California Citrus Mutual (CCM) and Citrus Research Board (CRB) voiced support for the House Committee on Appropriations for including additional funds in the FY 2027 Agriculture Appropriations bill for the citrus breeding program in Parlier.
Congress is allocating an additional $500,000 in federal funding, on top of the $1.5 million previously granted, to expand the program into California. If approved, the program will receive $2 million in federal funds annually, in addition to the funding it receives from CRB.
“CRB was instrumental in developing the concept for the California-based program and was also involved in efforts to establish the nationwide program, while CCM advocated to secure funding,” said CRB President Marcy Martin. “Our two organizations working together on behalf of the industry have been instrumental in getting this program off the ground.”
“I would like to thank our Appropriators and Committee leadership for their continued support of this vital program,” said CCM Director of Governmental Affairs Jacob Villagomez. “Finding solutions for California-specific growing patterns is an essential tool in fighting HLB for years to come.”
The California citrus breeding program will focus on fresh market citrus. Funding will go towards research and development of citrus selections suited to California growing regions, changing climatic pressures, consumer taste preferences and resistance to pests and diseases, such as huanglongbing.
The California program is an expansion of the existing national USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) citrus breeding program located in Fort Pierce, Florida, which is focused primarily on varieties optimized for Florida growing conditions. Work done through the Florida program has resulted in new varieties with higher yields, increased disease resistance, improved color, and a longer shelf life.
The Florida and California breeding programs, along with the continued support from the University of California citrus breeding program at UC Riverside, will work together to deliver results for California-based growers.
The California citrus breeding program is located at the USDA ARS field station in Parlier. Thanks to ongoing appropriations commitment, forward progress continues to be made with the addition of a dedicated scientist, completion of a greenhouse, and future plans for laboratory and office space, and hopefully securing additional ground for further expansion.
— Story contributed by California Citrus Mutual and Citrus Research Board
California’s processing tomato industry for the first time this past harvest season agreed to voluntary equipment cleaning and notification guidelines to prevent the spread of branched broomrape, a parasitic weed that attaches to roots and sucks out key nutrients.
The weed’s tiny seeds can be smaller than finely ground spices, survive dormant in soils for decades and be carried by wind, footwear and other methods. Its resurgence in 2017 in Yolo County threatens the productivity of an industry that brought in $1.6 billion in 2024.
Under former state quarantine rules, any broomrape detection would require a field be destroyed before harvest. With the new guidelines, growers may harvest if they adhere to certain management practices, including equipment cleaning standards developed by the California Broomrape Board, formed in 2024 to advise the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
“There’s 1,000 acres that are actually reported but we know from observation that it’s probably much greater than that,” said Cassandra Swett, a UC Davis plant pathologist who is leading efforts to sanitize field equipment. “There are two main goals: reduce the economic impacts of broomrape on growers in the affected region by allowing them to harvest, and on the other side, keep broomrape out of the regions that do not currently have it.”
In 2025, nearly all growers and processors in the state signed on to compliance agreements regarding cleaning and notification, and this year the California Department of Food and Agriculture is expected to require them, said Zach Bagley, managing director of the California Tomato Research Institute, which has been working on broomrape control issues since 2018.
“It’s overall seen as a positive in the industry,” Bagley said. “The driver for sanitation is not just the biology of this weed and the reality in the field, but it also has regulatory components.”
Also, this year, all processing tomato canneries in the state have agreed to build on-site wash stations or set up cleaning protocols for the 2026 season to help stop the spread from harvest trailers.
“We can never have a 100% guarantee that we’re not moving seed, but we can do our best to take it off in the fields where we know we have a problem, and that’s where the research comes in,” said Bagley, whose organization helps fund related UC Davis research.
Effectiveness and Timing Key
Swett, fabricators with the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, a Cooperative Extension farm advisor and others in the industry are working on prototypes of sanitizing equipment, evaluating spray nozzle size, water pressure, aim and other factors.
