Planting Seeds - Food & Farming News from CDFA

Category Archives: Glassy-winged Sharpshooter


Excellence in Public Service: Bob Wynn, Statewide Coordinator for CDFA’s Pierce’s Disease Control Program since its inception in 2000, leaves state service

Bob Wynn was appointed Statewide Coordinator for the newly created Pierce’s Disease Control Program in December 2000 – but his professional path to that position began 25 years before when he followed in the footsteps of his father, Robert Wynn, Sr., and began his career with the California Department of Food and Agriculture. He worked his way through the organization’s …

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A Vineyard Fight Nearly Won – from Wines & Vines

Vineyard View: Success against Pierce’s disease show the value of funding research By Cliff Ohmart San Rafael, Calif.—In 1999, vine deaths in large portions of vineyard acreage in Temecula made it clear to the California wine industry and state, local and federal agencies that the glassy-winged sharpshooter’s (GWSS) vectoring of Pierce’s Disease (PD) put the entire state grape crop at …

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Still the People’s Agency 150 Years Later – Happy Birthday, USDA!

For producers and consumers of food, this is a sesquicentennial like no other. Two weeks ago, we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Morrill Act, the single piece of legislation that laid the foundation for the modern agricultural marvel we enjoy today. And now, it’s the 150th birthday of the USDA – as Abraham Lincoln called it, …

Posted in AG Vision, Agricultural Education, Agricultural Marketing, Alternative Fuels, Asian Citrus Psyllid, Climate Change, Community-based Food System, Dairy, Environment, Farm Bill, Farmers' Markets, Food Access, Food Safety, Glassy-winged Sharpshooter, HLB, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Invasive Species, Pierce's Disease, Specialty Crops, Trade, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Welcoming Winemakers and Grape Growers to Sacramento

A drive past a vineyard at this time of year, with the grape vines bare and dormant, might make the casual observer think all is quiet for the winter.  For growers, winemakers, researchers and other in the know, though, those vines just might be the only members of the grape and wine community not on their way to Sacramento for …

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Research is the Key: Pierce’s Disease Research Symposium

I had the pleasure this week of welcoming a gathering of research scientists, grape growers, winemakers and officials to Sacramento for the 2011 Pierce’s Disease Research Symposium.  This event gives researchers from California universities and their colleagues from across the nation and around the world an opportunity to accelerate and fine-tune their work by sharing insights, discoveries and technical information. …

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