Web Print Media

First place: Mark Grossi, The Fresno Bee, “For Valley citrus growers, this season has 2 natural disasters,” March 2, 2014 – a comprehensive story about Valley citrus growers, specifically in the Porterville area, who are suffering the challenges brought on by the drought. The article touches on the impacts both farmers and consumers will face due to the drought.

Television/Radio/Web Audio-Visual Media

First place: A.J. Fox, Justin Sacher, Dave Spaher and Heidi Waggoner, KSEE, “High and Dry” series, April 21-24, 2014 – a four-part series focusing on the water struggles California farmers and consumers are encountering due to the drought; addresses potential solutions to the issues.

Farm Trade Print/Television/Radio/Web Media

First place: Patrick Cavanaugh, Pacific Nut Producer, “West Side water series,” Aug. 2013, Nov. 2013, April 2014 – a three-part series that examines Valley farmers and their agricultural journey through California’s water crisis, including the challenges they encounter along the way and what may be in store for the future.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:23-07:00June 20th, 2014|

Seven Central Valley Cooperative Extension Academics to Retire in June

Seven Valley UC Cooperative Extension Academics Retire at the end of June

Seven University of California academics will retire June 30 after decades of service to UC Cooperative Extension in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys.

The 2014 valley retirees are:

Gregorio Billikopf, labor management farm advisor, UC Cooperative Extension in San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced counties 33 years
Billikopf’s extension and teaching efforts focused on employee selection, wage structures, interpersonal negotiation skills, conflict resolution and mediation. He received the “best publication” award from the National Association for County Agricultural Agents for his book Labor Management in Agriculture: Cultivating Personnel Productivity, as well as awards from other professional organizations.

Billikopf said he cherishes his years as a farm advisor and now will return to his native Chile to provide community mediation and labor productivity training.

Alejandro Castillo, dairy farm advisor, UC Cooperative Extension in Merced County
12 years

Castillo served as dairy advisor for 12 years, having joined UC Cooperative Extension from a research and extension job in Santa Fe, Argentina. His work in California was focused on dairy cow nutrition and environmental concerns, nutrient balance and nutrient excretion, with special attention to nitrogen and minerals. During his tenure he published more than 100 articles (18 peer-reviewed papers, 30 scientific abstracts and technical articles, and more than 50 newsletter, newspaper and magazine articles).

“I do want to thank the many dairy producers in Merced County and my UC colleagues who have helped me with my extension and research program,” Castillo said. “Their help was critical to doing my part for the future of our dairy industry.”

Carol Frate, field crops farm advisor, UC Cooperative Extension in Tulare County
36 years

Frate has conducted extensive research on the production of alfalfa, dry beans, sugarbeets and corn. Among the highlights of her career were trials to identify blackeye bean varieties resistant to Fusarium wilt, early research on deficit irrigation of alfalfa and work on corn stunt disease.

“It has been a great gift to work with my UC colleagues and people in allied industries,” Frate said. “And I could not have done the work I did without the assistance and patience of farmers, farmworkers, custom applicators, custom harvesters and truckers who made on-farm research projects successful.”

Michelle Le Strange, vegetable crops and environmental horticulture advisor, UC Cooperative Extension in Tulare County
31 years

Le Strange is an accomplished advisor in vegetable crop production, turfgrass and ornamentals, and weed management. She also founded and organized the Tulare/Kings Master Gardener program, guiding volunteers as they reach out to home gardeners to encourage sustainable landscaping by “Gardening Central Valley Style.”

“In this career the more you get your hands dirty, the more you learn, and the more knowledge you have to share with others,” Le Strange said. “I was thrilled working with some of the largest vegetable producers in the state and simultaneously helping the home gardener. It was always a stimulating challenge.”

Yvonne Nicholson, nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor, UC Cooperative Extension in Sacramento County
22 years

Throughout her career, Nicholson has been involved with UC faculty in conducting nutrition and health applied research focusing on the African-American, Latino, Russian and Vietnamese cultures.

Larry Schwankl, UC Cooperative Extension irrigation specialist in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources at UC Davis, based at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier
28 years

Schwankl’s research emphasis has been in drip, sprinkler, and flood irrigation. He has worked on irrigation system maintenance and chemigation, irrigation scheduling using soil moisture monitoring and evapotranspiration techniques.

