Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data 2005 Indexed by Chemical

Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data 2005
Indexed by Chemical

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CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PESTICIDE REGULATION
California Environmental Protection Agency
1001 I Street
Sacramento, California 95814-3510
Arnold Schwarzengger, Governor
Alan Lloyd, Secretary for Environmental Protection
Mary-Ann Warmerdam, Director
Department of Pesticide Regulation

January 2006

Any portion of this report may be reproduced for any but profit-making purposes.
For information on purchase of additional copies or of electronic data files, see order form.
This report is also available on DPR's Web site
If you have questions concerning this report, call (916) 324-4100.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ORDER FORM

I. INTRODUCTION

Development and Implementation of the Pesticide Use Reporting System
Types of Pesticide Applications Reported
How Pesticide Data Are Used
Risk Assessment
Worker Health and Safety
Public Health
Endangered Species
Water Quality
Air Quality
Pest Management
Processor and Retailer Requirements

II. COMMENTS AND CLARIFICATIONS OF DATA

Terminology
Commodity Codes
Unregistered Use
Adjuvants
Zero Pounds Applied
Acres Treated
Number of Applications
Outliers

III. DATA SUMMARY

Pesticide Use In California
Pesticide Sales In California
Table of pounds of pesticide active ingredients reported in each county and rank during 2004 and 2005
Table of pounds of pesticide active ingredients used from 1994 - 2005 by general use categories

IV. TRENDS IN USE IN CERTAIN PESTICIDE CATEGORIES

USE TRENDS OF PESTICIDES ON THE STATE'S PROPOSITION 65 LIST OF CHEMICALS THAT ARE "KNOWN TO CAUSE REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY"
USE TRENDS OF PESTICIDES LISTED BY U.S. EPA AS CARCINOGENS OR BY THE STATE AS "KNOWN TO CAUSE CANCER"
USE TRENDS OF CHOLINESTERASE INHIBITING PESTICIDES
USE TRENDS OF PESTICIDES ON DPR'S GROUNDWATER PROTECTION LIST
USE TRENDS OF PESTICIDES ON DPR'S TOXIC AIR CONTAMINANTS LIST
USE TRENDS OF FUMIGANT PESTICIDES
USE TRENDS OF OIL PESTICIDES
USE TRENDS OF REDUCED-RISK PESTICIDES
USE TRENDS OF BIOPESTICIDES

V. TRENDS IN PESTICIDE USE IN CERTAIN COMMODITIES

VI. SUMMARY OF PESTICIDE USE REPORT DATA 2005 INDEXED BY CHEMICAL (PDF, 1.4 mb)

Questions regarding the Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data or information regarding the availability and cost of the computerized database should be directed to: Department of Pesticide Regulation, Pest Management and Licensing Branch, P.O. Box 4015, Sacramento, California 95812-4015.Telephone (916) 445-3887 or email questions to mwilliams@cdpr.ca.gov.

ORDER FORM

To continue to make the Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data available, it is necessary to charge for the costs of reproduction and mailing. The reports can also be downloaded free of charge from the Department’s web site.

The 1989 - 2005 Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data indexed by chemical or commodity reports can be found on DPR’s web at www.cdpr.ca.gov. The Annual Pesticide Use Report Data (the complete database of reported pesticide applications for 1990-2005) are available on CD ROM. The files are in text (comma delimited format).

The Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data is available in two formats. One report is indexed by chemical and lists the amount of each pesticide used, the commodity on which it was used, the number of agricultural applications, and the acres/units treated. The second report is indexed by commodity and lists the chemicals used, the number of agricultural applications, amount of pesticides used, and the acres/units treated.

I. INTRODUCTION

Development and Implementation of the Pesticide Use Reporting System

This 2005 Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data includes agricultural applications and other selected uses reported in California. The report represents a summary of the data gathered under full use reporting. The Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) uses the data to help estimate dietary risk and to ensure compliance with clean air laws as well as ground water protection regulations. Site-specific use report data, combined with geographic data on endangered species habitats, also helps county agricultural commissioners resolve potential pesticide use conflicts. Detailed, individual pesticide use report data may be obtained from DPR for in depth, analytical purposes.