Cleaning is no simple task, and it consists of removing debris with physical cleaning and sanitizing. The right combination of debris removal followed by a sanitizer can substantially reduce dispersal risk, Swett said.
The goal is to reach under and around tractors and remove mud, soil, plant material or anything that can collect and carry broomrape seeds. Some versions of these prototype cleaning systems are in the field and others roll under the equipment.
“These machines are running 24 hours a day,” Swett said. “Taking that downtime to clean the machine is really messing up harvest schedules.”
At present, cleaning a tomato harvester can take hours, but industry is hoping it can get to less than an hour to meet labor, costs and logistics needs. “One of the drivers of this work has been, ‘How can we make it faster but still be acceptable at the end of the day?” Bagley said. Agricultural engineer Dan Frank and crop advisor Patricia Lazicki have developed and are testing prototypes of automated systems that can improve cleaning time and coverage, Swett said.
A Better Picture
Before the broomrape compliance agreements, it was difficult to determine how many of the 185,000 to 250,000 tomato production acres might be infected because reporting would mean losing a crop and the money invested on planting, irrigation and other efforts with no hope of insurance covering the loss.
The agreements have changed that, said Brad Hanson, a professor of Cooperative Extension in plant sciences who is an ad hoc member of the Broomrape Control Board.
“With the risk of crop quarantine off the table for growers under the compliance agreements, we can talk about the problem out in the open,” Hanson said. “The daylighting part of this has been really helpful because for the last five years, we’ve been really in the dark.”
Now it’s about working toward a common solution, said Neil McRoberts, a UC Davis plant pathologist who researches ways to support plant health and regulations. He is also a non-voting member of the board and familiar with pests that have caused widespread damage to other crops. With broomrape, the attention is focused before the weed has spread widely across fields in California and potentially to other crops like carrots, potato and sunflower.
“I’m hopeful because the issues are being faced very early on,” he said. — By Emily C. Dooley, UC Davis
California pear growers will continue to have a dependable market for their crop as Pacific Coast Producers (PCP) announced it plans to maintain canned pear volume following its recent acquisition of Del Monte’s shelf-stable fruit assets.
The development provides continuity for pear processing volumes that have long been a cornerstone of the industry.
“In recent years, Del Monte had contracted for nearly 40 percent of the pears used in canned products,” said Chris Zanobini, Executive Director of the California Pear Advisory Board. “With the closure of their Modesto facility, maintaining that tonnage in the system was critical. Pacific Coast Producers’ plan to contract a significant portion of that volume, will help keep the industry operating at sustainable levels and provide some certainty for growers heading into the season.”
Approximately two-thirds of California’s pear crop is utilized in processed products like canned pears and fruit cocktail. While processing capacity in the state has consolidated in recent years, PCP’s expanded role helps ensure a continued outlet for that fruit.
Pacific Coast Producers is an agricultural cooperative owned by 160 family farmers in Northern California. The company operates facilities in California and Oregon and employs more than 4,000 people.
PCP is expected to contract with both cooperative members and independent growers.
In a recent statement, PCP said: “We are committed to a viable agricultural community in our state. We have increased our purchases of West Coast fruit to ensure a reliable supply for our customers while maintaining the quality consumers expect.”
California pear growers continue to navigate a competitive global market, with imports—particularly from Argentina—remaining a factor. Industry leaders are actively working on trade policy to support fair market conditions.
Approximately 60 pear farming families remain in California today, continuing a long-standing tradition of pear production. The 2026 crop is expected to be early and plentiful, and growers are well positioned to supply both fresh and processed markets.
Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), is expanding the area quarantined for citrus greening (Huanglongbing), caused by the Asian citrus psyllid, in California. APHIS is establishing a new quarantined area in the Ramona area of San Diego County of 93 square miles and is expanding the quarantined area in the Loma Linda area of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties by 26 square miles. These measures parallel the intrastate quarantines that CDFA established on March 2, and March 6, 2026, respectively. APHIS is taking this action because of citrus greening detections in plant tissue samples collected from residential properties. There are 25.16 acres of commercial citrus impacted by the new Ramona quarantine and 411.47 acres of commercial citrus impacted by the Loma Linda area expansion.