Dorothy Smith, nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor, UC Cooperative Extension in El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties
12 years

Smith’s areas of expertise include human nutrition, food safety and human health and well-being. During the latter half of her tenure, Smith has focused on building a school garden program in the Central Sierra region because, she said, “growing something is a great way to make sure you are eating healthy.”

“I have really enjoyed the opportunity to work in the foothills with small, rural counties,” Smith said. “We have been able to make some significant changes that affect the whole community.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:23-07:00June 19th, 2014|

Breeding Crops for Drought Tolerance Tricky

By Ching Lee; Ag Alert

With water becoming ever-more precious, farmers are increasingly looking to innovations to help their crops be more resilient in the face of drought.

One focus has been on breeding and engineering new crop varieties that can withstand longer periods of water deprivation. While much progress has been made in this area, researchers say increasing drought tolerance in crops has never been clear cut, and prospects for getting those traits into specialty crops are uncertain.

In recent years, three major seed companies have introduced corn varieties that specifically target water-limiting conditions. Hybrids from DuPont Pioneer and Syngenta became commercially available on a limited basis in 2011, while Monsanto rolled out its first transgenic drought-tolerant corn in several Western Corn Belt states last year.

Kent Bradford, professor of plant science and director of the Seed Biotechnology Center at the University of California, Davis, said there has been a lot of interest in developing drought-tolerant varieties of field crops such as corn, wheat and alfalfa, but breeding drought tolerance into higher-value crops such as vegetables, fruits and nuts may be a longer-term goal.

One issue with developing crops that can withstand extreme weather conditions is that the process is not so straightforward and can involve a number of different genes and approaches.

“Drought tolerance is not an easy trait,” Bradford said. “It’s not like disease resistance where you have a disease, you have the resistance and you’re good.”

Daniel Gallie, a biochemist at UC Riverside, whose team did some of the initial work on DuPont Pioneer’s drought-tolerant corn hybrids, said one way to increase drought tolerance in plants is to grow bigger roots that can reach deeper into the soil to get water.

The method UC researchers used in developing DuPont Pioneer’s corn involved reducing the plant’s production of ethylene, which is triggered by drought stress.

Scientists have also looked at ways to help plants retain more water, such as by closing the stomata, or pores, earlier, so that there’s less transpiration. UC researchers found that by reducing a plant’s vitamin C, which controls the opening and closing of pores in the leaves, they can help plants better conserve water.

Since all plants have pores, Gallie noted, this approach could be applied to any crop species and has been particularly important to crops grown in California, where farmers rely largely on irrigation, he added.

But whether this and other techniques will find their way into commercial crop varieties depends on whether they get picked up by the various seed companies, he said. Because academic researchers typically are not in the business of commercializing their developments, they look to industry partners with the funding and infrastructure to introduce, test and market new crop varieties, Gallie added.

With a crop like almonds, for example, because the life cycle of the tree is so long, research would be much slower than what can be done with an annual crop. Also, specialty crops, while important to California, are not considered major crops with as much devoted acreage as key commodity crops.

“It’s the size of the market,” said Doug Parker, director of the California Institute for Water Resources at the University of California. “Companies are looking at: Am I going to be able to produce enough of this to make money. And it’s not just what’s being grown in other states that they’re looking at; it’s worldwide.”

For crops that are grown in California, the focus has been less on drought tolerance and more on water use efficiency, as growers are trying to get the most yield from what limited water they have, he said.

Farmers seldom plant specialty crops without some irrigation, Bradford said, whereas the major field crops—particularly those farmed in the Midwest—are often dependent on rainfall, so being drought tolerant is more critical.

Bradford cautioned that while researchers are making headway, they still face hurdles trying to create drought-tolerant crops that would work well under different weather scenarios and field conditions.

Soils can vary in one field, he noted, so the stress may not be uniform. And not all droughts occur the same way. Some are characterized by lack of precipitation, others extreme heat or both. These events may also happen during different periods of a growing season.

Since crop development is a long-term strategy to help farmers deal with drought, Parker said short-term strategies for how they manage water in their cropping systems may prove more important than drought-tolerant crops.

But ultimately, a mix of both is needed, he said.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:23-07:00June 19th, 2014|

Farming in Drought: Tomato Growers Embrace the Heat

By Sarah Trent; Pacific Coast Farmers’ Markets Association

In late May, UC Davis published a drought impact report projecting 410,000 acres of farmland left fallow, 14,500 jobs lost, and a $1.7 billion hit to our state’s agricultural economy.