Under full use reporting, which began in 1990, California became the first state to require reporting of all agricultural pesticide use, including amounts applied and types of crops or places (e.g., structures, roadsides) treated. Commercial applications-including structural fumigation, pest control, and turf applications-must also be reported. Pesticide use reporting is explained in more detail below.

Types of Pesticide Applications Reported

Partial reporting of agricultural pesticide use has been in place in California since at least the 1950s. Beginning in 1970, anyone who used restricted materials was required to file a pesticide use report with the county agricultural commissioner. The criteria established to designate a pesticide as a restricted material include:

public health
farm workers
domestic animals
honeybees
the environment
wildlife
other crops

Restricted materials, with certain exceptions, may be possessed or used only by, or under the supervision of, licensed or certified persons and only in accordance with an annual permit issued by a county agricultural commissioner.

In addition, the State required commercial pest control operators¹ to report all pesticides used, whether restricted or nonrestricted. These reports included information about the pesticide applied, when and where the application was made, and the crop involved if the application was in agriculture. The reports were entered into a computerized database and summarized by chemical and crop in annual reports.

With implementation of full use reporting in 1990, the following pesticide uses are required to be reported to the commissioner, who, in turn, reports the data to DPR:

For the production of any agricultural commodity, except livestock.
For the treatment of postharvest agricultural commodities.
For landscape maintenance in parks, golf courses, and cemeteries.
For roadside and railroad rights-of-way.
For poultry and fish production.
Any application of a restricted material.
Any application of a pesticide with the potential to pollute ground water (listed in section 6800 (b) of the California Code of Regulations, Title 3, Division 6, Chapter 4, Subchapter 1, Article 1) when used outdoors in industrial and institutional settings.
Any application by a licensed pest control operator.

The primary exceptions to the use reporting requirements are home and garden use and most industrial and institutional uses.

¹Pest control operators include those in the business of applying pesticides such as agricultural applicators, structural fumigators, and professional gardeners.

HOW PESTICIDE DATA ARE USED

DPR undertook the expansion of use reporting primarily in response to concerns of many individuals and groups, including government officials, scientists, farmers, legislators, and public interest groups. It was generally acknowledged that the system for estimating dietary exposure to pesticide residues did not provide sufficient data on which to make realistic assessments; this often resulted in overestimates of risk. Farm worker representatives were also asking for more information to determine exposure and potential risk to those who handle pesticides or who work in treated fields.

There are several key areas in which data generated by full use reporting are proving beneficial.

Risk Assessment

Without information on actual pesticide use, regulatory agencies conducting risk assessment assume all planted crop acreage is treated with many pesticides, even though most crops are treated with just a few chemicals. If the assumptions used by regulatory agencies are incorrect, regulators could make judgments on pesticide risks that are too cautious by several orders of magnitude, reducing the credibility of risk management decisions. The use report data, on the other hand, provides actual use data so DPR can better assess risk and make more realistic risk management decisions.

After the passage of the federal Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) in 1996, complete pesticide use data became even more important to commodity groups in California and to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). FQPA contains a new food safety standard against which all pesticide tolerances must be measured. The increased interest in the state’s pesticide use data, especially for calculating percent crop treated, came at a time when DPR was increasing the efficiency with which it produced its annual report. DPR was able to provide up-to-date use data and summaries to commodity groups, University of California specialists, U.S. EPA programs, and other interested parties as they developed the necessary information for the reassessment of existing tolerances.

Worker Health and Safety

Under the reporting regulations, pest control operators must give farmers a written notice after every pesticide application that includes the date and time the application was completed, and the reentry and preharvest intervals². This notice gives the farmer accurate information to help keep workers from entering fields prematurely, and also lets the farmer know the earliest date a commodity can be harvested.

DPR’s Worker Health and Safety Branch also uses the data for worker exposure assessment as part of developing an overall risk characterization document. Use data helps scientists estimate typical applications and how often pesticides are used.

²A reentry interval is the time from which a pesticide application is made and when workers may enter a field. A preharvest interval is the time between an application and when a commodity can be harvested.