APHIS is applying safeguarding measures outlined in 7 CFR 301.76 and Federal Orders pertaining to the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined areas in California. This action is necessary to prevent the spread of citrus greening to non-infested areas of the United States.
The APHIS Citrus Greening webpage contains specific changes to the quarantined areas in California. APHIS will publish a notice of this change in the Federal Register.
The outlook is good this year for California blueberry growers. A bumper crop is expected, along with an early harvest during the warm weather, which will put them on shelves during a strong market window. California Blueberry Commission Executive Director Todd Sanders spoke with Matthew Malcolm from California Ag Network to discuss what’s happening in the blueberry industry. Watch this quick video and learn more in California Fruit & Vegetable Magazine.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Simplot for their industry support.
The Salinas Watsonville growing region was beset by significant amounts of rain recently, so it was time to go out and have a look. According to UC Ag and Natural Resources, the fruit is being thrown away instead of being put into clamshells and boxes for shipping.
Much of the damage in the pictures below has to do with “water soaking”, meaning the riper fruit has pulled water into itself via osmotic pressure and the extra water coming in so quick has subsequently burst the epidermis.A general rule of thumb is that most varieties of strawberry can take up to 1/2 inch of water before they manifest “water soaking” damage, so the berries around here which were subjected to 1 1/2 inches of water didn’t stand a chance.
The Olive Oil Conference was a massive success that mirrored the outlook of the industry. Demand is skyrocketing for olive oil and acreage is expanding as California growers brought in a record harvest. Executive Director for the Olive Oil Commission of California Todd Sanders spoke with Matthew Malcolm from California Ag Network to discuss the latest in the industry. Watch this quick video and learn more in California Fruit & Vegetable Magazine.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Simplot for their industry support.
Ventura County will host a two-field series about regenerative ag this May, bringing together growers, ag researchers and sustainability leaders to explore the future of the region’s specialty crops.
The series will be presented in partnership with the Ecological Farming Association, and will allow attendees to examine practical approaches to regenerative farming across avocados, citrus and strawberries — three cornerstone crops in Ventura County.
The series will begin May 4 at Rancho Dos Hermanas in Fillmore, where participants will explore regenerative strategies in orchard systems, putting a focus on soil health, biodiversity and water management. The second event will take place May 11 at McGrath Family fam in Camarillo. This event, in partnership with the Rodale Institute, will highlight regenerative approaches to strawberry production that support long-term productivity and ecological resilience.
“Ventura County has long been an agricultural leader, and growers here are increasingly interested in systems that work with nature rather than against it,” Nina Morris Thomson, Co-Fournder of Ranco Dog Hermanas. “This series is designed to bring farmers and scientists together to share knowledge, exchange ideas and strengthen the future of agriculture in our region.”
People speaking and contributing to the event include:
• Dr. Jonathan Lundgren, Founder of the Ecdysis Foundation and the 1000 Farm Initiative
• Tony Serrano, regenerative organic certified farmer, Salinas Valley
Phil McGrath, McGrath Family Farms
• Researchers from Cal Poly Pomona studying diversified orchard systems
• Experts in pest management, irrigation efficiency, biodiversity and organic certification
In 2022, Jeannine Lowrimore Onstott, technical sales representative for Pacific Biocontrol, got a call from independent PCA Paul Precissi, asking if she had any mating disruption (MD) pheromones for lilac borer, Podosesia syringae, a clearwing moth that was infesting olive trees under his watch.
In 2022, PCA Paul Precissi started finding lilac borers in olive trees he advised for. Photo credit: Precissi Ag Services
Does the Peachtree Borer Pheromone Work for Lilac Borer?
Pacific Biocontrol did not have a lilac borer pheromone, but they did have a pheromone called Isomate P for another clearwing moth, the greater peachtree borer, Synanthedon exitiosa. The pheromone is a synthetic version of what greater peachtree borer females release from their abdomen to attract male moths for mating. Usually, moth pheromones are species-specific, but Onstott decided to test Isomate P on the lilac borer anyway.
