Dirty Dozen…Really?

Dirty Dozen Does Disservice

Following the April 12, 2016 release of the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) annual Dirty Dozen list, Teresa Thorne, a spokesperson with the Watsonville-based Alliance For Food and Farming, a non-profit organization which exists to deliver credible information to consumers about the safety of fruits and vegetables, conversed with California Ag Today’s Patrick Cavanaugh, farm news director and deputy editor,

California Ag Today: Let’s talk a little about the Dirty Dozen list that the EWG just published for 2016.

DPR on Food Safety

Thorne: They’ve been doing this for 20 years now, and it is concerning to us because they’re putting out misinformation about the safety of conventionally grown produce. We know that the products on this list are among the most popular among families, especially children. EWG targets them, and their efforts really scare moms and consumers away from conventionally grown. It makes no sense to us; I mean, both organic and conventionally grown are very safe. We should all be consuming more every day for better health. That’s really the message for consumers. This list—all it does is serve to confuse people.

California Ag Today: It’s all a big scare tactic to try to get everybody to think that only organic food is safe, right?

Fruits & Veggies – More Matters

Thorne: We strongly believe that organic food is very safe, but we maintain the same for conventional. And it’s interesting also too, because in a recent study that really focused on Manhattan, the researchers found—and we did blog about this—that organic was not as available as they had previously thought. So, what happens to the mom who wants to buy strawberries for her child’s lunch, but only conventional strawberries are available? Now she’s scared because of what EWG has stated in really inflammatory language this year—over the top. Now what is she supposed to do? Her store doesn’t carry organic strawberries. Availability is very much an issue, as well accessibility and affordability. Conventionally grown still is the most accessible and affordable [produce]. So, to scare people away from that really does a disservice to consumers.

California Ag Today: Yes, and food safety experts from the USDA and California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), agree that any small risk from the trace [below legal thresholds set by the EPA] levels of pesticides found in fresh produce should not keep you from the health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. DPR tracks food for pesticide residues, and they find 99 percent of all the fruits and vegetables grown in California—whether they’re organic or conventional—are safe to eat and we should be eating more of them.

Thorne: Absolutely, and that’s what’s also interesting; EWG—and we’ve called them on this in the past and they still have not changed—does not link, in their report, directly to USDA studies. They state over and over that they base their results on this USDA Agricultural Marketing pesticide data program (USDA PDP), but they don’t link to it. In what world do you not link to a study that, you basically state, you base your entire Dirty Dozen list upon? We find that quite odd.

We think the reason they don’t link is this simple: People will see that the USDA clearly states that residues do not pose a food safety concern. And that is in direct contrast to what [the EWG is] saying.

California Ag Today: Of course, if we wash the fruits and vegetables we eat, it helps. We should always wash produce to get the dirt off and talk about food safety in our own kitchens.

Thorne: That’s right. Conventional and organic alike, wash them before you eat them. It’s a healthful habit that everybody should follow for various reasons. And the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearly states that you can reduce or eliminate any residues that may be present on fruits and vegetables, simply by washing.

California Ag Today: One last question, Teresa. You’ve been terrific. The EWG has been losing some strength in their message over the years because the media is getting sharper and better at challenging the contradictions in their reports. We’ve got the Alliance for Food and Farming’s new SafeFruitsAndVeggies website now, and you guys are reaching out to the media, saying “Let’s be reasonable; let’s look at this from a scientific point of view, not an emotional point of view.” Do you want to comment on that? While they’re not being picked up as much anymore, they keep trying, now with strawberries at the top of the list, right?

Thorne: Yes, we think they’re using the tactic of putting another kid-popular fruit to re-spark interest. In fact, we predicted it in a blog a few weeks ago, in which we said interest from the media is declining because more reporters and bloggers are actually reading the USDA PDP report, seeing what it says. So, we actually predicted in our blog that they would do something like this. Our number one prediction was they would have a new number one on their list, and it would, of course, be a kid-popular fruit.

So, it will be interesting to see. We’re still early on in the process to see if they have had any success with that, but we believe that that was a tactic [EWG] tried to employ to revive very lagging media coverage on this list. They used to enjoy widespread media coverage back in the day.