Public Health

The expanded reporting system provides DPR, the State Department of Health Services, and the Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment with complete pesticide use data for evaluating possible human illness clusters in epidemiological studies.

Endangered Species

DPR works with the county agricultural commissioners to combine site-specific use report data with geographic information system-based data on locations of endangered species. The resulting database helps commissioners resolve potential conflicts over pesticide use where endangered species may occur. DPR and the commissioners can also examine patterns of pesticide use near habitats to determine the potential impact of proposed use limitations. With location-specific data on pesticide use, restrictions on use can be better designed to protect endangered species while still allowing necessary pest control.

Water Quality

Since 1983, DPR has had a program to work with the rice industry and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board to reduce contamination of surface water by rice pesticides. Using PUR data to help in pinpointing specific agricultural practices, more precise alternative use recommendations can be made to assure protection of surface water.

The Pesticide Contamination Prevention Act requires site-specific records to help track pesticide use in areas known to be susceptible to ground water contamination. Determinations can also be made from the records on whether a contaminated well is physically associated with agricultural practices. These records also provide data to help researchers determine why certain soil types are more prone to ground water contamination.

Air Quality

Many pesticide products contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to the formation of smog. DPR worked with the state Air Resources Board to put together a State Implementation Plan under the federal Clean Air Act to reduce emissions of all sources of VOCs, including pesticides, in nonattainment areas of the state. DPR’s contribution to the plan included accurate data on the amount of VOCs contained in pesticides and the ability to inventory the use of those pesticides through pesticide use reporting.

Pest Management

The Department uses the PUR database to understand patterns and changes in pest management practices. This information can be used to determine possible alternatives to pesticides that are subject to regulatory actions and to help determine possible impacts of different regulatory actions on pest management.

The PUR is used to help meet the needs of FQPA, which requires pesticide use information for determining the appropriateness of pesticide residue tolerances. As part of this process many commodity groups have created crop profiles, which include information on the pest management practices and available options, both chemical and nonchemical. Pesticide use data is critical to developing these lists of practices and options.

The PUR data have been used to support and assess grant projects for a grant program conducted by DPR to develop, demonstrate and implement reduced-hazard pest management strategies from 1995 to 2003. Due to the statewide budget shortfall, funds are not currently available to offer grants. However, the PUR data have been used in several projects that build on work conducted in our grant program in the almond and stonefruit industries. In these and other projects, the PUR data are used to address regional pesticide use patterns and environmental problems such as water and air quality. The data are also used to better understand current changes in pesticide use.

DPR has published general analyses of statewide pesticide use patterns and trends. The first analysis covered the years 1991 to 1995, and the second more detailed analysis covered 1991 to 1996. These analyses identified high-use pesticides, the crops to which those pesticides were applied, trends in use, and the pesticides most responsible for changes in use. In addition, since 1997, the annual Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data reports include summary trends of pesticides in several different categories such as carcinogens, reproductive toxins, and ground water contaminants.

Processor and Retailer Requirements

Food processors, produce packers, and retailers often require farmers to submit a complete history of pesticide use on crops. DPR’s use report form often satisfies this requirement.

II. COMMENTS AND CLARIFICATIONS OF DATA

The following comments and points should be taken into consideration when analyzing data contained in this report:

TERMINOLOGY

The following terminology is used in this report:

Number of agricultural applications - Number of applications of pesticide products made to production agriculture. More detailed information is given below under " Number of Applications."
Pounds applied - Number of pounds of an active ingredient.
Unit type - The amount listed in this column is one of the following:
A = Acreage
C = Cubic feet (of commodity treated)
K = Thousand cubic feet (of commodity treated)
P = Pounds (of commodity treated)
S = Square feet
T = Tons (of commodity treated)
U = Miscellaneous units (e.g., number of tractors, trees, bins, etc.)

