Contacts:
Anita Brown (530) 792-5644
Alan Forkey (530) 792-5653

DAVIS, Calif., April 13, 2012—The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California is offering assistance to California farmers to combat the European Grapevine Moth (EGVM). NRCS is offering Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools to farmers as an environmentally-safe alternative to treat the pests.

Eligible farmers are those located within 500 meters of a recorded trapping of EGVM. The affected counties include Nevada, Solano, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Napa.

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 local Agricultural Commissioners implemented 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 http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=CA. Sign ups will continue until May 4, 2012.

For more information on UC IPM recommendations for EGVM see http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/EXOTIC/eurograpevinemoth.html.

NRCS has provided leadership in a partnership effort to help America's private land owners and managers conserve their soil, water and other natural resources since 1935. For more information on NRCS, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov.

-NRCS-

 The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people
conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.

An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

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