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Resources:

Setting Tolerances for Pesticide Residues in Foods, United States EPA

Pesticide info: What You Should Know About Pesticides, “Pesticides and Food: How We Test for Safety,” California Department of Pesticide Regulation

The Pesticide Data Program: Helping Monitor the Safety of America’s Food Supply, USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

Pesticide Residue Calculator, Alliance for Food and Farming

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:03:02-07:00April 14th, 2016|

Bill Chandler on Farming

Bill Chandler Builds a Legacy

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

A third-generation farmer in Fresno County, Bill Chandler farms near Parlier, Selma, and Fowler. The family operation has traditionally produced tree fruit such as peaches, plums and nectarines, but they are certainly expanding their crop diversity. “We have gone more into almonds lately because of unavailable labor,” Chandler commented. “We are looking into citrus, which is not as perishable as soft fruit—which, if you don’t harvest it right away, you’ve lost the whole year’s effort.”

Like so many farm families in California, the Chandlers go back a couple of generations farming here. “My grandfather came out here in 1888 from Illinois,” Chandler expounded, “and looked at this area. It was appealing because the land prices were not that bad compared to Illinois. But the big deal was the weather; we don’t have all that snow in the winter time. We also have relatively level ground and not a lot of rocks in our soil. We, too, have hardpan under the soil, but that can be worked out.”

“My father got out of school in 1921 and started farming in this area,” said Chandler. “I was the only son and I always wanted to farm. I have a sister who was able to inherit some, and I bought my sister out, so that’s what our farm is now.”

Bill Chandler and his wife, Carol, have two sons, Tom and John, who are both back on the farm. “They both majored in ag, which was kind of neat; one in ag econ and the other in food science, and we are very proud that they are both back farming with us now. Tom, the older one, majored in ag econ at UC Davis and was in banking for about 12 years. Now he has come back and has been helping us on that side of the farming, which is very very important. He also did some land appraisal on the side. His brother, John, who majored in in fruit science at Cal Poly, is more into field work, and he does some beekeeping on the side as well.”

Chandler said a lot of success and wonderful things about farming have always been accompanied by a lot of challenges as well. “Yeah, there is always something,” he said. “I don’t care if it’s labor, weather or regulations. We are really fortunate; we stand at a place here, Kearney Field Station*, where the UC has done a great job helping us solve some of these regulations or pests.”

Chandler’s sons, Tom and John, are going to pick up where their dad leaves off, but that may be awhile, “You know,” Chandler philosophized, “a farmer never does retire. Fortunately, I am able to live on the farm. They are doing most of the farmwork, but they do ask me questions.”

This year’s above-average rainfall, along with the snowfall, has been great, but Chandler said, “There is still going to be a lot of work to dig ourselves out of this four-year drought. I have experience and so do many other people. Not only are our trees suffering from lack of proper irrigation, but we are spending a lot of money putting in new wells or new irrigation systems so that we can handle this drought.”

Chandler doesn’t take nearby UC and USDA researchers for granted. He always attends meetings and takes notes. “We can go to these folks and have these seminars that are really helpful.”

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*Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension (KARE) Center

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:24:07-07:00April 12th, 2016|

Citrus Growers Form ACP Management Areas

Commercial Citrus Growers Form Local ACP Management Areas

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

Commercial citrus growers are banding together to prevent the spread of the citrus-deadly Huanglongbing (HLB) disease and the pest that spreads it—the Asian Citrus Pysllid (ACP). Beth Grafton-Cardwell, an IPM specialist and research entomologist at UC Riverside and Director of UC ANR Lindcove Research & Extension Center, said growers are forming ACP management areas to prevent ACP from spreading HLB.

Elizabeth E. Grafton-Cardwell

“ACP management areas are being formed by the citrus industry and community,” Grafton-Cardwell said. “They’re basically saying, ‘Let’s get together. Let’s form these groups of growers—25 to 35 growers in an area. Let’s work together as neighbors to treat across a large area and get more of the psyllids killed than if we each treated individually at different times.’”

HLB is a serious concern to growers, according to Grafton-Cardwell; the disease has already devastated the citrus industry in Florida. “We want to prevent that from happening here,” shel said.

