The Agriculture Department at Pierce College is an important part of its history, having been the focus of its founding. So, it should be a point of focus for Pierce to inform its students on pertinent information related to farming when the U.S. Department of Agriculture is lacking.
California’s number one industry is agriculture and made $59.4 billion in 2023, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. As a significant part of the state economy, Californians should be made aware of invasive species that could slip through the cracks of the government’s pest control efforts, such as the spotted lanternfly (SLF).
Unintentionally spread to the United States sometime in 2014, the SLF is an invasive pest that hitchhikes on shipments and vehicles. So far, its influence has affected 14 eastern states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and Illinois.
When SLF feeds on crops, it drains sap from the plants, inhibiting photosynthesis. It also produces a sugary waste product referred to as honeydew that is especially attractive to types of sooty mold. Feeding in swarms, they can decimate plant life, and in Pennsylvania alone, they caused a reported $554 million in losses within the agricultural sector in 2020, according to a study conducted by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences.
With an affinity for grape vines in particular, if the spotted lanternfly were introduced to California, it could be especially harmful to the wine industry. With reports of hundreds of lanternflies per vine, they can cause a lack of winter hardiness, no return crop and vine death.
Just affecting grapes would be a blow to California’s agriculture by itself, but SLF has 56 plants it can feed on in North America. Among the crops it could target are apples, mulberrys, blueberries, cherries, peaches and plums.
California’s climate and crops are ideal for proliferating the spotted lanternfly, so resources are put toward making sure that none of the pests or its egg casings are found hitchhiking on shipments into the state. But SLF already has a “man” on the inside that could make the potential problem even worse.
The Chinese sumac, also known as the tree of heaven, is an invasive species of deciduous tree that has spread to more than 30 states, including California, and it produces problems of its own. It grows quickly and produces toxic chemicals in its roots that inhibit the growth of other plants nearby.
Not only does the tree kill off plant diversity, it also is the ideal host for SLF, the two species having evolved in tandem in their native environments of China and Vietnam. Should the spotted lanternfly get past security, the presence of the Chinese sumac will make quarantine and eradication difficult.
The USDA collaborates with local agriculture and wildlife organizations to try to keep the spotted lanternfly in check, but with the recent cuts to funding and staff by the Trump administration, their resources are getting spread thinner, and it may fall to the local level to keep our crops safe.
An effective way to prevent the spread of SLF is by being informed of the signs. As a college with a rich agricultural history, it is in Pierce’s best to teach its students about what to do if the SLF is spotted.
