2025 first_quarter Filing

Issues relating to the Farm Bill and support of inclusion of additional funding for Plant Protection Act Section 7721to combat pests and diseases harmful to agriculture. Issues relating to the Farm Bill and support of inclusion of adequate funding necessary to enhance training of agricultural detector dog teams to ensure growing use of canine teams nationally and within territories of the U.S. focusing on interior U.S. pathways that could introduce pests harmful to U.S. agriculture and trade. Issues relating to the Farm Bill and support codifying state level pesticide preemption. Issues relating to the Farm Bill and support continuing implementation and authorized funding levels for Emergency Citrus Research & Extension Program and Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI). Support the USDA Wildlife Services National Feral Swine Damage Program and direct USDA to prioritize areas with the most populous swine population. Support USDA Wildlife Services non-lethal strategies through funding to hire and maintain current personnel to promote and implement non-lethal human-predator conflict. Support H.R. 776, the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2025. Support maintaining the USDA honey grade program and ensuring imported honey is of good quality and safe for US consumers. Issues relating to the authorization for USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to set and collect user fees sufficient to cover the cost of providing and administering Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (AQI) services at ports of entry. Support federal coordination for regulatory development and implementation among the varying agencies with jurisdiction over industrial hemp. Support the use and adoption of equitable and uniform federal standards for cannabis and cannabis-containing products across federal and state jurisdictions.

Support adequate & consistent annual funding for USDA-APHIS biological pest & disease management programs such as those that support the U.S specialty crop industry in the FY 2026 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. Support adequate funding for biological infrastructure such as laboratories and Sterile Insect Release Facilities that provide much needed scientific support to the U.S. specialty crop industry in the FY 2026 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. Issues relating to County funds as part of the combined federal-state-local funds that are directed to pest and disease programs protecting California and the nations agriculture industry. Support consistent funding for Huanglongbing (HLB) Multi-Agency Coordination (MAC) framework and encourage APHIS to implement project ideas suggested by the HLB/MAC Stakeholders for early detection and biocontrol, maintain activities, and respond to ACP or HLB detections in new areas of California in the FY 2026 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. Support increase in funding for the glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS) program in the FY 2026 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. The bacterial disease GWSS vectors, Xylella fastidiosa, or Pierces disease (PD), threatens the California grape industry and many other commodities. Support improving cost-share equity in California county-federal cooperative agreements protecting $55 billion in agricultural resources and direct USDA to allocate Wildlife Services funding based on states’ wildlife damage rankings in the FY 2026 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. Support full authorization level of H.R. 776, the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2025. Issues relating to California county general funds expended annually for implementation of a comprehensive pesticide use enforcement program. Support adequate funding for Protecting America’s Food and Agriculture Act (P.L. 116-122) authorizing the hiring of an additional 240 agricultural specialists per year, the hiring of an additional 200 agricultural technicians per year for administrative and support functions, and the training and assignment of 20 new canine inspection teams per year. Support adequate funding for U.S. Forest Service, State, Private and Tribal Forestry that partners with state and local programs, like Weed Management Areas, to combat the spread of invasive and non-native species that negatively impact ecosystems and intensify wildfires due to biodiversity alteration and changed fuel load properties in the FY 2026 appropriations bill for Interior and Environment. Support adequate federal funding to develop industrial hemp markets in the west, specifically those that aid in the utilization of food, fiber and seed products. Support adequate funding for USDA Field Crop and Rangeland Ecosystem Pests program in the FY 2026 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. Since 2022, grasshopper infestations in southern Oregon, northern Nevada, and eleven California counties (from northern California to the Central Valley) have caused moderate-to-major damage to rangelands, orchards, and vineyards.