Since tomatoes can be a water-intensive crop, I expected that when I set out to ask farmers about the drought’s effect on their tomatoes, I would hear they were planting less, anticipating smaller yields, making changes to their seed orders for next year, and worrying about the future of their farms.

The truth?

“To be honest,” said Phil Rhodes of Country Rhodes Family Farm in Visalia, “this is our best year ever.”

Like many farmers, Rhodes is very concerned about water — the water level in his well has dropped about a foot a year since the 1990s, to the point where he must invest upwards of $50,000 to drill it deeper in the next year — but for now, the heat accompanying the drought has been a boon to his tomato crop, which came in early and strong. Rhodes brought his first tomatoes to farmers’ markets in mid-May, several weeks earlier than normal.

As long as he has water in his well, Rhodes’ farm is not impacted by water rationing by local or federal water districts. Farmers who rely on water from those sources are facing more dire circumstances: Rhodes admits that in the southern Central Valley region where his farm is located, he sees other farmers leaving fields unplanted.

Those unplanted fields may mean that vegetable farmers who have ground water access, farm in areas less impacted by the drought, or whose infrastructure, climate, and soil conditions allow for less water usage will see increased demand for their crops. So while the drought has substantial implications for California agriculture on the whole, farmers like Rhodes are doing well in spite or even because of it.

Ron Enos, who owns certified organic Enos Family Farms in Brentwood, also expects he’ll have a good year with his tomatoes. In his region, many of his neighbors are larger-scale farms growing processing tomatoes, which means that demand for his fresh tomatoes is high.

While the high-heat conditions accompanying the drought spelled trouble for his winter and spring vegetables (which do best in cooler conditions), the hot dry summer bodes well for his summer crops.

He also uses less water than many farmers in his region: over the last few years, Enos has transitioned to using a black plastic mulch in combination with drip irrigation for many of his crops, which cut his water usage to about 30 percent of what he needed before.

Another method for using less water on fruiting crops like tomatoes and squash is dry farming: a method of cutting irrigation early in a plant’s life and forcing it to rely only on existing soil moisture. Some vegetable varieties do especially well in these conditions, which result in smaller, more flavorful fruit.

While it’s near impossible to dry farm in the extreme climate of the Central Valley, it works well in coastal regions where the soil retains some moisture through the summer.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:24-07:00June 19th, 2014|

Dry Farming in California

By Eric Holthaus; Slate.com

In a year with (practically) no water, here’s something that was inevitable: farming without any water at all.

Small farms around the Bay Area are reviving an ancient technique that is just what it sounds like. Add “dry farming” to the list of ideas that could get this dry state through the worst dry spell in half a millennium.

The Hoover Dam’s Lake Mead, the primary water supply for Las Vegas, has never had this little water to start June. Earlier this week, Fresno hit 110 degrees—the second-earliest achievement of that lofty mark in the 127 years that weather records have been kept there.

New data on Thursday showed California has now gone five consecutive weeks with fully 100 percent of the state rated at “severe,” “extreme,” or “exceptional” drought. The state is getting by on meager reserves amid a multiyear shortage, and there won’t be any more significant rain until the fall: The annual dry season has begun.

The last measurable rain in San Francisco was April 25, which is about a month earlier than normal. The coast gets most of its drinking water piped in from the Sierras anyway, so a dearth of local rainfall hasn’t done much except make cars and sidewalks extra dusty.

According to a San Francisco Chronicle analysis, the region is falling short of meeting conservation targets via voluntary water cutbacks. The Bay Area’s per capita water usage is already among the lowest in the state, so there’s not as much to cut as compared with other more water-hungry places.

In San Jose, water use is actually up slightly compared with the past three years’ average. If usage isn’t curtailed soon, San Francisco is considering mandatory water rationing for the first time in more than 20 years.

One theory on the lackluster response is that the state’s crisis isn’t as immediately visible to city dwellers as it is to farmers, who use 80 percent of the state’s water. Higher prices for food will be felt only gradually, even though they could linger for years. As an example, consumers are still feeling the pinch from higher meat prices linked to a 2012 drought in Texas that forced ranchers to cut back on herds.

There, I found one possible answer that’s catching on: get rid of water entirely.

Dry farming, a longtime niche of California’s massive agriculture industry, is gathering conversation within farmers market circles around the Bay Area. Here’s how it works, according to Fast Company:

By tapping the moisture stored in soil to grow crops, rather than using irrigation or rainfall during the wet season, dry-land farming was a staple of agriculture for millennia in places like the Mediterranean, and much of the American West, before the rise of dams and aquifer pumping.