COMMODITY CODES

UNREGISTERED USE

The report contains entries that reflect the use of a pesticide on a commodity for which the pesticide is not currently registered. This sometimes occurs because the original use report was in error, that is, either the pesticide or the commodity was inaccurately reported. DPR’s computer program checks that the commodity is listed on the label, but nonetheless such errors appear in the PUR, possibly because of errors in the label database. Also, the validation program does not check whether the pesticide product was registered at the time of application. For example, parathion (ethyl parathion) is shown reported on crops after most uses were suspended in 1992. (These records are researched and corrected as time and resources allow.) DPR continues to implement methods which identify and reduce these types of reporting errors in future reports. Other instances may occur because by law, growers are sometimes allowed to use stock they have on hand of a pesticide product that has been withdrawn from the market by the manufacturer or suspended or canceled by regulatory authorities.

Other reporting "errors" may occur when a pesticide is applied directly to a site to control a particular pest, but is not applied directly to the crop in the field. A grower may use an herbicide to treat weeds on the edge of a field, a fumigant on bare soil prior to planting, or a rodenticide to treat rodent burrows. For example, reporting the use of the herbicide glyphosate on tomatoes - when it was actually applied to bare soil prior to planting the tomatoes - could be perceived to be an error. Although technically incorrect, recording the data as if the application were made directly to the commodity provides valuable crop usage information for DPR’s regulatory program.

ADJUVANTS

Data on spray adjuvants (including emulsifiers, wetting agents, foam suppressants, and other efficacy enhancers), not reported prior to full use reporting, are now included. Examples of these types of chemicals include the "alkyls" and some petroleum distillates. (Adjuvants are exempt from federal registration requirements, but must be registered as pesticides in California.)

ZERO POUNDS APLLIED

There are a few entries in this report in which the total pounds applied for certain active ingredients are displayed as zero. This is because the chemical (active ingredient) made up a very small percentage of the formulated product that was used. When these products are applied in extremely low quantities, the resulting value of the active ingredient is too low to register an amount.

ACRES TREATED

The summary information in this annual report cannot be used to determine the total number of acres of a crop. However, it can be used to determine the cumulative acres treated. The problem is that the same field can be treated more than once in a year with the same active ingredient. A similar problem occurs when the product used contains more than one active ingredient. (In any pesticide product, the active ingredient is the component which kills, or otherwise controls, target pests. A pesticide product is made up of one or more active ingredients, as well as one or more inert ingredients.) For example, if a 20-acre field is treated with a product that contains three different pesticide active ingredients, a use report is filed by the farmer correctly recording the application of a single pesticide product to 20 acres. However, in the summary tables, the three different active ingredients will each have recorded 20 acres treated. Adding these values results in a total of 60 acres as being treated instead of the 20 acres actually treated.

NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS

The values for number of applications include only production agricultural applications. Applicators are required to submit one of two basic types of use reports, a production agricultural report or a monthly summary report. The production agricultural report must include information for each application. The monthly summary report, for all uses other than production agriculture, includes only monthly totals for all applications of pesticide product, site or commodity, and applicator. The total number of applications in the monthly summary reports are not consistently given so they are no longer included in the totals. In the annual PUR reports before 1997, each monthly summary record was counted as one application.

In the annual summary report by commodity, the total number of applications given for each commodity may not equal the sum of all applications of each active ingredient on that commodity. As explained above, some pesticide products contain more than one active ingredient. If the number of applications were summed for each active ingredient in such a product, the total number of applications would be more than one, even though only one application of the product was made.

OUTLIERS

In calculating the total pounds of pesticides used in these tables, DPR excluded values for rates of use which were so large they were probably in error. Errors occur, for example, when those reporting pesticide use shift decimal points during data entry. DPR specialists spent more than a year developing, testing, and implementing software to detect probable errors (outliers). Pesticide rates were considered outliers if (1) they were higher than 200 pounds of active ingredient per acre (or greater than 1,000 pounds per acre for fumigants); (2) they were 50 times larger than the median rate for all uses with the same pesticide product, crop treated, unit treated, and record type (that is, production agricultural or all other uses); or (3) they were higher than a value determined by a neural network procedure that approximates what a group of 12 scientists believed were obvious outliers. Although these criteria removed less than one percent of the rate values in the PUR, some rates were so large that if included in the sums, they would have significantly affected total pounds applied of some pesticides. (The outliers are excluded from the total pounds in the summary reports but remain in the database.)