According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, ACP notices posted thus far in the first quarter of 2016 include the following areas:

COUNTY CITY

Fresno County	Fresno
Kern County	Bakersfield, Shafter, Wasco
Imperial County	Bard, Brawley area, Calipatria, Niland, Winterhaven, Zone 7
Los Angeles County	La Puente, San Gabriel
Riverside County	Hemet, Riverside, San Jacinto
San Bernardino County	Cadiz
San Diego County	De Luz, Escondido, Fallbrook, Ramona, San Diego
San Joaquin County	Stockton
Santa Barbara County	Areawide, Buellton, Casmalia, Garey, Orcutt, Santa Maria, Sisquoc
Santa Clara County	Milpitas, San Jose
Stanislaus County	Oakdale
Tulare County	Porterville, Strathmore

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:03:03-07:00March 17th, 2016|

Ag Day at the Capitol

Ag Day Celebration at the Capitol

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

In honor of National Agriculture Week, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) will partner with the California Women for Agriculture and the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom to host the state’s annual celebration of agriculture, California Ag Day at the Capitol in Sacramento tomorrow, Wednesday, March 16, 2016. Karen Ross, secretary of the CDFA, said she is excited for the event, which highlights the diversity of California’s agriculture.

“Our theme for this year’s Annual Ag Day at the Capitol is ‘Golden State on Your Plate,'” said Ross, “to honor our farmers and ranchers and all they provide. Legislators, staffers and the public will have the opportunity to shake a farmer’s hand and advance our shared understanding of the importance of our food supply. In addition to approximately 40 agricultural booths and exhibits, Buttercup the electronic cow, a favorite of children, will return to the Capitol for robotic milking demonstrations.

“We’ve been watching the weather,” Ross said, cautiously. “We would not mind being in the rain, but it looks like we’re going to have a day of sunshine and 70-degree weather.”

Sheila Bowen, president of the California CattleWomen (CCW), said CCW and California Women for Agriculture members will attend tomorrow’s Ag Day at the Capitol, alongside many other agriculture organizations. “In addition to giving out our brochures,” Bowen said, “we’ll be giving out tri-tip sliders to the guests who come to the Capitol.”

The celebration will be held on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. for legislators and staff, and from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for the public at the California State Capitol grounds, west steps.

California Ag Today2016-06-03T09:27:56-07:00March 15th, 2016|

Falcons Work in Agriculture, Too

Farmers’ Other Best Friend—Falcons—Work in Agriculture, Too

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

Charmayne Hefley, California Ag Today broadcaster and associate editor, and farmers’ other best friend – the falcon.

Agriculturalists have found ways to employ some animals to assist them in the fields. Karl Kerster, owner of Sacramento-based Kerster’s Falconry, employs farmers’ other best friend, falcons, to keep agricultural products safe before and during harvest. More specifically, Kerster’s five falcons perform bird abatement—removal of nuisance birds—to protect cherries, berries and grapes. Pest birds are defined as sparrows, swallows, finches, starlings, pigeons, blackbirds and more.

“We work to protect the farmer’s crop,” Kerster said, “and we really enjoy doing it—which is a plus when you’re having to do it for a hundred days straight to keep a crop safe. We start when the fruit starts to ripen enough that the birds are going to attack, until the crop has been substantially harvested. I work five birds, and I have several more in reserve, but the five that I work keep me very busy.”

Kerster, a master falconer, has been serving as a falconer since 1996, and his birds have a high success rate at keeping pest birds away from crops.“We are 99 percent successful in protecting a crop in most situations,” Kerster said. “We also take care of any other bird problems that may or may not be on the berries, cherries and grapes that we normally do. Any customer who wants us to dispose of a problem, we’re ready to help.”

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Becoming a falconer is not an “overnight” achievement and is not for the meek. The first of the “up-front questions you need to be able to answer to yourself,” according to the California Hawking Club is, “Will you, can you, commit part of your waking hours to a creature who at the very best of times will merely tolerate your presence, is as affectionate as a stone, and at the worst of times will cause you heartache and puncture wounds? Can you commit to an average of a half-hour a day, every day, and two to four hours on a hunting day, regardless of school, family, or job – forever?

The eight steps required to become a falconer in the state of California are provided by the California Hawking Club.

Becoming a Master falconer, according to the North American Falconers Association, “takes at least seven years; finishing your apprenticeship alone will take at least two.”

