Pests and Diseases

Brexit Affects U.S. Agricultural Trade

Joel Nelsen’s Commentary on Washington D.C. Meetings, Brexit and U.S. Agricultural Trade

By Lauren Dutra, Associate Editor

Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual based in Exeter, Calif., spoke about his advocacy for growers and the impact Brexit has on U.S. agricultural trade as he arrived at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport from Washington, D.C. last week. Brexit is an abbreviation of “British exit,” which refers to the June 23, 2016 referendum by British voters to exit the European Union (EU), according to Investopedia.

Nelsen explained, “There were two missions I was on while I was in Washington. One had to do with a proposal to allow lemon imports from Argentina. We’re definitely opposed to it because of pests and diseases, and a lack of transparency in that country over the last one to two decades.”

“We have a comment period,” Nelsen continued, “but we have asked for an extension on that comment period because of the scope of the rule and the economic impact, and we haven’t heard a word on that,” he said. “We met with our colleagues and friends in Washington, D.C.  Senator Feinstein, Senator Boxer and a couple of House Office Committees have agreed to make a phone call to the Secretary of Agriculture and get a determination on that,” he said.

SaveOurCitrus

@SaveOurCitrus is a free USDA iPhone app to report and identify the four leading citrus diseases: citrus greening, citrus canker, citrus black spot and sweet orange scab. Report your symptoms to SaveOurCitrus.org and upload a photo, and citrus experts will respond.

The second purpose of Nelson’s trip was to discuss trade and the impact on the U.S. economy due to the recent Brexit, as Nelsen is chairman of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC), a national trade committee that offers information and advice about agricultural products and trade issues to the USDA Secretary of Agriculture and the U.S. Trade Representative. “People from across the country came, and we talked about trade subjects, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and Britain’s separating itself from the EU,” said Nelsen. “It’s obvious that this upset everybody; Ambassador Michael Froman, United States Trade Representative (USTR) who advises the president on international trade and investment issues, said, “I know what I don’t know, and I don’t know a lot right now.”

Nelson explained, “We think [Brexit] will slow down the fresh fruit and vegetable sector, as well as the passage of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP). According to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, since the U.S. market share of agricultural products and food imported by the EU—the world’s largest importer in the category—is shrinking despite continued growth of the EU market, T-TIP negotiations offer a major opportunity to address unjustified tariff and non-tariff trade barriers to U.S. exports.

“Quite frankly,” Nelsen summarized, “we’re less than excited about [T-TIP] because it didn’t address the inherent problem that we have from competition: fresh fruit and vegetable producers in the EU get a direct subsidy and growers in the United States do not.”

___________________________

Some additional members of the ATAC for Trade in Fruits and Vegetables include:

  • Julie Adams, Almond Board of California
  • James R. Cranney, Jr., California Citrus Quality Council
  • Robert Guenther, United Fresh Produce Association
  • Richard Hudgins,
    California Canning Peach Association
  • Randy Hudson, National Pecan Growers Council
  • Marcy L. Martin, California Fresh Fruit Association
  • Matthew McInerney, Western Growers
  • Ken Melban, California Avocado Commission
  • Mike Montna, California Tomato Growers Association
  • Jim A. Zion,
    Meridian Growers, LLC
2021-05-12T11:03:00-07:00July 6th, 2016|

Timorex Gold, Broad-spectrum Biofungicide

Biofungicide Timorex Gold to Help Western Vegetable Growers Fight Disease Pressure

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

The U.S. EPA has approved Timorex Gold, a new broad-spectrum reduced-risk biopesticide that is already a leading biofungicide in Latin America to control black sigatoka, a leaf-spot fungal disease on bananas, for various domestic crops such as tomatoes, strawberries, as well as other berries, cucurbits, grapes, tree nuts, and lettuce.

Stockton photo Strawberries & Blueberries beautiful!Timorex Gold is well positioned for American crops because it is known to be effective on powdery mildew and Botrytis on strawberries and tomatoes, plus bacterial blight on tomatoes.

Sarah Reiter, country manager of STK Stockton, an innovative Israeli company that opened its U.S. headquarters in Davis, CA. “We are very excited about the products performance we are seeing in areas where it is registered,” said Reiter. “We are happy with the label the EPA granted us. We still await registration in California and anticipate it next year or possibly late this season.”

