Field workers tend to a strawberry field Wednesday on West Beach Street.

Farmers in the Pajaro Valley will see the noose tightening on their exports of crops to Canada and Mexico, as those countries have imposed new restrictions on farms from counties infested with the light brown apple moth.

The restrictions may make it practically impossible for farmers to sell their fruits, vegetables, cut flowers and nursery plants to customers in the two nations, the California Farm Bureau Federation warned Wednesday.

“Farmers tend to see the impact of invading pests first, but the light brown apple moth will also hurt home gardens and our natural environment,” California Farm Bureau Federation President Doug Mosebar said in a press release. “Other places don’t want the moth, and they’ll clamp down on our farmers to make sure that it doesn’t move. The trading restrictions pose a particular burden for organic farmers and for small-scale farms and nurseries that sell products in Canada and Mexico.”

Mosebar said federal and state government agencies must convince trading partners that they intend to eradicate the light brown apple moth. At the same time, he said, they must show residents and elected officials that the moth can be eradicated safely and effectively.

That’s a tall order in California, where a public backlash has mounted against the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s plans to spray pheromones to combat the invasive pest. The California Assembly held hearings Wednesday about the pheromone applications.

“We’re for the pheromone applications, we’re for the eradication effort,” Rayne Thompson, director of international trade and plant health for the California Farm Bureau Federation, said in an interview Wednesday. “There are other alternatives that we definitely support and we’re encouraging the department to look into, such as biocontrols and ground treatments.”

Dave Kranz, spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation, said, “The additional restrictions from Canada and Mexico are going to have an impact on farmers, and they’re trying to sell products into those two markets.”

Canada is the second largest destination for California agricultural exports, behind only the European Union, Kranz noted. Lettuce and strawberries are the state’s top two exports to Canada, he said.

“It’s a real concern to try and balance the need; this is a pest that other regions, other nations want to keep out,” Kranz said.

“The trading partners need to be convinced that we, the United States, intend to eradicate the light brown apple moth. The farmers are in the middle of it all trying to cope with the impacts,” he said.

Last fall, reacting to the light brown apple moth, Canada slapped restrictions on imports of California vegetables to British Columbia. On the list of prohibited imports were wild cabbage, collards, Chinese kale, broccoli, cauliflower, head cabbage and brussel sprouts.

Now, the restrictions are expanding.

Canada is the No. 2 foreign market for California farms and ranches, purchasing almost $1.9 billion in products annually, according to CDFA. The two leading farm exports to Canada, lettuce and strawberries, are grown primarily in counties now affected by light brown apple moth quarantines. Mexico purchases more than $560 million in California farm products each year. Strawberries, nursery crops and lettuce are among the top 10 products that Mexican buyers purchase from California.

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*Photo by Tarmo Hannula*

(Published in 3/13/08 edition)

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