He added that vineyards are able to keep certain bugs at bay, but there’s a great concern about spotted lanternflies.
“The lanterns are actual huge bugs, and they can be in the thousands on trees.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
“There’s no pesticide in California that is registered to treat them,” said Magdaleno.
“If we do have to go ahead and treat them, unfortunately, the regulations in California are definitely a little tighter than other states. It can make it harder for us to deal with them.”
Magdaleno, pictured here, describes himself as a “crop doctor.” “You go to the doctor and the doctor prescribes you something. For me, my patients are wine grapes. Every vine is a little different,” he told FOX Business. (Sam Bail / Fox News)
The California wine industry employs 422,000 California workers and attracts 25.2 million tourists to CA’s wine countries each year, according to the Wine Institute.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
“It’s already super expensive to treat all these pests” Magdaleno said, adding if a pesticide chemistry was made, it would impact overhead costs for vineyards.
“While other states with established SLF [spotted lanternfly] populations encourage the public to ‘stomp it out,’ in California, we want to verify that it is indeed SLF to respond rapidly and accurately to the area where it was found,” said the CAWG (Sam Bail/Getty Images / Getty Images)
If a spotted lanternfly is seen, the CAWG urges Californians to “Snag It: Capture the insect if possible. Snap a Picture: Take a clear photo of the suspected SLF. Report It: Contact the CDFA to report your findings.”
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle
FOX Business reached out to the California Department of Agriculture for additional comment.