Reiter noted the highly effective active ingredient in Timorex Gold, the plant extract Meluleuca alternifolia, or tea tree oil, gives growers a powerful new tool to control both bacteria and fungi diseases. “We know growers do not have a lot of choices for bacterial control,” said Reiter, “so any new active ingredient is a good thing. This product has the added bonus of being a fungicide too.”

“Timorex Gold has been established as a primary control product for sigatoka because it performs so well,” Reiter commented. “Growers use it because of its profile, and it’s easy to use. And while the product is a biopesticide, once the growers get it in their hands, they tend to forget it’s a biopesticide because it performs as if it is a synthetic material.”

timorexgold STK Stockton Group“As an industry we have been looking for this for quite a long time,” Reiter reflected. “While biologics have been around for a century, historically, growers would have to give up some levels of control in order to implement them into a conventional program. We do not see that loss when using Timorex Gold against sigatoka disease.”

“Our expectation in the U.S. is that growers will see that same high level of performance when they use the product here,” Reiter said. “And since Timorex Gold is a biological, there is no concern for Maximum Residue Level (MRL) data because there is no residue on the crop. The product will have very short re-entry intervals (REIs) and preharvest intervals (PHIs), as well as flexible application intervals, a strength that growers like because it gives them a lot of flexibility to implement the product into their program when they need to instead of having to manage REIs and PHIs.”

In addition, Timorex Gold has a very low designation of FRAC 7¹, which means the product has a unique mode of action that can be used in alternate succession with other fungicide modes of action to prevent the development of resistance.

Concurrently, STK Stockton continues to invest heavily in its new technology pipeline with the intention of bringing more innovative biopesticides into different markets. As part of these efforts, the company has recently announced the appointment of Shay Shaanan as the new vice president R&D, leading the company’s activities. The former global development manager of the fungicides division at ADAMA (formerly Makhteshim Agan), Shaanan has over 15 years of experience in research and commercialization of crop protection products.

“Having Shay join our team marks another significant milestone in our growth strategy. It reflects our commitment to advance our technologies and provide the agriculture industry with new solutions for sustainable agriculture.” explained Guy Elitzur, CEO of STK Stockton. “Shay will lead our R&D and will be of enormous value in moving our company forward. Additionally, we will be looking for in-licensing partners, including bio companies in the U.S. to broaden our product offerings.” said Elitzur.

The products of Stockton will be sold under the Syngenta brand for Botrytis and Powdery Mildew in ornamentals globally. The biofungicide technology complements the comprehensive fungicide portfolio of Syngenta and will help to provide its customers with innovative sustainable tools for disease resistance management.

“We are very excited about this agreement,” Elitzur commented, “as Syngenta is the perfect partner for our new products in ornamentals.”

________________________________

¹FRAC is a Specialist Technical Group of CropLife International (CLI) that provides fungicide resistance management guidelines to prolong the effectiveness of “at risk” fungicides and to limit crop losses should resistance occur.

The main aims of FRAC are to:

  1. Identify existing and potential resistance problems.
  2. Identify existing and potential resistance problems.
  3. Collate information and distribute it to those involved with
    fungicide research, distribution, registration and use.
  4. Provide guidelines and advice on the use of fungicides to reduce the risk of resistance developing, and to manage it should it occur
  5. Recommend procedures for use in fungicide resistance studies.
  6. Stimulate open liaison and collaboration with universities, government agencies, advisors, extension workers, distributors and farmers.
2021-05-12T11:05:54-07:00June 28th, 2016|

Steve Koike on Resistant Cultivars

The Search for Resistant Cultivars

By Emily McKay Johnson, Associate Editor

In the second part of our series with Steve Koike, plant pathology farm advisor for UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Cooperative Extension in Monterey County, the focus is on the critically needed research on resistant cultivars. Koike, who has focused his research since 1989 primarily on the understanding of disease systems and the investigation of new methods of disease control, said, “The role or the need for resistant cultivars is tremendous.”

“Some good case studies of resistant cultivar research address soil-born problems on lettuce,” Koike explained. “For example, Fusarium wilt and Verticillium wilt on lettuce could be managed lightly; but in order to overcome those diseases, resistant lettuce varieties need to be in place.”

Steve Koike, UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey County.

Steve Koike, UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey County.

“First discovered in 1995 on the Central Coast,” said Koike, “Verticillium wilt has the potential to infect and damage numerous different crops. And although Fusarium wilt was typically unseen in the San Joaquin Valley, it has recently begun to appear on the Central Coast.”