During the rainy season, farmers break up soil then saturated with water. Using a roller, the first few inches of the soil are compacted and later form a dry crust, or dust mulch, that seals in the moisture against evaporation.

Dry farming isn’t as simple as just farming without rain. During a drought, it’s even more challenging.

“We’re concerned about keeping these trees alive. We try to create a barrier to keep the moisture,” said Stan Devoto, a dry farmer based in Sonoma County who raises apples, wine grapes, and cut flowers for Bay Area farmers markets. “On the east side of your grapevine, where the sun rises, you strip all the leaves. That allows for better airflow. On the west side, where the sun sets, you keep a good canopy of leaves to protect the drought. We do it by hand.”

The dry-farming method has long been practiced successfully in Mediterranean climates with a long dry season like California’s—basically, dry farmers forgo the extra fertilizer, water, and other inputs that maximize yields. Advocates say its water starvation diet produces sweeter and more flavorful tomatoes, apples, and other fruit. Some of the best wines ever produced in Napa Valley were dry farmed.

But there’s a significant downside. Though his heirloom apples make a cider that “brings to mind Lambic beer,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle, Devoto says “people have to be willing to pay a little bit more for them.” Dry farmers like Devoto are trading quantity for quality.

Devoto concedes that’s one of many reasons dry farming won’t have the potential to overthrow conventional agriculture. The lower water usage means there’s a significant yield tradeoff: His dry-farmed apples average 12 to 14 tons per acre, less than half the 20 to 40 tons per acre irrigated apple crops typically get. The wells on his property simply don’t produce enough water to irrigate.

That’s made his decision pretty easy.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:24-07:00June 19th, 2014|

Homeowners: Your Gardeners Need License to Apply Pesticides

Homeowners Urged To Make Sure Gardeners Who Apply Pesticides Have License

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) is urging all homeowners to check that their maintenance gardener (landscaper) has a state maintenance gardening (MG) pest control business license from DPR if they are occasionally applying pesticides on their lawns. Homeowners can do so on the DPR website’s License and Certificate Holder List Page.

“Homeowners may not realize that maintenance gardeners are applying chemistry to their lawns,” says DPR director Brian Leahy. “We want to try and ensure they are doing so in a responsible manner.”

The license ensures that the person applying pesticides has been properly trained to use them on lawns and garden areas. If used properly, pesticides should not cause harm to humans or pets. However, improper use may result in illnesses or environmental problems.

Pesticides used on lawns and gardens may be washed to street storm drains and into local rivers, streams and even sensitive wetlands miles away. This may impact aquatic life.

“Your lawn may only be a small piece of land, but collectively, California lawns amount to many acres,” said Leahy. “Homeowners can play a significant role to reduce the amount of pesticide pollution (runoff) from lawns that are entering our waters through storm drains.”

Under California law, anyone who applies pesticides, even if it is only incidental to other maintenance gardening tasks, must have this DPR maintenance gardening pest control business license and be registered with the local county agricultural commissioner’s office.

In California, there are about 100,800 landscapers employed in the public and private sector who are responsible for maintaining homes, parks, golf courses, schools and plantings around malls, offices, restaurants and other locations.

Learn more about how your landscapers can obtain a certificate/ license at  http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/license/maintgardeners.htm

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:24-07:00June 19th, 2014|

Local Winery Aims to Unify Farming Community

A California Winery hopes to unify the farming community and spread agricultural awareness.

George Meyer, owner and winemaker for Farmer’s Fury Winery, talks about his hope to bring farmers together, and to create more awareness about the agricultural industry as a whole.

“So with the Farmer’s Fury I think that represents many people in the valley, many farmers, not just the grape industry, not the almond industry, but farmers in general. As Congressman Nunes is saying, we need to unite and have one voice, so that’s kind of what I envisioned,” said Meyer.

Meyer also noted the specific reason behind the winery’s name.

“Farmer’s Fury started in 2009, that was our first year. The name Farmer’s Fury came about the water rallies and water issues were having in 2009, another big drought year like we are having this year,” said Meyer. “I wanted a name that wasn’t just about wine, wasn’t about my family, but I wanted to represent an area community, which I think is the Central Valley here. The farmers and our attitude, of how we are being treated and the things that are going through.” he added.

Farmer’s Fury Winery uses various methods to spread the word about agricultural awareness.