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Falconry is a heavily-regulated practice, governed by federal and state laws and regulations. For more information, go to:

California Natural Resources Agency Department of Fish and Wildlife

California Hawking Club

Kerster’s Falconry

Electronic Code Of Federal Regulations

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California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:03:03-07:00February 29th, 2016|

Youth in California Cattle

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

Statistically, it appears millennials aren’t considering agriculture as a career path. The USDA’s “2007 Census of Agriculture: Farmers by Age,” reports the average age of cattle ranchers was 57.8 years old. Malorie Bankhead, director of communications for the California Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) and a millennial herself, said, “Young people in the beef industry have a really unique opportunity to get involved in something called the Young Cattlemen’s Committee (YCC), the young affiliate of our California Cattlemen’s Association.

Young Cattlemen’s Committee (YCC)

Bankhead explained, “There are four college chapters: Fresno State, Chico State, Cal Poly and UC Davis. We don’t discourage membership from high school students or even folks younger than that who are interested in getting involved. The membership is $25 per year, and with that, you’re afforded a wealth of opportunity to become involved. We have a fairly robust scholarship program available to YCC members where we interview up-and-coming leaders in the beef industry who are focusing academically and extracurricularly on the beef industry, with the career goal to reenter the beef industry.”

Bankhead said the Young Cattlemen on the Capitol event, set for April 5, “is another opportunity for young people in the industry—specifically YCC members—to come to the CCA office in Sacramento to to learn from our staff about the current hot topics in the beef industry affecting ranchers. We turn to discussions with those folks and each other and build your network in the beef industry. We also tour the Capitol, visit some legislators and network with them on issues impacting the beef industry.” Registration information is forthcoming on the CCA website under the YCC tab.

Patrick Cavanaugh2021-05-12T11:17:14-07:00February 15th, 2016|

EPA on Agriculture, Part 2

Ron Carleton, EPA on Agriculture, Part 2

By Laurie Greene, Editor

Editor’s note: In an exclusive interview with Ron Carleton, EPA Counselor to the Administrator for Agricultural Policy, we asked how the EPA views agriculture.

“Look, we want to work with agriculture,” said Ron Carleton, former deputy commissioner for the Colorado Department of Agriculture. “We have a number of issues and challenges we face across the country with water quality and other things. The thing that we often talk about is the adoption and implementation of conservation measures and best practices, and our producers are doing that,” he noted.

“Farmers are taking those very important steps,” explained Carleton, “to help get us from here to there. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is very committed to working with agriculture, to have that dialogue, to have that discussion, to have those two-way communications. So, hopefully, we can work better together as we go forward and find those opportunities to collaborate and to partner. That is so key, and something that I strongly am committed to and strongly support.”

Ron Carlton, EPA Counselor to the Administrator for Agricultural Policy

Carleton elaborated, “I absolutely believe the EPA is always willing to look for outreach opportunities to be with our producers to sit down, to have those discussion with farmers,” towards a common goal.

“We’ve worked with our pesticide folks around the state very closely to resolve any issues that might arise with pesticide issues. We want to get those tools and those products out to our producers, but to do so in a safe way, in a way that also protects the environment. So, I think it is about collaboration. It is about discussion and dialogue, and we are committed to doing more of that.”

With the EPA’s commitment to collaboration and partnership, Carleton said hopefully in the long run, we could address the many challenges that we all have—not only in agriculture—but in the environment as well.

“I’ve always said that our farmers and ranchers are the best stewards of the land,” said Carleton. “We at the EPA need to continue working with them to support them to promote those efforts as best we can.”

“Now, we are not without challenges out there—environmental challenges with water quality, for example, with nutrient pollution in some cases, and air issues in other cases. But I think that the way we lick those problems, again, is by working together promoting those voluntary efforts. We must look for and embrace those opportunities to work together, not only with our Ag stakeholders, but also with the USDA and the NRCS.

“I think we just need to continue what we are doing, engage even more farmers and ranchers,” Carleton said, “and continue to seek technological advances, not only in irrigation, but land management and water quality. I’m confident and I’m optimistic that even with the challenges we have, climate change, a doubling of the population by 2050 and all the problems these will pose, I have every confidence in the world that we are going to find solutions to these problems, and I think that our farmers and ranchers are going to lead the way.

“Farmers and ranchers are innovative and always trying to do the best they can to protect their land and water; but we all can do better. I think our producers respond to change in very good ways. Look, we have gone through technological advances; we are more technically precise in using fertilizers and water,” Carleton said.