Continued improvement of management techniques upon discovering initial disease symptoms is necessary, according to Koike. “Symptoms of the disease usually appear on the lower leaves of plants, around the edges, and the areas between the veins can turn a yellowish-brown.”

“Strawberries currently have three really important disease pressures state-wide: Verticillium wilt, Macrophomina (charcoal rot) and Fusarium wilt,” Koike commented. “Even the fumigation tools we have are not cleaning them up 100 percent, so we have problems.”

“We will continue to have problems,” Koike elaborated, “until there are truly resistant strawberry varieties to those pathogens. Plant breeders understand that IPM management of these diseases is so dependent on developing resistant varieties,” he said, “but we’re not there yet. We do not yet have truly resistant lettuce or strawberry varieties out in the field,” Koike said.

_______________________________

Koike and his fellow researchers discovered a new race of the downey mildew pathogen in spinach that has been designated race 16. While there are some varieties that are supposedly resistant to race 16, Koike noted that there is still more research to be done.

To read the first part of our series on Downey Mildew, click here.

 

2021-05-12T11:05:54-07:00June 27th, 2016|

Postharvest Short Course Focused on Taste and Quality

UC Davis Postharvest Course Covers Food Loss, Produce Handling

By Lauren Dutra, Associate Editor

The 38th annual Postharvest Technology of Horticultural Crops Short Course concluded TODAY, June 24 at UC Davis. Presented by Beth Mitcham, director of the Postharvest Technology Center, the course focused on postharvest produce quality and safety.

Beth Mitcham, Director of the Postharvest Technology Center at UC Davis.

Beth Mitcham, Director of the Postharvest Technology Center at UC Davis.

“This class provided a really broad overview of all the topics that are relevant for postharvest handling of produce, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and also ornamentals,” said Mitcham. “We cover the crops that are grown in California, but because our audience includes a lot of people from around the world who want to learn the basics about postharvest handling, we also cover a few crops that aren’t grown in California for commercial purposes. Furthermore,”she noted, “we also address some of the latest technologies that are available for maintaining excellent quality,”

Maintaining a good cold chain throughout the entire shipping line is critical, according to Mitcham. “We talk a lot about temperature,” she elaborated. “In fact, we tell students the three most important things about postharvest biology and technology are: temperature, temperature and temperature. We discussed many other technologies during the week, but they are secondary to good temperature management,” she noted.

Mitcham also mentioned food waste and how to control it. “So much effort goes into growing the crop, which includes harvesting at the prime of ripeness and getting it in the pre-cooler, on the trucks and to the market. But, people buy it, put it in their refrigerator and then don’t eat it. It goes bad and they waste it. It does happen,” said Mitcham. “Our goal is to try to make the product as hearty as possible while retaining really good flavor so it can last in your refrigerator as long as possible but also so people want to eat it, so hopefully it doesn’t sit in there and degrade.”
UCD Postharvest Technology Center

In reducing postharvest losses, Mitcham commented on the dissonance between addressing postharvest flavor and consumer satisfaction, “In some ways they are two opposite ends of the spectrum; some of the things we do to reduce losses are counter to delivering good flavor to consumers,” she said. “We really need to do both, and that was a big part of our message this week.”

Also at the event, the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement (LGMA) discussed food safety principles, and Trevor Suslow, a UC Davis Plant Pathologist with the Postharvest Technology Center, discussed good agricultural practices (GAP) for food safety.

2021-05-12T11:05:54-07:00June 24th, 2016|

New IPM Work on Brown Stink Bug

New IPM Approach to Brown Stink Bug In Desert Cotton

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

This year, the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Cooperative Extension, Riverside County began an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program to control Euschistus servus, or brown stink bug, a problem in Southern California’s cotton production areas.

Vonny Barlow

Vonny Barlow, a UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Riverside County

Vonny Barlow, a UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor in Riverside County began evaluating brown stink bug in cotton last year, and he received additional funding this year from a National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant administered through North Carolina State University, to continue his research this year. Barlow just hired two interns to work with brown stink bug in the Palo Verde Valley in Southern California.

The pest was known to exist in Arizona for about eleven years, but was not a critical issue until about three years ago, when it moved into California. California cotton growers had to spend a lot of money to spray to manage the insect, and it just wasn’t economically feasible.

“In many areas in the south, the brown stink bug pierces into the cotton boll with its proboscis-like mouthpart—a stiff, short straw,” said Barlow. “Once the cotton boll is pierced, the brown stink bug tries to feed on the cotton seed. The problem is the puncture allows bacteria to enter and boll rot to set in. Boll rot is the issue because it lowers yield quality; without boll rot, the brown stink bug is much more of a manageable pest.”

