California Winegrape Industry Funds Sharpshooter Fight
California’s winegrape industry is putting another $820,000 toward efforts to keep a destructive vineyard pest from becoming established in Northern California.
The Pierce’s Disease and Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Board at the California Department of Food and Agriculture approved the emergency funding as officials continue tracking nearly 10,000 grapevines from a Fresno nursery that may have carried glassy-winged sharpshooters into 40 counties.
Since May, officials have contacted more than 3,100 customers, inspected or destroyed more than 2,900 plants and placed more than 2,700 additional insect traps. Sharpshooters have been found on customer plants in 22 counties.
The concern is Pierce’s disease, a fatal grapevine disease spread by the insect. A 2025 economic study estimated that unchecked spread could cost California winegrape growers an additional $56 million annually in lost production and vine replacement.
The $820,000 comes from assessments paid by California winegrape growers. Officials say inspections and trapping will need to continue for at least three years.
