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 El
Dorado County Agriculture Programs
MISSION The
Department’s mission is to protect, enhance
and promote the preservation of agriculture and the environment while
sustaining the
public health, safety and welfare of all citizens, and to provide consumer
and marketplace protections through the fair and equitable enforcement
of laws and regulations. The
Department of Agriculture, Weights & Measures is responsible
for enforcing laws and regulations from the California Food and Agricultural
Code, the Business and Professions Code, the Health & Safety Code,
the Government Code, the Civil Code, the California Code of Regulation
and the El Dorado County Codes pertaining to agriculture, weights and
measures. PROGRAMS Agriculture The department is responsible for numerous mandated programs that promote,
protect and enhance all aspects of agricultural activities:
Pest Exclusion – Plant Protection
& Quarantine Inspection
This program inspects incoming commodities that may be carrying
pests we do not want in the county or in California. Our goal is
to prevent non-indigenous, harmful pests from becoming established
so that we are more efficient in using our limited resources. The
program also promotes a healthy agricultural economy, as California's
crops are kept free of exotic pests that may require us to impose
restrictive quarantine measures. This program facilitates the exportation
of our unprocessed agricultural products to other states and countries.
Two staff members are trained and certified as USDA-APHIS Inspectors
for issuing Federal Phytosanitary Certificates on commodities for
export. This program is our first line of defense against importation
and exportation of economically important pests.
Grape
Phylloxera Quarantine
All grapevines and cuttings (rooted or otherwise) are prohibited
entry into or movement within El Dorado, Glenn, Lake, Mariposa,
Nevada, and Placer Counties unless accompanied
by an origin certificate or a Hot Water Treatment certificate. All
shipments of grapevines and cuttings (rooted or otherwise) destined
to El Dorado, Glenn, Lake, Mariposa, Nevada, and Placer Counties
must be held at destination for inspection by the county agricultural
commissioner. Equipment used in culturing, harvesting, or transporting
within the vineyard shall be held for inspection upon arrival in
El Dorado, Glenn, Lake, Mariposa, Nevada, and Placer Counties and
shall not be used until inspected and released by the county agricultural
commissioner. Any person, firm, partnership, association, or cooperation
who violates or causes the violation of any of the provisions of
these ordinances shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Pest Detection
The Pest Detection Program serves as a backup for the pest prevention
and quarantine programs. The basic premise for this program is early
detection of exotic pest infestations, such as Mediterranean fruit
fly, Gypsy moth, etc., that would be detrimental to our agricultural
community, natural resources and environment before it becomes uncontrollable.
This program also helps to prevent the need for increased pesticide
usage and gives agriculture the flexibility to ship products throughout
the world. Traps are also placed in vineyards to detect infestations of Vine Mealybug
before they reach uncontrollable population levels. Pest
Management – Vegetation
Management
There are 9 different noxious weed species under eradication throughout
the county. The majority of weed species is listed as `A’ rated
weeds by the state, and is of limited distribution throughout California.
By continuing with an early detection and rapid response strategy,
the department is stopping the introduction and spread of these plants
to protect agriculture, including range and timberlands and the environment.
Integrated Pest Management techniques are used whenever possible in
this program. Vertebrate Pest Management
The department sells three different types of baits to help control rodent
pests such as:
- Two species of ground squirrels
- Rats
- Voles
- Rabbits
- Muskrats
- Two species of mice
These rodents can cause tremendous agricultural and structural damage
while also acting as vectors for various life threatening diseases that
are transmittable to humans. Some of the transmittable diseases include
Bubonic Plague, rabies and Hanta Virus. The goal of this program is to target specific rodent pests without
impacting other beneficial populations of mammals and birds. Glassy-winged Sharpshooter
The Glassy-winged Sharpshooter (GWSS) Pest Management Program was
initiated in 1999 to prevent the introduction of this insect
to El Dorado/Alpine
County. GWSS is known to spread Pierce’s Disease, which can
devastate vineyard plantings. The pest-monitoring program includes
inspections
of all nursery stock shipped into the county from known infested
areas. In addition, over 400 insect traps were deployed and monitored
in nurseries,
vineyards and in urban and rural locations throughout the county. Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) helps growers, pest control advisors
and home/garden owners use various mechanical, biological and chemical
practices in handling pest infestations. IPM emphasizes preventive
methods that provide economical, long-term solutions to pest problems
while minimizing hazards to human health and the environment. IPM techniques
also can reduce the use of pesticides. Nursery Inspection
Inspections are performed on nursery stock entering El Dorado/Alpine
County and nursery stock produced within the county. These inspections
help protect the environment and foster fair competition by assuring