Spraying is not the answer to control the bug, according to Barlow. “We are going to look at an area-wide pest management approach by just essentially surveying the pest control advisers (PCAs) and growers about cropping that is near or even some miles away from cotton,” he said. “Where is the brown stink bug showing up? When did it show up? Is it moving? When are you going to harvest? Is it moving into the cotton? That way, we can give the cotton growers a better idea of when they should start management practices for brown stink bug, instead of just routinely calendar-spraying every two weeks.”

“We hope to predict when brown stink bug will move into cotton. Farmers who just harvested wheat should expect it will come into your field within the week. Start scouting; it is another very good IPM tactic to reduce sprays and to better manage pests,” said Barlow.

Featured image: Brown Stink Bug (Source: Brown Stink Bug (Source: “Chemical Efficacy Trial using Select Insecticides against Brown stink bug, Euschistus servus on Commercially Planted Cotton” by Vonny Barlow, University of California, Agricultural and Natural Resources, Riverside County, April 2016 issue of “Postings from the Palo Verde” newsletter)

2021-05-12T11:05:54-07:00June 23rd, 2016|

Downey Mildew Continues to Challenge Leafy Greens

Downey Mildew Continues to Threaten Lettuce and Spinach

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm Director

One of the many facets that makes California Agriculture so successful is the hard-working group of farm advisors who assist growers with a multitude of plant and pest issues. Steve Koike, plant pathology farm advisor for UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Cooperative Extension in Monterey County, noted, “It has been a fairly typical year, and I wouldn’t say any particular new disease has been noteworthy, which is good for the growers.”

Steve Koike, farm advisor of UC ANR Cooperative Extension, Monterey County.

Steve Koike, farm advisor of UC ANR Cooperative Extension, Monterey County.

Koike, whose research focuses primarily on understanding disease systems, identifying new diseases and examining new methods of disease control, said growers “don’t like to see new diseases come out of our work. The main concern, downey mildew, continues to be challenging for both lettuce and spinach growers.”

“We started in the early spring with heavy mildew on both lettuce and spinach crops,” explained Koike, “and it’s remained pretty heavy on lettuce throughout the spring and early summer here. Spinach downey mildew goes up and down, which is not unusual.” he said. “We had some heavy mildew weeks for spinach growers, then we didn’t hear anything, then we heard that it had died down, and then ten days ago there was another surge. It’s one of those things that is hard to predict because it is variable.”

Since starting his farm advising position in 1989, Koike has been involved in educational programs and applied research in vegetable, fruit and ornamental crop diseases. Because downey mildew can overwinter in perennial crops, its continued occurrence is not too surprising.

“Earlier this year, Jim Correll, my cooperator at University of Arkansas, other leaders in the industry and I finally did confirm race 16, a new biotype of downey mildew. A few years ago, it was only race 12; it is moving target,” he noted.

“Although we have confirmed Race 16 on spinach, we are a little concerned because there are reports of disease on some race 16-resistant varieties.” Koike said.

Featured image: Downey Mildew (Source: UCANR Cooperative Extension, Tehama County)

2021-05-12T11:05:55-07:00June 22nd, 2016|

Patience: How Homeowners Can Help ACP Detection

Authorities Need to Monitor ACP Detection, Confronted With Impatient Homeowners

by Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm Director

44111-CCM-Web_Headshot_Joel-Nelsen

Joel Nelsen, President of California Citrus Mutual

Joel Nelsen, the president of the Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual noted that most homeowners do not realize how intensive it is for authorities to monitor traps for the Asian Citrus psyllid (ACP) at their homes.

“Most people don’t realize how intrusive this process is,” said Nelsen. “You’ve got a member of the County Ag Commissioner’s office driving down a street. He sees a citrus tree in a front yard, or he can see it’s tall enough in the back. He knocks on the door. The homeowner’s not home, so he has to come back.”

“Later, he comes back to the home and again, knocks on the door and finds that the homeowner is home. He says, ‘Can I put a trap out here to find out if you’ve got the Asian citrus psyllid?’ The homeowner hopefully says, ‘Yes.’ He comes back in two weeks. He looks at the trap. There’s no ACP. He comes back two weeks later, and if the homeowner is home, he looks at the trap,” Nelsen explained.

