Homeowners are more worried about neighboring winemakers than
removing fruit from their properties in accordance to a Sept. 23
Santa Clara County grape quarantine.
Homeowners are more worried about neighboring winemakers than removing fruit from their properties in accordance to a Sept. 23 Santa Clara County grape quarantine.
“We’re really concerned about them because that could be a tremendous loss,” said Bernie Epolite, whose backyard on the intersection of Watsonville and Old Creek roads southwest of Morgan Hill was one of the residences targeted to protect against the spread of the European Grapevine Moth.
The Wednesday and Thursday removal is part of a two-step process of containment and eradication by the county and the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
The two-day effort centered on the eradication of the fruit from backyard grapevines on 20 properties in a 400-meter radius.
Winemakers, county officials and residents are on alert and have been left in a holding pattern since the moth is dormant in winter. They house themselves in wine grape clusters, feed on ripening grapes and expose the fruit to further damage through fungal infections in the spring, according to Kevin O’Day, acting Santa Clara County agricultural commissioner.
The moths can cause the grapes to brown and rot and can ruin an entire crop if they reproduce and spread.
Currently, regulations have been set in place for covering grapes when transported outside a winery or vineyard, crushing the product within two hours of arrival and the proper disposal of waste including the green stem that could still house the moth.
The three moths that sparked the quarantine were discovered Sept. 15 and 17 in Jason-Stephens Wineries and Kirigin Cellars in Gilroy.
Jason-Stephens Winery Manager Jason Goelz is not alarmed yet, but said he prefers to err on the side of caution. Two of the moths were trapped at his winery.
“It’s a little bit scary, but finding two is not that scary yet,” said Goelz, adding he is confident the quarantine measures and the pesticide program will eradicate the moth. “But it would be horrible if it spread.”
To make sure this doesn’t happen, Santa Clara County officials have been alerting winemakers and growers on new regulations they will have to adhere to during the quarantine.
“The idea of the fruit removal is to remove any larvae that may be present inside the fruit and may infest any neighboring commercial wine production,” said CDFA spokesman Eric Wylde, who said no more fruit removals have been scheduled for residences.
He said so far, the grapes have shown no signs of being inhabited by larvae.
The quarantine has also been set over a larger, 94-square-mile area surrounding the properties where the moths were detected and primarily affects grape farmers, transporters, processors and others who handle agricultural commodities that could harbor or spread the pest. Thirty-nine grape growers accounting for 620 acres of grapes will be affected by the quarantine. The grape growing season is coming to an end, with the harvest usually timed for October.
The CDFA put up 25 traps per square-mile after the three moths were detected. They have been sprayed with pheromones to lure anymore of the potential pests.
According to the CDFA, field biologists have been in contact with area winemakers, growers and homeowners explaining the eradication process.
Currently, winemakers and growers can use their current crop of grapes for commercial purposes, while homeowners are being asked by the county to dispose their fruit, O’Day said.
The boundaries of the quarantine in Santa Clara County are Llagas Road in Morgan Hill on the north, Foothill Avenue and New Avenue in Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy on the east, Miller Avenue in Gilroy on the south and the Santa Clara-Santa Cruz County line on the west.
All bulk grapes, harvest bins and equipment must follow rules for leaving the quarantined area.
At least two quarantine meetings will be held with grape growers before eradication begins in spring, but O’Day is giving growers some time to tend to their harvest before establishing a schedule.
According to Wylde, no residential grape growers have objected to having grapes removed from their backyard, like Epolite, who has four rows of vines to make grape jelly.
“My grapes are table eating grapes for the family,” she said, “but if we want wine we can go to out to local vineyards right here.”
The moth hails from Europe, South America, North Africa, Israel and now California.
“It’s really scary,” said Jan Garrod, the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau’s president and owner of Cooper-Garrod Vineyard in Saratoga.
“The unfortunate thing is that this is the end of the season. Now, they’re going to go into the ground, under the debris and we won’t see them again. I know the ag commissioner is going full barrel to see how extensive the problem is. Any time we have an invasive species like this, we got to get it right away.”
South County has slightly more than 1,500 acres of grapes – the largest cluster of grape growers in the county, Garrod said.
“It’s nothing to sneeze at. But I think (O’Day) is being optimistic. They’re putting the traps out there before these moths go into the dormant state. (In the spring), they’re going to be bigger. We don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.