For monitoring, two delta traps with peachtree borer lures from Alpha Scents were hung in both the control block and the MD block on April 26, 2022. On April 29, Isomate P-containing twist-ties were deployed at the rate of 134 per acre — one for every fifth olive tree — in the MD block. The traps were checked the same day, and six more times through June 17.
Twist-ties containing pheromone are used for mating disruption of the lilac borer. Photo credit: Pacific Biocontrol.
The twist-ties released pheromone at a consistent rate for 170 days — way more than was needed to cover the mid-March to early-June flight time of the lilac borer. Each twist-tie released a higher concentration of pheromone than did the traps.
The pheromone-treatment “shut down” the traps for the duration of the flight due to the pheromone load from the MD twist-ties being stronger and more numerous than the pheromone lures in the traps.
Achieving “trap shut down” (few or zero moths caught) was the first measure that the pheromone was effectively disrupting mating.By the end of the test, only five moths had been caught in the MD block (all on April 29), whereas 415 were caught in the control group.
Since the male moths could not find the traps, presumably they also could not find the female moths to mate with them. The moths remained in the orchard until early June, but presumably most failed to reproduce and create the next year’s population.
Once the effectiveness was confirmed, Pacific Biocontrol applied for approval to use Isomate P to control the lilac borer. Even though growers were waiting to use it, and it was registered in other states for organic use, not to mention that pheromones have zero toxicity, the application sat on DPR’s (California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s) desk for 18 months before they finally approved it in 2025.
What Is the Lilac Borer?
Native to North America east of the Rockies, the lilac borer, or ash borer, was first noticed in California in the 1970s.
A clearwing moth that flies in the daytime, it resembles a large paper wasp — as a way of defending itself.
It should not be confused with the emerald ash borer, a beetle native to Asia that has decimated North American ash tree populations.The lilac borer does infest ash trees, though, and other trees in the same plant family, Oleaceae, including lilac, privet and olive.
What Is the Lilac Borer’s Life Cycle?
The adults emerge early to mid-March and immediately start mating.Each mated female lays about 400 eggs in crevices in the bark within 7-14 days of emerging.
The eggs hatch in another 14 days and then burrow into the wood, leaving sawdust protruding from the hole.The following March, the larvae pupate and the cycle starts over.The pupal case often is left hanging at the entrance hole.
Where Is the Lilac Borer Found?
No one knows why the lilac borer is now infesting olives, nor the exact range of where they are a problem.San Joaquin County extension specialist Jhalendra Rijal reported the borer in olive trees in the northern San Joaquin Valley in May of 2020.It has also been reported as far south as Modesto and as far north as Corning, 100 miles northwest of Sacramento — overall, in Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Yolo and Tehama counties.
Matt Morelli, a Nutrien PCA based in Woodland, finds the borer infestation to be most severe in the Picual cultivar of oil olives. Photo credit: Nutrien Ag Solutions.
Precissi says he would love to see most California olive growers put at least one trap in each olive orchard to get an idea of how widespread the borers are.(California is the only US state that produces olive oil on a large, commercial scale.)
Onstott concurs with him.The moths are very sensitive to the pheromone and “super easy to trap,” whereas “the sawdust and tunnels are easy to miss,” she notes.
Precissi finds the lilac borer to be more common in riparian areas and near ornamental olives.He says the borers can kill trees aged 1- 4 years and damage stressed trees, whereas mature, healthy trees seem to weather the infestation.
He mainly consults for oil olives, but people have called him about ornamental olives, and the borer was present in those, too.
Matt Morelli, a Nutrien PCA based in Woodland, finds the borer infestation to be most severe in the Picual cultivar of oil olives.
He recalls pulling out a block of 15 or 20 acres in an orchard west of Yolo after about 12th leaf. The moth was boring into the base of the tree even though it usually likes smaller diameter wood, girdling half the tree.
Morelli thinks Picual may be more susceptible because it has softer wood. For the most part, though, he agrees with Precissi.