He noted, “Water is going to be an interesting issue as the population doubles and as we have more development, particularly in the Western part of the United States, which is drier. But I think our farmers and ranchers are good at responding to that change, and good at helping to develop, adopt, and implement those technical advances in a way that not only is environmentally good, but increases productivity.”

“They are doing more with less,” Carleton said, “particularly given the challenges of a growing population, not only here in this country, but around the world, the loss of productive agricultural land everyday to development and the increase in extreme weather events, including droughts, floods and the like—and California farmers know all too well the weather extremes.”

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:24:12-07:00February 12th, 2016|

National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Celebrates 100th Anniversary

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Conaway recognizes the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture on its 100th Anniversary

House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway submitted the following remarks for the Congressional Record recognizing the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture on its 100th Anniversary.

Remarks as prepared:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 100th anniversary of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA). NASDA is a non-profit, non-partisan organization which represents the commissioners, secretaries, and directors of agriculture from all fifty states and four U.S. territories. The State departments of agriculture have served not only the farmers and ranchers of America, but also American consumers for a significant portion of our nation’s history.

“NASDA is a highly effective association which serves to grow and enhance agriculture by forging partnerships and creating consensus to achieve sound policy outcomes between state departments of agriculture, the federal government, and stakeholders. These partnerships are apparent in the halls of almost every office building in the District of Columbia. I rely on the hard working men and woman in the Texas Department of Agriculture to provide me with perspectives on how federal policy is impacting boots on the ground agriculture. I’m sure my colleagues rely on their state department of agriculture in similar ways.

“NASDA is an active partner with the United States Department of Agriculture through a longstanding cooperative agreement to employ a nationwide network of enumerators in support of the mission of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The data collected through this partnership informs a broad spectrum of legislative and regulatory initiatives, including farm programs under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Agriculture which I have the honor to chair.

“NASDA and its members likewise play a critical role informing Congress and the executive branch regarding the operation of federal and state programs covering everything from animal and plant health, food safety and marketing, nutrition, and literally hundreds of other consumer services.

“NASDA exists to amplify the unique voice of all state departments of agriculture. NASDA Members are able to amplify their national voice by achieving consensus on otherwise contentious issues such as threatened and endangered species, agriculture labor, and water quality.

“Mr. Speaker, I join the members and stakeholders of NASDA in celebrating their 100th year of advocating for American agriculture. I wish NASDA many more years of public service to American agriculture at the critical nexus of state and federal policy.”

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:24:13-07:00February 2nd, 2016|

USDA, Microsoft Innovation Challenge Winners

Open Data from USDA, Microsoft Cloud Technology Strengthen Food Supply Through “Innovation Challenge” Winners

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Microsoft officials announced the winners of the USDA, Microsoft Innovation Challenge late last month in which contestants used USDA agriculture production open data to develop online tools that can help make the American food supply more resilient in the face of climate change.

“In yet another example of how public and private resources can be leveraged together to address significant global concerns, the winners of the USDA-Microsoft Innovation Challenge have used open government data to create an impressive array of innovative tools to help food producers and our communities prepare for the impacts of climate change and ensure our nation’s ability to provide plentiful, affordable food,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “For more than 100 years, USDA has compiled data on the farm economy, production, and the health of crops around the country, and it is exciting to see such modern, useful tools spring from these information sources.”

The Challenge was created in support of the President’s Climate Data Initiative, which aims to harness climate data in ways that will increase the resilience of America’s food system. USDA provided contestants with more than 100 years of crop and climate data through Microsoft Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform.

“Combining the advantages of cloud computing resources with the government’s desire to provide open access to public data is likely to transform scientific research and business innovation,” said Dr. Daron G. Green, deputy managing director of Microsoft Research. “Microsoft’s partnership with the USDA evidences how public-private partnership can stimulate new applications, explore novel scenarios and, in this case, work towards a more resilient and sustainable food production.”

A total of $63,000 in cash and prizes were awarded, with winners selected from more than 346 registrants and 33 submissions from around the world.

The award recipients and their projects, are:

Grand Prize, Open Source Application Award, and Best Visualization in Time or Space Award recipient: Farm Plenty, submitted by George Lee of San Francisco, Calif. This application allows farmers to analyze USDA data about crops grown within five kilometers of their farms to make informed decisions about their own crop choices.

