OCFB Goes to Sacramento
This week, Orange County Farm Bureau 1st Vice President, Allan Price (right), along with OCFB Director Heather Palmer (left), and Young Farmers and Ranchers District 3 Rep., Sara Prechtl of Cal Poly Pomona (mid.), and OCFB staff traveled to Sacramento for three days to serve on CA Farm Bureau Issue Advisory Committees and visit state legislators. On Tuesday the group met with Assemblyman Steven Choi of District 68, staff of Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva of District 65, and Senator Ling Ling Yang of District 29. They spoke to the mission and history of Farm Bureau in Orange County, and laid out the challenges and concerns facing farmers in OC and California today.
Attention: Licensed Pest Management Professionals
On March 19 in Anaheim and March 20 in Oxnard, the Vertebrate Pest Council is hosting a seminar series this year in conjunction with new partner Target Specialty Products. Don't miss this unique opportunity to learn about wildlife management of a number of bird and mammalian species from staff at the University of California, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Department of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Pesticide Regulation and more!
Both structural and DPR continuing education units are available and Vector CEUs have been approved for some venues. For more information on these workshops including speakers, costs, directions, and registration, please see www.vpconference.org.
Asian Citrus Psyllid detected in Sacramento
From CDFA:
SACRAMENTO, March 14, 2019 - The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), working in cooperation with the Sacramento County Agricultural Commissioner, has placed Sacramento County under a plant pest quarantine for the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) following the detection of one ACP in Sacramento’s Lemon Hill area. The entire county is included in the quarantine zone. A quarantine is a regulatory program designed to limit the artificial movement of ACP host plants, thereby isolating the insect and limiting the spread of the pest. A map is available online at: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/acp/regulation.html.
ACP quarantines are in place in 28 California counties. Residents in the area who think they may have seen ACP or symptoms of HLB on their trees are urged to call CDFA’s Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899 or the Sacramento County Agricultural Commissioner at 916-875-6603. For more information on ACP and HLB, please visit: www.cdfa.ca.gov/go/acp.
While ACP and other invasive species that threaten California’s crops and natural environment are sometimes detected in agricultural areas, the vast majority are found in urban and suburban communities. The most common pathway for these invasive species to enter our state is by “hitchhiking” in fruits and vegetables brought back illegally by travelers as they return from infested regions of the world. To help protect California’s agriculture and natural resources, CDFA urges travelers to follow the Don’t Pack a Pest program guidelines www.dontpackapest.com
CDFA issuing Proactive IPM Solutions grants
From CDFA:
SACRAMENTO, March 11, 2019 - The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is now accepting grant applications for its Proactive IPM Solutions Program, administered by the Office of Pesticide Consultation and Analysis (OPCA).
The goal of this program is to anticipate which exotic pests are likely to arrive in California and to identify and test IPM strategies that can be rapidly implemented if the pests become established in California.
CDFA is responsible for preventing and mitigating invasive pests in California. Techniques resulting from the Proactive IPM Solutions Program will allow for rapid deployment of future management plans.
Applications are due on April 8, 2019, by midnight
Detailed information on this program, including the application process and application requirements, is available at: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/opca/proactive-ipm.html