Although California grape-growers will soon vote on a referendum
that would tax them in order to raise money to fight a notorious
vine-killing pest, Hollister winemakers say the problem hasn’t hit
close to home yet.
Hollister – Although California grape-growers will soon vote on a referendum that would tax them in order to raise money to fight a notorious vine-killing pest, Hollister winemakers say the problem hasn’t hit close to home yet.
The Glassy-winged Sharpshooter preys on a variety of crops but carries a plague, Pierce’s Disease, that is particularly lethal to grapevines. The disease essentially clogs the plumbing in a vine, making it impossible for the fruit to receive water and nutrients.
“It can spread across an entire vineyard very quickly,” said Jay Van Rein, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. “It may take a year or two for the symptoms to show, but once they’re infected, they’re going to die. It’s just a matter of time.”
Josh Jensen, owner of Calera Winery in Hollister, said he was in favor of the bill that will tax grapegrowers to fight the Sharpshooter. Although Calera has never had any problems with the pests, Jensen said he would be voting for the bill to help fend off a Sharpshooter invasion from down south.
“The vineyard area in California that has been badly damaged by it is the one around San Diego. So far it looks like they’re holding it pretty well in check,” said Jensen. “But it really does have the potential to cause enormous damage to vineyards. You never like to be assessed for taxes, but it’s a fight that has to be fought.”
Other local vintners weren’t as familiar with the upcoming bill.
Ralph Hurd, assistant wine-maker at DeRose Vineyards and Winery, said DeRose has been lucky enough to escape any encounters with the Sharpshooter so far.
“It hasn’t been a problem for us,” he said. “The only case we’ve seen was up in Morgan Hill.”
And Robert Enz of Enz Winery in Hollister said his vineyards were also passed over by the Sharpshooters this season.
“We had an Agricultural Commission representative come up and put traps out, and they turned out negative. We didn’t have any,” Enz said, adding he hadn’t seen the bill yet.
Winemakers in nearby Santa Clara County were more cautious.
In 2004, the state identified 14 counties with areas infested with the Sharpshooter, according to the Pierce’s Disease/Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Board. San Benito County was not among the 14 counties listed, although Santa Clara County was.
Santa Clara County vintners said they would be voting in favor of the upcoming bill that will levy grapegrowers’ taxes to keep the Sharpshooter problem at bay.
“The feeling I have is that there is support for continuing the assessment because if grape growers and people in the wine industry don’t take responsibility to help fund this very important research, the government certainly won’t continue to fund it,” said Valerie Vanni, who with her husband David, owns Solis Winery on Hecker Pass Highway. “If the Glassy-winged gets out of control, the wine industry is in big trouble in our region.”
The referendum will be conducted by mail. A ballot will be sent to California’s approximately 6,000 grape growers the week of May 16. Ballots are due by the end of June.
If it passes, the referendum will extend a three-year old tax on grape production. The tax is set by the Pierce’s Disease/ Glassy-winged Sharpshooter Board, which is made up of grape growers and vintners. The tax is on sliding scale that can go as high as $3 for every $1,000 in grape value. In each of the last two years, the tax has been set at $2.
Although the disease also affects alfalfa, almonds, peaches and plums, grape growers are the only farmers paying an extra tax to control the pest.
“The stakes for grape growers are just so much higher,” Rein said. “The value of the crop is so high. You can start over, but it takes five years to get a new crop.”
Local vintners say they would rather not pay the tax, but consider it worthwhile.
“I don’t think the tax will be a fumbling point in the referendum going through,” said George Guglielmo, co-owner of Guglielmo Winery in Morgan Hill. “That’s not any big financial commitment.”
State growers did not vote on the first tax increase, but supported the 2000 California Senate bill that imposed the assessment for five years. Family Winemakers of California, which counts about 620 members, has endorsed a renewal.
My organization understands the value of protecting our investment in vineyards,” FWC President Paul Kronenberg said. “The only way to do that is put money into research to find a solution.”
The assessment has raised $14 million since 2002 and funded about 100 studies of the Sharpshooter’s habits. The CDFA has spent about $145 million in state and federal funding to control the bug over the last five years.
Rein said the studies have focused on learning the habits of the bug, how it’s affected by weather and which pesticides are most effective against it. He said the Sharpshooter will never be eradicated but the bug has been mostly contained to southern California.
It was first discovered in Temecula in 1999. The worst infestations are south of the Tehachapi Mountains, but there have been sightings in central and northern California. There are three minor infestation discovered in 2001 in and around San Jose, and Santa Clara County is considered by state officials to be “at risk” for a major infestation.
The referendum will pass if 65 percent of the voters who approve the tax paid more than half of the total assessment raised last year, or if a simple majority of yes voters paid 65 percent of the total assessment. At least 40 percent of growers who receive ballots must vote. If the referendum fails, the tax will expire next year.