“It’s a constant bother to that homeowner,” Nelsen said. “Eventually, they find more than one ACP. Then the inspector says: ‘Can I spray a crop protection material on your tree and kill the Asian citrus psyllid?’”

“Hopefully the homeowner says, ‘Yes,’” said Nelsen.

CCMLogoNelsen noted that the inspector visited five times already within a two month period, and now he needs to do inspect elsewhere, so having that homeowner be amenable to that much intrusiveness is a significant goal.

Nelsen noted, “The consumer education program that forms the partnership between us and them, from our perspective, is vitally important so the consumers understand what Huanglongbing (HLB)—the fatal citrus disease carried by ACP—is”.

“Then when you find Huanglongbing (HLB),” said Nelsen, “and hopefully it’s very minimal, that homeowner is more likely to agree that the tree must be removed. Fortunately, everybody has said: ‘Yes.’”

 

2021-05-12T11:03:01-07:00June 17th, 2016|

Food Safety: Protecting Consumers, Protecting Brands

The Acheson Group Lends Commodity Groups Food Safety-Based Brand Protection 

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

David_Acheson

Dr. David Acheson, Founder and CEO of The Acheson Group

With the overall importance of food safety, it’s important that growers remain diligent in the enforcement of their food safety protocols. Dr. David Acheson is the Founder and CEO of The Acheson Group; a consulting firm for food and beverage companies as well as those who provide technical support to the food industry.

He noted that part of risk management is taking the particular commodity into account. Things like leafy greens and cilantro are examples of some of the more high-risk crops. One method of mitigating the risks involved is through the adoption of good agricultural practices. “That gets back to everything from controlling the quality of water that you’re using to irrigate, especially if its spray irrigation,” said Acheson.

Some other ways of lowering risk include making sure the equipment that’s being used is properly sanitized, checking for animal encroachment, as well as being mindful of the time it takes to get the product refrigerated after its been harvested. Acheson noted that, “as soon as you chop it out of the ground, you’ve got exposed surfaces and you’ve got pathogens where bugs can grow.”

Another area of vulnerability is making sure employees follow the established food safety protocols. Acheson said that when his firm is assessing the risk of an operation, “We’re always looking for, not only are you talking the talk, but are you walking the walk.” Safety means relying on people to follow procedure, “Most companies have good policies and procedures written but do they translate in the fields? To the way the workers are operating?” Acheson said.

Ensuring that all of the safety measures come together in a coherent and effective way is the cornerstone to a successful agricultural operation. Acheson noted that, “The good operations, they’re going to walk the fields just before they harvest to look for any evidence of obvious animal encroachment and are continuing to watch as they move down through the field harvesting the product.”

(Food_Safety)_Flags_in_the_field_mean_stop_harvest_here

Flags in the field mean “Stop Harvest Here”

One way the USDA has tried to limit the risk involved in one particular crop was through the adoption of the California Leafy Green Products Handler Marketing Agreement. “I think it was a great step forward,” said Acheson. “I mean, really what it was doing was codifying good agricultural practices in California.”

The agreement has been so successful; it was used as a template for the FDA’s Produce Safety rule. By codifying good agricultural practices through the leafy green agreement, the FDA has taken it a step further with their increased area of jurisdiction. The “FDA has got global jurisdiction over leafy greens and produce that’s grown anywhere in the world that’s coming into commerce in the US,” said Acheson. “If you’re growing spinach in Salinas, or you’re growing spinach in Mexico, or anywhere in the world and you’re bringing it into the US to go into interstate commerce, you are required to follow the produce rule.”

Food safety is of great importance to farming operations of all sizes. “To me, no food company is too small to pay attention to food safety, they can’t.” said Acheson. He also noted that enforcement of safe handling practices is what sets some operations apart from others.

Acheson said, “That’s where you start to see the difference between the good ones and the not so good ones. Because the good ones will say, ‘this is a priority, we need to stop harvesting the rest of this field. It’s maybe 10 acres, but we’ve got to plow it under because we’ve got risks that we can’t control.’” Acheson continued, “That’s where you differentiate from the ones who will say, “well there’s ten acres, maybe we can use 9 of those acres and we’ll just plow under one acre of it.”

It all comes down to being diligent in the adherence to food safety directives. While it can sometimes be challenging for growers to always strictly abide by healthy agricultural practices, the alternative of being lax in enforcement could create dire consequences for not just an individual grower, but an entire commodity group.

