Napa, Sonoma Grape Growers Can Get Money To Fight Pest

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California is offering assistance to farmers in Napa and Sonoma Counties to combat the European Grapevine Moth (EGVM). NRCS is offering Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools to farmers as an environmentally-safe option to treat the pests.

Eligible farmers are those located within 500 meters of qualifying trappings of EGVM. Due to significant progress in fighting EGVM in the past three years, the affected area has shrunken to just Napa and Sonoma counties.

Treatment will be based on IPM systems for EGVM developed by the University of California. Treatment scenarios vary depending on the nearby pest incidence and will include use of compatible chemicals. Options are available for farms that are organic or seeking organic certification. Financial assistance can be offered to implement approved practices for up to three years.

EGVM was first discovered in Napa County in September, 2009. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and California’s Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), are the federal and state agencies respectively charged with protecting the nation and the state from foreign pests such as EGVM. Beginning in 2010, APHIS, CDFA, and county agricultural commissioners conducted intense trapping and monitoring, and USDA and CDFA implemented parallel federal and state quarantines.

NRCS is providing funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Eligible farmers may receive approximately half of the costs of the recommended IPM strategies.

Applications will be taken at NRCS offices in the affected counties beginning today. Sign-ups will continue until April 19. For more information on University of California IPM recommendations for EGVM see http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/EXOTIC/eurograpevinemoth.html. For more information on NRCS, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov.

Funding available to farmers in Napa and Sonoma to battle European Grapevine Moth.