Kate Fuller is a post doctoral research in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Davis. She studies the economics of agricultural pests and diseases.

Plant viruses affect many crops and cost billions of dollars annually in preventative measures and damages. In grapevines, most long-distance spread of viruses is caused by the movement of infected plants, which can be controlled effectively if clean stock is made available to growers. Several grapevine clean plant centers, which provide virus testing and cleaning services, have been established throughout the United States. These centers work in partnership with the USDA to provide an inventory of certified...

On November 14, 2013, Cornell Plant Virologist, Dr. Marc Fuchs, began a three-stop, Red Blotch speaking tour of Northern California. He began in Davis, speaking to a crowd of close to 200 at UC Davis, before moving on to Napa and Mendocino. As Dr. Fuchs is on the forefront of Grapevine Red Blotch Disease research, we on the West Coast were very lucky to have the opportunity to hear him speak. His presentation at Davis, Red Blotch: Challenges and Opportunities, was recorded and has been posted online here. You can also find the...

We are now 2 weeks away from the FPS Annual Meeting! FPS staff are hustling to get everything ready to go for the over 100 registrants we expect.

If you haven't done so already, visit the FPS Events page to register and download agendas. There is no fee to attend, but registration is required to ensure accurate catering numbers. We request that you register by November 11th.

Please note that the start time for the Grape Meeting has been changed to 9 am to accomadate a more robust program.

Back in February, FPS announced the results from its initial testing of 1600 vines from the Classic Foundation and the entire planting at the Russell Ranch Foundation Vineyards. Yesterday, FPS announced the results of further testing of the Classic Foundation and posted a list of those results on their website.

We've now tested nearly...