the customer that plants are free from certain plant pests. This allows
growers to ship their products throughout the state, nation and world. Seed Inspection
The inspection of various seeds is designed to protect growers from purchasing
and planting below standard seed. Seed must be labeled with an accurate
percentage of germination, test date, kind of seed, and the percentage
of hard seed and weed seed. Apiary Inspection
Apiary inspections are made for the purpose of sustaining the continued
health of the bee industry in California. Fresh Fruit, Nut, Vegetable and Honey Quality Control
This program is responsible for enforcing quality standards for many
of the fresh fruit, nuts, vegetables and honey available for sale at
the wholesale and retail level. These standards are set by the industry
and serve three purposes: 1) To assist the production agricultural industry in maintaining high
quality produce, and
2) To permit the buying of produce "sight unseen" by ensuring
that a "grade" placed on the produce is standardized throughout
the industry, and
3) To protect the consumer from inferior quality produce. Egg Quality Control
This program is designed similarly to the fruit and vegetable quality
control program above. It assures a standardized grading and sizing
system so that the egg producing industry remains competitive while
affording some protection to the consumer. Additionally, some of
the egg quality standards protect the health of the public. Certified
Farmers’ Market (Direct Marketing)
These locally important markets give the producers of farm products
the option of selling directly to the consumer without the requirements
of meeting size, pack, container, and labeling requirements (Standardization).
These markets give the public a “direct” link to the production
of the crop by buying the produce from the grower. We have four markets
operating in the county with numerous growers from both in and out
of the county participating in them. Organic Producers
The department is the local enforcement agency concerning the registration,
investigation of complaints and auditing of organic producers and handlers.
We assist the producers and businesses with the registration process
by explaining the requirements of the California organic law and Federal
Organic Act. Crop Report
The annual crop report is required by the Food and Agricultural Code
for the purpose of publishing an accurate and meaningful report concerning
the agricultural conditions in El Dorado/Alpine County. Lending/financial
institutions and realty agencies, as well as prospective agricultural
land purchasers, are extremely interested in the annual crop report.
Pesticide Use Enforcement The pesticide regulations of California require safe,
responsible handling of pesticides from the time of purchase through
transportation, storage, usage and disposal. Environmental and public
safeties are of paramount importance to this program. The enforcement
of the regulations by this department applies to all agricultural, non-agricultural
and structural usage. The more toxic pesticides are regulated under the
restricted materials permit program.
Weights and Measures Even
though many people may be unaware of this program, it affects everyone's
daily life through the inspections of all commercially used devices
such as gas pumps, scales and scanners and also the testing of packages
to ensure the product inside the package actually weighs as much as
stated on the label. The department also enforces requirements for
petroleum products including antifreeze, brake fluid, motor oil, grades
of diesel and octane levels of gasoline. We promote fairness and equity in the marketplace for El Dorado/Alpine
County residents and businesses. The mission of weights and measures
is to allow a good value comparison to the consumer while maintaining
fair competition between businesses.
Wildlife Services The
Wildlife Services program is a cooperative venture between El Dorado/Alpine
County and the United States Department of Agriculture – The
USDA provides 1 FTE at a 100% match of county contribution. There are
two types of protection offered under this program:
- Urban animal damage.
These calls involve homeowners who have skunks, raccoons, or other
wildlife that have taken up residence in the
vicinity
of their home, and are causing property damage or they are a threat
to their pets or to human health and safety.
- Farmers and ranchers with livestock,
crop and/or property loss. Typically, these calls involve both
domestic and wild animal attacks on agricultural
land.
The main goal of the program is to remove only the animals
that are causing the problem.
Agricultural
Commission Created
in 1967 by the Board of Supervisors, the Agricultural Commission
acts in an advisory capacity to the Board
and the Planning
Commission on all matters related to agriculture. The Agricultural Commission’s
scope of interest includes a wide variety of agricultural, timber and
land use issues including agricultural land preservation, agricultural
production, forestland preservation and forest production. The Commission
also advises the Board of procedures and techniques requiring legislative
or policy actions that would encourage and promote agricultural activities
that are conducive to the continued well being of El Dorado/Alpine County. The Commission consists of seven members representing various aspects
of the agricultural and timber industries. The Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer
provides staff support for the Agricultural Commission and acts as an
ex-officio member to the Commission.
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