2021-05-12T11:03:01-07:00June 15th, 2016|

Dried Plum Prices and Production

Not on the Same Page: California Dried Plum Prices and Production

by Laurie Greene, Editor

 

Gary Obenauf, agricultural research coordinator for the California Dried Plums Board, confirmed, “We had a normal crop last year. Prices are still up—have been up for the last several yearsand we are anticipating pretty good prices over the next several years for dried plum production.

Obenauf attributed good prices to crop shortage. “We went through several years of depressed prices, so we adjusted by taking out a number of acres a year ago,” he elaborated. “We’ve had acreage reductions in other parts of the world as well.”

Plums UCCE prunes

Plums (Source: UCCE)

So, while production is currently adequate for the current global market, Obenauf stated, “We’re now in the planning process again, trying to increase production. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

California is the world leader in dried plum production, according to the 2015 Prune Research Reports published in January, 2016 by the California Dried Plums Board, but is almost entirely dependent on the use of a single cultivar, the Improved French prune. “This monoclonal [cells or cell products derived from a single biological clone] situation lends itself to vulnerability to widespread disease, pest outbreaks and annual, statewide variations in yield caused by variable weather conditions that can negatively or positively affect fruit set and/or fruit retention.”

CA Dried Plum BoardSo despite enduring high prices, Obenauf explained, “we actually had real good chilling this year and a real heavy bloom during the bloom time, but we got over eight inches of rain in most of the plum production arearight in the middle of full bloom. We just didn’t have the bee activity to set a good crop. We’re estimating about half a crop this year.”

“As a grower,” Obenauf said, “you don’t have the production to make ends meet well when you have a short crop. And buyers like a more secure volume level. These up and down levels don’t help anybody.”

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CURRENT RESEARCH

California Dried Plum Board has directed the development of new, acceptable or superior, dried plum cultivars to increase the efficiency of California dried plum production and give some protection against the risks involved with a monoculture. To stay globally competitive, current research goals include:

  1. Reduce production cost

a.  Develop new dried plum cultivars with cost-saving characteristics such as improved tree structure that would require less pruning

b. Improve fruit dry matter content to decrease drying costs

c. Increase plant tolerance to pests and diseases.

  1. Promote a broadening of the consumer base

a. Introduce new dried plums that differ in flavor or color

b. Improve dried fruit characteristics

  1. Adapt to California’s dry, hot climate

a. Introduce greater diversity of bloom timing in seedlings so the entire Californian crop will not be dependent on the same set of weather conditions during periods critical for fruit set and retention.

Featured Photo: Plums (Source: UC ANR Cooperative Extension)

2021-05-12T11:00:53-07:00June 13th, 2016|

VIDEO: Other Stressors, Not Pumps, Leading to Delta Smelt Decline

VIDEO: Wasted Freshwater in Failed Attempt to Save Delta Smelt and Salmon

By Laurie Greene, Editor

Other Stressors, Not Pumps, Leading to Delta Smelt Decline,” a video produced by Western Growers, explains why the communities, business, and farmland in the Central Valley and southward still experience regulatory water cutbacks that are extreme in some cases, while 3 billion gallons of extra freshwater flow out to sea in the failing effort to save the Delta Smelt from extinction.Western Growers logo

The VIDEO addresses this loss of freshwater unused by California residents and businesses still suffering from both drought conditions and environmental water cutbacks and that could have gone into water storage.

Decline in California Fish Population and Delta Smelt, Salmon

Western Growers accuses government agencies in charge of managing California’s water of restricting the Delta pumps far beyond what is required by the law. “As a result,” the association said, “billions of gallons of El Niño water have been flushed out to sea. Shutting down the pumps has not helped the Delta smelt and salmon recover, and government regulators are ignoring other stressors such as predation, invasive species and wastewater discharges.”

Delta Smelt Troll 2016

Delta Smelt Troll, Survey 6, 2016: “There were no Delta Smelt collected.”

______________________

Western Growers, founded in 1926, is a trade association of California, Arizona and Colorado farmers who grow, pack and ship almost 50% of our nation’s produce. Their mission is to enhance members’ competitiveness and profitability by providing products and services with agriculture in mind. Services include Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliant health benefits for farmworkers, cost-saving and environmentally-focused logistics, food safety initiatives and advocacy for members. 

They ask, “If you enjoy fruits, vegetables and nuts, support our members and the produce industry.”

Featured Photo: Delta smelt by metric ruler (Source: USFWS)

2021-05-12T11:05:55-07:00June 10th, 2016|
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