For the years 1991 to 1998, we determined whether or not a use rate was an outlier based on the distribution of rates for all applications on each crop and pesticide during the year of its application. Beginning with the 1999 PUR, we determined outliers in two stages. In the first stage, outliers were identified as data that came to DPR from the counties during the year but based on the distribution of rates from the previous year. This procedure allowed us to include outliers in the error reports sent back to the counties. In the second stage, the outlier program was run after all the current year data were received using the distribution of rates for that year. This procedure found additional outliers for new products and new uses. We currently use the two-stage procedure.

Beginning with the 1999 PUR data, values have been substituted where outliers were identified in the first phase. Nulls were substituted in numeric fields identified as outliers, and "???" were substituted in character fields identified as outliers. A median rate value for use on a commodity/product combination was substituted where a high rate per acre was the error. In addition, "Unknown" was substituted where the reported site code was invalid.

III. DATA SUMMARY

This report is a summary of data submitted to DPR. Total pounds may change slightly due to ongoing error correction. The revised numbers will more accurately reflect the total pounds applied.

PESTICIDE USE IN CALIFORNIA

In 2005, there were 194,310,983 pounds of pesticide active ingredients reported used in California. (Not all of Ventura County 2005 PUR data was available at the time of publication.) Annual use has varied from year to year since full use reporting was implemented in 1990. For example, reported pesticide use was 180 million pounds in 2004, 176 million pounds in 2003, 172 million pounds in 2002, 151 million pounds in 2001 (when not all Kern County PUR data were available), and188 million pounds in 2000.

Such variances are, and will continue to be, a normal occurrence. These fluctuations can be attributed to a variety of factors, including changes in planted acreage, crop plantings, pest pressures, and weather conditions. For example, extremely heavy rains result in excessive weeds, thus more pesticides may be used; drought conditions may result in fewer planted acres, thus less pesticide may be used.

As in previous years, the greatest pesticide use occurred in California’s San Joaquin Valley (Table 1). Four counties in this region had the highest use: Fresno, Kern, Tulare, and San Joaquin.

Table 2 breaks down the pounds of pesticide use by general use categories: production agriculture, post-harvest commodity fumigation, structural pest control, landscape maintenance, and all others.

PESTICIDE SALES IN CALIFORNIA

Reported pesticide applications are only a portion of the pesticides sold each year. Typically, about two-thirds of the pesticide active ingredients sold in a given year are not subject to use reporting. Examples of non-reported active ingredients are chlorine (used primarily for municipal water treatment) and home-use pesticide products.

Based on preliminary reports, about 616 million pounds of active ingredients were sold in 2005. There were 705 million pounds sold in 2004, 645 million pounds in 2003, 598 million pounds in 2002, 563 million pounds in 2001, 601 million pounds in 2000, 707 million pounds in 1999, and 617 million pounds in 1998. Prior years data are posted on DPR’s web site at www.cdpr.ca.gov under programs & services/mill assessment/report of pesticides sold in California.

In addition, it should be noted that the pounds of pesticides used and the number of applications are not necessarily accurate indicators of the extent of pesticide use or, conversely, the extent of use of reduced-risk pest management methods. For example, farmers may make a number of small-scale "spot" applications targeted at problem areas rather than one treatment of a large area. They may replace a more toxic pesticide used at one pound per acre with a less hazardous compound that must be applied at several pounds per acre. Either of these scenarios could increase the number of applications or amount of pounds used, respectively, without indicating an increased reliance on pesticides.

Table 1. Total pounds of pesticide active ingredients reported in each county and rank during 2004 and 2005.