“We do that in the back of our wine bottles, we do ag facts, we do all kinds of different things, trying to promote agriculture to people who don’t know. And even people who do know, they don’t know the other industries out there.” said Meyers.

The winery is based right in the Central Valley.

“The facility where we make the wine in Paso Robles, and our taste room in Downtown Lemoore,” said Meyer.

The taste room is open Wednesdays and Saturdays 4-10pm, with live music every Friday and Saturday.

For more information, head to FarmersFuryWines.com

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:24-07:00June 18th, 2014|

June 16 – 22 is Pollinator Week!

Pollinator Week was initiated and is managed by the Pollinator Partnership.

Seven years ago the U.S. Senate’s unanimous approval and designation of a week in June as “National Pollinator Week” marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.

Pollinator Week has now grown to be an international celebration of the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. The growing concern for pollinators is a sign of progress, but it is vital that we continue to maximize our collective effort. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture signs the proclamation every year.

The Pollinator Partnership is proud to announce that June 16-22, 2014 has been designated National Pollinator Week by the U.S. Department of Interior.

The Pollinator Partnership is also proud to announce that June 16-22, 2014 has been designated National Pollinator Week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Pollinating animals, including bees, birds, butterflies, bats, beetles and others, are vital to our delicate ecosystem, supporting terrestrial wildlife, providing healthy watershed, and more. Therefore, Pollinator Week is a week to get the importance of pollinators’ message out to as many people as possible.

It’s not too early to start thinking about an event at your school, garden, church, store, etc. Pollinators positively effect all our lives- let’s SAVE them and CELEBRATE them!

For more information, please visit pollinator.org

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:24-07:00June 18th, 2014|

Fusarium Dieback / Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer

Recently a new beetle/fungal complex was detected on avocado and other host plants in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino Counties. The two fungal species are Fusarium euwallaceae and Graphium sp., which form a symbiotic relationship with a recently discovered beetle that is commonly known as the polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB, Euwallacea sp.)

Together, they cause the disease Fusarium dieback (FD). When the beetle burrows into the tree, it inoculates the host plant with the fungus (Fig. D), which is carried in its mouthparts in a structure called mycangia.

The fungus attacks the vascular tissue of the tree, blocking the transport of water and nutrients from the roots to the rest of the tree, and eventually causing branch dieback. The beetle larvae live in galleries within the tree and feed on the fungus.

FD has been observed on more than 110 different plant species in California, including many species common in urban landscapes and on such agriculturally important species as avocado, olive and persimmon.

Symptoms: Each host species shows different symptoms depending on the response to infection. Sycamore, box elder, maple, red willow, and castor bean are good trees to search for signs and symptoms of the beetle, as it tends to prefer to infest these hosts first. Depending on the tree species attacked, PSHB injury can be identified either by staining, gumming, or a white-sugar exudate on the outer bark in association with a single beetle entry hole.

The vector beetle: An exotic ambrosia beetle (Euwallacea sp.) is very small and hard to see. At the advanced stage of infestation, there are often many entry/exit holes on the tree (Fig. E-F). Females are black and about 1.8 – 2.5 mm (0.07-0.1 inch) long (Fig. A-B (right)); males are brown colored and about 1.5 mm (0.05 inch) long (Fig. B ((left)). The entry/exit hole is about 0.85 mm (0.033 inch).

What to do:

Look for a single entry/exit hole surrounded by wet discoloration of the outer bark
Scrape off the bark layer around the infected area to look for brown discolored necrosis caused by the fungus.
Follow the gallery to look for the beetle (may or may not be present).
Avoid movement of infested firewood and chipping material out of infested area.
Look for other hosts (Castor bean, sycamore, maple, coast live oak, goldenrain, liquidambar) showing symptoms of the beetle/disease.
Sterilize tools to prevent to spread of the disease with either 25% household bleach, Lysol® cleaning solution, or 70% ethyl alcohol.

Who to contact if you find the problem: If you suspect that you have found this beetle or seen symptoms of the Fusarium dieback on your tree please contact either your local farm advisor, pest control advisor, county Ag Commissioner office or Dr. Akif Eskalen by either phone 951-827-3499 or email at akif.eskalen@ucr.edu.

For more information visit www.eskalenlab,ucr.edu.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:35:24-07:00June 18th, 2014|

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California Ag News…
At Your Fingertips!

About Patrick Cavanaugh

Seven Valley UC Cooperative Extension Academics Retire at the end of June

The 2014 valley retirees are:

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California Ag News… At Your Fingertips!

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