November 2020

  • Rapid Response to GWSS Finds in San Joaquin and Santa Barbara Counties
  • Updates on Nursery Programs
  • In the News: Winery Releases First-Ever Wines Made From California's Newest PD-Resistant Grape Varieties
Rapid Response to GWSS Finds in San Joaquin and Santa Barbara Counties

Glassy-winged sharpshooter trap finds in uninfested areas of San Joaquin and Santa Barbara counties prompted swift action from county agricultural staff, with no additional detections during expanded surveying and trapping.

In October, an adult GWSS was trapped at an urban/residential property in Manteca in San Joaquin County, and an adult GWSS was trapped at a retail nursery in Santa Ynez in Santa Barbara County. In both cases, staff conducted a visual survey in a ¼-mile radius around the find and placed additional traps in the square mile centered around the find site. No additional viable life stages have been detected.
Updates on Nursery Programs

Nursery Regulatory Program:
There were 31,932 nursery stock shipments to non-infested areas of the state from Jan. 1 – Sept. 30, 2020. Origin county inspectors have stopped six glassy-winged sharpshooter adults, six nymphs, and 48 egg masses from moving in nursery stock shipments. Almost all nursery shipments (99.98%) have been free of GWSS during destination inspections. However, five enforcement actions (Notices of Rejection) have been issued by receiving counties due to a viable life stage of GWSS found in incoming nursery stock shipments.

Nursery Stock Approved Treatment Program (ATP):
There were 8,593 ATP shipments, consisting of approximately 2.14 million plants, from Jan. 1 – Sept. 30, 2020. No regulatory actions have been taken against any ATP nurseries for viable life stages this year.

In the News: Winery Releases First-Ever Wines Made from California’s Newest PD-Resistant Grape Varieties 

"These varieties will hopefully make viticulture much more sustainable and provide a high-quality wine that the industry will welcome," said Dr. Andrew Walker of UC Davis, a Board-funded researcher who developed the PD-resistant varieties. Whitehall Lane owner Katie Leonardini agrees. "Rather than trying to manage the sharpshooter with insecticides and potentially harming other beneficial insects, these new rootstocks dovetail into our sustainable and green practices. And the wine is outstanding, too!"

Click to read the full article and about Dr. Walker's PD-Board funded research.