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Sharpshooter bugaboo
Shepherd Bliss / San Francisco Chronicle / August 14, 2002

The boysenberry harvest on my small organic farm in Sonoma County
just ended, and the blackberry harvest will begin soon. So I relax
for a moment and look out over the peaceful plant kingdom here in the
Redwood Empire.

Yet, the possibility of the government authorizing the forced
spraying of pesticides on my private property without my permission
disturbs me. The powerful wine industry, which so dreads the
glassy-winged sharpshooter, has persuaded state and federal
authorities to provide millions of tax dollars to spray urban and
rural areas where the tiny harmless-to-people insect might arrive.
Such chemical spraying on my land would break my heart and destroy my
organic food farming.

I've spent more than a decade (other organic farmers have spent
longer) carefully nurturing my soil to grow healthy, chemical-free
food. Now, the California Department of Food and Agriculture
threatens to destroy all those years of work within minutes,
sacrificing my farm to the wine industry.

I use farming practices such as diversified crops, including cover
crops, and plants that attract beneficial insects, which protect my
crops from pests. I spread compost and mulch and release chickens
into my field to scratch and cultivate, eat bugs and leave behind
their manure as fertilizer. I observe nature carefully and farm with
its design in mind.

So the thought of returning home someday to find that pesticide
sprayers have trespassed on my land and sprayed without my permission
frightens me. My neighbors include children, elders and people with
compromised immune systems and chemical sensitivities, such as
asthma. We would be hurt by such deadly chemicals that have been
proven to damage not only insects but also people.

The chemical solution is how agribusiness and the California
Department of Food and Agriculture think. A monocrop such as wine
grapes invites insects to a banquet. The CDFA thinks that they can
solve the problem that agribusiness created by a extensive spraying
campaign, which eventually benefits the chemical companies. The bugs
adapt and resist.

The sharpshooter is not the basic problem. It is merely the symptom
of a deeper problem. Natural predators that have historically eaten
such pests have either had their habitats destroyed or been killed by
pesticides. The sharpshooter will not be the last new pest to migrate
our way as the climate changes and Earth heats up.

The short-term gain of eliminating some of today's pests by chemicals
causes a long-term loss by further disrupting nature's balance --
polluting the soil, air and water and killing many beneficial
insects, such as pollinating bees, ladybugs, spiders and dragonflies.
The birds and rodents that prey on insects and the fungal diseases
that keep pest numbers down are also vulnerable to pesticides.

The costs of spraying pesticides are much more than the aerial
sprayer and the chemicals. Most of the costs are hidden and include
the worsened health of animals, plants and humans. A few thousand
dollars of pesticides can produce many thousands of dollars of
medical care, as well as considerable suffering and loss of work. If
agribusiness continues with its chemical addiction, pest problems are
likely to worsen.

I have another idea -- a quarantine. Let's defend our region's plants
and people by heading the sharpshooter off at the pass. Quarantines
have successfully kept other pests out. The powerful nursery industry
does not favor such a solution, but it would be effective and without
cost to human health.

Let's kick the chemical addiction now, before it worsens. Instead of
arming ourselves with chemicals, Sonoma County organic farmers and
gardeners, environmentalists, health advocates, parents and others
have organized the No Spray Action Network. Last year, it worked
closely with the local agriculture commissioner and grape-growers to
come up with alternatives to forced pesticide spraying. Organic
options, such as kaolin clay, are now being used by some
grape-growers. Picking the bugs off the plants and vacuuming them
away can also be effective, as well as less expensive. Similar
efforts to NSAN's by citizen groups have cropped up in Napa, Santa
Cruz and Mendocino counties.

Perhaps these insects are a wake-up call to examine how synthetic
chemicals unbalance nature. We should apply a medical motto to
farming and demand that farmers and the CDFA "Farm Without Harm."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pest control

How the state of California deals with glassy-winged sharpshooters:

-- -- 'Infestation' defined: The detection of five or more adult
sharpshooters within any five-day period and within a 300-yard
radius, or if a viable egg mass or nymph is found other than in
association with a shipment of plant material to a commercial
nursery. An "infested area" is within one mile of an infestation,
unless a greater geographic area is determined appropriate.

-- Treatment in a rural area: If an infestation is detected in any
agricultural setting within the County, including but not limited to
vineyards, orchards, or production or retail nurseries, the pest
shall be treated at the cost of the property owner or leaseholder, in
a manner approved by and under the supervision of the county
agricultural commissioner.

-- Treatment in an urban area: If an infestation is detected in urban
or residential areas of the County, the infestation will be delimited
and eradicated where feasible. If eradication is not feasible, the
perimeter of the infestation will be monitored and the infestation
will be contained within the smallest possible area, as determined
necessary by the County Agricultural Commissioner.

-- Extermination methods: In general, according to the Sonoma County
agricultural commissioner's office, the eradication of the
sharpshooters involves establishing an extermination protocol with
property owners. Although chemical pesticides are always an option,
other methods include removal of host plants and vacuuming up egg
masses, nymphs and adults.

But if the treatment is not conducted to the satisfaction the county
agricultural Commissioner, extermination can be undertaken as
provided in the Food and Agricultural Code of California.

Source: California Department of Food and Agriculture; Chronicle staff

Shepherd Bliss owns the organic Kokopelli Farm in Sebastopol and can
be reached at sb3@pon.net.