“It’s not common to see a mature orchard go out like that — it usually affects young trees more,” Morelli says.
What Are the Signs & Symptoms of Lilac Borer?
The best way to detect lilac borer is to set up pheromone traps in the orchard, by March 1 if possible. One visible sign is 3 mm diameter holes in pruning cuts. Digging into such holes reveals the larvae. Adults can be seen from March through early June.
Some of the entry holes will have a pupal case hanging out, left behind by the emerging adult. The holes tend to have frass around them, too.
The bark was cut away to reveal a lilac borer larva in a young olive tree. Photo credit: Randy Post.One sign of lilac borer infestation is a pupal case protruding from the 3 mm entry hole. Photo credit: Matt Morelli.
How to Prevent and Manage Lilac Borer
“It’s easier to prevent rather than battle your way out — especially since it is a borer, so hard to control,” says Onstott.
Randy Post of Agricultural Advisors recommends using the pheromone lures plus insecticides plus pruning out dead limbs and burning them before March 1. Photo credit: Agricultural Advisors.
According to Precissi, prevention includes avoiding suckering or pruning soon before or during the lilac borer’s flight, because wounds tend to be the entry point. Olive knot infections, frost damage, wet feet — anything that weakens the tree makes it more enticing to the opportunistic lilac borer.
Management of the borer is three-fold, according to Randy Post of Agricultural Advisors.First, use the pheromone.
Onstott says the 2026 price for Isomate P is about $45/acre for 100 dispensers/acre and about $60/acre for 134 dispensers/acre, the rate used in the study.
To give an idea of the labor involved, the test run required six people 1.5 hours to cover 13 acres, hanging 134 dispensers/acre at five to six feet in the canopy.
Second, use insecticides.Not many are registered for oil olives, but the ones registered are effective in combination with the pheromone. Altichor or Danitol attacks the egg and larval stages. If sprayed on the tree, and the female lays her eggs on it, the eggs should not hatch.
Carbaryl, in turn, attacks the adult stage of the borer, and has the side benefit of controlling olive scale as well.
Third — according to Post — is to cut out dead limbs and burn them before March 1 when the overwintered generation starts emerging as adults.“It’s very labor intensive but it’s the life of your orchard,” he asserts.
Lilac borers infest and girdle the branches of young olive trees. Photo credit: Randy Post.
Since olive trees do not age out at 20 years like almond trees, he sees it as a big hit to the grower if a tree dies or is impaired. “With a pest like this that is detrimental to the tree, you want to throw the kitchen sink at it to eradicate it, not manage it,” he proffers.
Biocontrol of Lilac Borer
So far, biocontrol is not being used in commercial olive orchards in California to combat the lilac borer, but some options may be developed in the future from the borers’ natural enemies. One such enemy is ichneumonid wasps that parasitize the borers within their tree galleries.
The University of Massachusetts recommends the fungus Beauveria bassiana, which is commercially available for organic use for borers in some states.
The Missouri Botanical Garden recommends spraying gallery entrances with Steinernema carpocapsae nematodes on ornamental trees infected with lilac borer.
Finally, woodpeckers are important predators of lilac borers.
Even without commercial biocontrol options, growers can prune before March and use pheromone lures, insecticides and sanitation to prevent this new pest from causing major disruption to California olive growing.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced it is expanding its sweet orange scab (SOS) quarantine in the La Puente area of Los Angeles County (grids 456 and 457). The quarantine is effective as of April 8.
SOS is believed to be caused by Elsinöe australis, a fungal pathogen. The disease results in the formation of pustules and lesions on the skin of the citrus.
Regulated articles and conditions for intrastate movement under the quarantine can be found at Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations section 3443. Interested parties and local entities may request to lift the quarantine area designations by submitting a written appeal supported by convincing evidence. Appeals must be filed within 10 working days of the notification. Quarantines will remain in effect during the appeal’s pending. Appeals can be mailed to: CDFA – Citrus Division 1220 N. St. Sacramento, CA 95814.
