Farm Fresh To You

Retail Store

Online Store

Home & Office Delivery

May Farm Tour Photos / Farm Work Day Info

March 5, 2008

Light Brown Apple Moth

Last week several customers tracked me down and wanted to know my opinion regarding the Light Brown Apple Moth situation in our back yards. The presence of this moth in our ecosystem is a legitimate cause for alarm. The moth is native to Australia but it is currently in New Caledonia, the British Isles, New Zealand and Hawaii (where it has lived for more than 100 years).

The question to ask ourselves is: how dangerous is this insect to our food production system? If this insect is able to further establish itself in California, it will have a negative impact on vegetable crops, vineyards and tree crops. Speculation about the severity of the damage this insect will inflict on crops is only speculation. Making comparisons to how the moth has affected similar crops in Australia is not fair because the relationship between predators of this moth in Australia are known but they are not known in California.

There is no question that the establishment of this insect in California agriculture will lead to an increased number of chemical applications. If the insect establishes itself into grapes, for example, all of the grape growers will learn the patterns of the insect as they relate to the grape life cycle and begin a systematic schedule of chemical application to combat the insect. The establishment of the Light Brown Apple Moth will move California farms away from cleaner production of the same products; and it will potentially leave organic farmers with a problem that has no solution.

I do agree that the non-native moth should be eradicated. The current plan is to spray pheromones to disrupt the mating cycle of the moth - this works because if it appears to the male moths that the whole world smells like female moths, then finding mates, and thus reproducing, becomes impossible. The input of these pheromones today could potentially eliminate the use of thousands upon thousands of pounds of chemicals that would be needed to combat the moth at the field level in the future. However, both of these solutions treat symptoms of a much larger problem.

The real question that nobody is focusing on is why did these moths get imported into California in the first place? My guess is that the moth came into California with a shipment of apples from New Zealand and if that guess is not correct the truth cannot be much different. The solution to the problem is to stop importing fruits and vegetables from around the world, particularly from ecosystems that are so similar to our own – who knows what will be imported next. If everyone on the West Coast subscribed to eating produce that only grew in the West Coast, this moth would have most likely not been imported. If we are successful in eradicating the moth today, how long will it be until we need to do it again and how long will it be until we have imported something that we cannot control? Ecosystems are very delicate balances that should not be messed with.

The solution that needs to receive a more serious look from the public and from the government are the individual actions and public policies that affect food sourcing and accessibility. Food security, agricultural stability and ecosystem wellbeing relies consumers supporting food grown closer to home. Hats off to you for making that choice, Thaddeus

Watch for upcoming events !!

Our Next Farm Tour is To Be Announced.

Stay tuned for upcoming farm tours.
Bring a picnic, family and friends to come out and see
the farm. Call or email the office with questions, and
we cannot wait to see you in Capay!