Second Prize and Open Source Application Award recipient: Green Pastures, submitted by Khyati Majmudar of Mumbai, India. This comprehensive dashboard interface allows a farmer to visualize production, economic, livestock, and commodity data from NASS, ERS, ARMS, and other sources at scales from national to local, including information on farmers’ markets.

Third Prize recipient: What’s Local, submitted by Benjamin Wellington of Landscape Metrics LLC in Brooklyn, N.Y. This tool analyzes the resources that are required to produce agricultural outputs by using data from the Census of Agriculture in a way that allows urban population centers to connect with farmers in their area.

Honorable Mention: Open Source Application Award, and Best Student-Made Award recipient: Farm Profit Calculator, submitted by Fernando Napier and Matt Pedersen of Lincoln, Neb. Farmers can use this mobile phone application to compare their input costs (fertilizer, seed, fuel, etc.) to regional averages, and find financial efficiencies where their costs are above the norm.

Honorable Mention recipient: Croptrends, submitted by Chaiyawut Lertvichaivoravit and Ta Chiraphadhanakul of Thousand Eyes in San Francisco. This useful tool can be used for viewing spatial and temporal trends in crop production and yield by county for the entire United States by using NASS data.

Popular Choice Award recipient: VAIS, submitted by Ken Moini of Thallo Tech in Nashville, Tenn. This tool uses NASS data for the entire United States to provide a unique approach to visualizing crowd-sourced pricing data.

Large Organization Recognition Award recipient: Farmed, submitted by Bryan Tower of Applied Technical Systems in Silverdale, Wash. This tool allows farmers to view crop conditions in their area by using VegScape data from NASS combined with local weather data.

USDA is an active founding member of the Global Data Partnership through the memberships of both the U.S. Government Open Data and the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) initiatives. USDA is helping pave the way for coordinating global efforts to make agriculture and nutrition data open. USDA’s Open Data Catalog is the authoritative source of publicly available USDA data.

Since 2009, USDA has invested in and advanced innovative and transformative initiatives to solve societal challenges and ensure the long-term viability of agriculture. USDA’s integrated research, education, and extension programs, supporting the best and brightest scientists and extension personnel, have resulted user-inspired, groundbreaking discoveries that are combating childhood obesity, improving and sustaining rural economic growth, addressing water availability issues, increasing food production, finding new sources of energy, mitigating climate variability, and ensuring food safety. To learn more about USDA’s impact on agricultural science, visit www.usda.gov/results.

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:24:13-07:00February 2nd, 2016|

Dogs Detect Citrus Diseases

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

Animals have been known to be able to use their senses to detect things that humans require extensive technology to detect. Mary Palm, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) national coordinator for citrus pest programs, said dogs have been successfully trained to detect canker disease, and now Huanglongbing disease (HLB), in citrus.

“Over the past four to five years,” Palm said, “a researcher in Florida first determined dogs could actually detect canker, began training dogs,” Palm said, “and then trained different sets of dogs to detect it. It turned out that they were very good at it. In a demonstration there, none of the people could find any symptoms in a particular citrus tree, but the dogs came through and found the symptoms. Once the people came back and looked very closely, sure enough, it was there.”

Palm said the USDA Huanglongbing Multi Agency Coordination (MAC) Group funded research to determine if dogs could detect HLB in citrus as well as they detected canker. There are now five dogs being trained and tested daily. If grower demand increases, the use of canines in pest management could increase.

Palm said they will probably come up in the next year or two with certification criteria for other companies to train dogs and certify them as detectors. Palm said, “They would be able to get a certificate to show they had conducted all of the tests necessary with the [proper] degree of accuracy.” Palm said the dogs in this program have a 99 percent success rate at detecting HLB disease.

Palm said approximately 80 trees are put inside every night, the positive ones in one greenhouse and the negative ones in another. The trees are taken out the next day and positioned in different patterns for dogs to inspect throughout the day. When the dogs are brought out, even their trainers don’t know which trees are positive or negative. The trained dogs are more than 99 percent accurate.”

Link:

USDA Huanglongbing Multi Agency Coordination (MAC) Group Funded Projects: List for the Control and Mitigation of Huanglongbing FY 2015

Patrick Cavanaugh2021-05-12T11:03:04-07:00January 25th, 2016|