The board of the Consolidated Central Valley Table Grape Pest and Disease Control District has authorised up to US$1.7 million of district reactionary funds, generated by California's table grape industry, to support California Department of Food and Agriculture activities to prevent and control Pierce's disease and the glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS). The decision, taken at the board's meeting on 21 August 2026, answers a shortfall of about US$1.7 million in the current programme.

Since there is no cure for Pierce's disease, preventing its movement and controlling sharpshooter populations remain essential to protecting California's table grape, wine grape and raisin vineyards; the sharpshooter spreads the bacterium as it feeds on vines. Under the state Food and Agricultural Code the district may act to control or prevent the spread of GWSS, Pierce's disease and other pests injurious to table grapes.

USDA and CDFA have historically funded the GWSS area-wide treatment programme, but federal and state shortfalls have cut that funding year after year; the board is providing emergency industry money to prevent disruption while longer-term state and federal solutions are pursued.

The pest does not respect county, crop or district boundaries, so the district stresses a coordinated, area-wide approach. Citrus plays a particular role because citrus trees are the sharpshooter's primary year-round host: area-wide programmes trap and monitor to find elevated populations and coordinate treatments in citrus and other host areas, and the district's money will help fund resources for eligible citrus growers to carry out approved suppression treatments alongside trapping and monitoring.

The commitment invests accumulated district funds directly in protecting table grape growers; for growers in Kern and Tulare counties there is no assessment change, and the district says it will keep working with CDFA, county agricultural commissioners and growers to protect the state's grape industry.

Source: California Ag Network