California seeks $32 million after invasive pest found on grapevines

A Fresno County nursery-linked pest has triggered a statewide containment push after 13,000 grapevines sold at Costco were found to carry the glassy-winged sharpshooter, the insect that spreads Pierce’s disease and can kill grapevines. California lawmakers are now asking USDA for $32.2 million in emergency money to trace the plants, trap the insects and monitor the outbreak for three more years.

The vines were shipped from Burchell Nursery near Fowler to Costco locations in 23 counties between April 21 and May 21, and the first glassy-winged sharpshooter was detected on May 19. State officials said some of the plants are believed to have reached homes in at least 38 counties, turning a retail plant sale into a crop-protection problem that stretches from Fresno County backyards to commercial vineyards across the Valley.

For Fresno County growers, the danger is not the insect alone but the disease it carries. Amanda Zito, a deputy agricultural commissioner in Fresno County, said the county has been dealing with the pest since 2020, and she described the bacterium as one that clogs the vine’s water transport system and eventually kills the plant. The California Department of Food and Agriculture also warned that the pest can damage citrus trees, landscape plants and other crops, raising the stakes well beyond grapes.

The immediate advice is blunt: if a grapevine was bought at Costco, isolate it, do not move it, and contact the county agricultural commissioner. Costco is offering full refunds without requiring the vines to be returned. State officials say the response already includes containment, inspections, outreach and trapping near stores and at locations where the vines were taken.

Lawmakers, including Adam Schiff, Alex Padilla, Mike Thompson and David Valadao, said the request to Brooke Rollins would pay for tracing, surveying, trapping and long-term monitoring. They pointed to the size of the threat: California’s wine industry supports 1.1 million jobs and has a $170.5 billion economic impact, the state produces 99% of the nation’s table grapes, and CDFA estimates annual losses from Pierce’s disease and the glassy-winged sharpshooter could exceed $104 million if the pest is not contained. In Napa County, officials intercepted 63 vines delivered to a Costco and destroyed them, while 157 sold to the public were still unaccounted for, a reminder of how fast the risk can move once infected plants leave the store.