Padilla, Lawmakers Seek Emergency Funds to Fight Pest Threatening California Wine Industry

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.), along with U.S. Representatives Mike Thompson (D-Calif.-04) and David Valadao (R-Calif.-22), led 10 colleagues in urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture or USDA to provide emergency funding to address the growing threat posed by the invasive glassy-winged sharpshooter or GWSS in California.

In a letter to the USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, the lawmakers requested the immediate release of $32.2 million from the Commodity Credit Corporation to support efforts to contain and eradicate the pest, which spreads Pierce’s Disease or PD and threatens many critical agricultural industries in California, including wine grapes and table grapes.

“On May 19th, staff from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and Fresno County agricultural commissioner’s office identified nursery stock infested with GWSS that was distributed to Costco locations in Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Kings, Marin, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tulare, Yolo, and Yuba Counties,” wrote the lawmakers. “The vines were sold to customers across the state and are now believed to have been transported to residential homes in at least 38 counties. The movement of infested nursery stock into and near key grape-producing regions, including areas critical to California’s winegrape and fresh table grape production, significantly elevates the urgency of this response.”

The lawmakers emphasized the significant economic stakes for California agriculture.

“According to the Wine Institute, the California wine industry supports 1.1 million jobs across the country and has an economic impact of $170.5 billion,” continued the lawmakers. “Meanwhile, California produces 99% of the table grapes grown in the United States, and the California Table Grape Commission estimates that California table grapes have a crop value of $2.59 billion. This pest and its associated disease pose a potentially catastrophic threat to these industries. If left unchecked, the California Department of Food and Agriculture estimates that losses associated with PD/GWSS could eclipse $104 million annually.”

The requested funding would support emergency response efforts, including tracing, surveying, and trapping, implementing an ongoing trapping and survey programs for the next three years.

Details: Full letter is available here.