	2004 Pesticide Use		2005 Pesticide Use
County	Pounds Applied	Rank	Pounds Applied	Rank
Alameda	269,261	41	358,426	39
Alpine	109	58	195	58
Amador	117,736	43	150,022	43
Butte	2,962,210	18	3,142,996	18
Calaveras	92,203	45	39,177	48
Colusa	1,809,678	23	1,908,137	23
Contra Costa	556,561	36	881,352	31
Del Norte	369,627	39	363,736	38
El Dorado	105,982	44	129,673	45
Fresno	29,434,260	1	32,085,832	1
Glenn	2,399,082	20	2,207,066	22
Humboldt	86,266	46	57,683	47
Imperial	6,072,783	10	6,061,083	10
Inyo	27,579	51	6,211	54
Kern	23,882,466	2	28,047,693	2
Kings	5,903,039	11	6,222,848	9
Lake	704,033	32	757,574	35
Lassen	70,447	47	143,326	44
Los Angeles	3,674,348	13	3,307,758	15
Madera	8,512,876	6	11,235,390	5
Marin	56,552	49	58,483	46
Mariposa	24,557	52	5,930	55
Mendocino	1,162,903	28	1,213,175	28
Merced	7,707,805	7	7,109,467	7
Modoc	385,516	37	440,263	37
Mono	1,119	57	2,414	56
Monterey	9,114,603	5	8,628,082	6
Napa	2,236,410	21	2,338,185	21
Nevada	34,792	50	35,840	49
Orange	1,469,915	26	1,500,049	26
Placer	374,618	38	318,128	40
Plumas	11,931	53	7,352	53
Riverside	3,242,339	16	3,200,448	17
Sacramento	3,283,459	15	3,887,613	13
San Benito	624,510	33	775,579	34
San Bernardino	619,459	34	520,690	36
San Diego	2,108,419	22	1,670,895	25
San Francisco	10,794	54	23,510	51
San Joaquin	10,036,054	4	11,902,163	4
San Luis Obispo	1,712,208	25	2,432,506	20
San Mateo	223,683	42	275,230	41
Santa Barbara	4,109,252	12	4,350,148	12
Santa Clara	865,992	30	951,531	30
Santa Cruz	1,743,551	24	1,681,344	24
Shasta	294,416	40	217,830	42
Sierra	3,727	56	2,360	57
Siskiyou	837,675	31	841,240	33
Solano	1,025,269	29	1,013,223	29
Sonoma	3,058,405	17	3,366,565	14
Stanislaus	6,138,003	9	6,016,392	11
Sutter	3,624,764	14	3,307,058	16
Tehama	596,303	35	858,989	32
Trinity	10,223	55	11,972	52
Tulare	15,056,053	3	17,534,471	3
Tuolumne	69,071	48	29,883	50
Ventura	7,283,033	8	6,352,462	8
Yolo	2,665,655	19	2,823,694	19
Yuba	1,398,577	27	1,499,642	27
	180,272,161		194,310,983

Table 2. Total pounds of pesticide active ingredients reported in each county and rank during 2004 and 2005.

Year	Production Agriculture	Postharvest Fumigation	Structural Pest Control	Landscape Maintenance	All Others*	Total Pounds
1995	187,577,922	3,770,169	4,839,368	1,382,563	7,563,928	205,133,950
1996	182,375,369	1,847,859	4,738,168	1,259,332	7,607,752	197,828,481
1997	189,796,122	1,608,996	5,184,905	1,231,788	6,957,905	204,779,717
1998	198,568,999	1,655,875	5,930,988	1,405,312	6,783,731	214,344,905
1999	185,457,062	2,019,542	5,673,321	1,403,635	7,858,041	202,411,602
2000	172,730,676	2,143,396	5,165,189	1,395,598	6,728,174	188,163,033
2001	138,842,868	1,446,359	4,923,647	1,290,542	6,214,977	152,718,393
2002	152,506,562	1,847,353	5,467,116	1,439,532	6,679,534	167,940,097
2003	158,729,003	1,821,455	5,143,281	1,946,478	7,487,648	175,127,865
2004	164,704,049	1,901,289	5,129,817	1,565,103	6,971,902	180,272,161
2005	176,240,642	2,316,717	5,541,472	1,751,475	8,460,676	194,310,983**

* Not all of Ventura County 2005 PUR data was available at the time of publication. The statewide 2005 PUR database will be amended to include the data.

** This category includes pesticide applications reported in the following general categories: pest control on rights-of-way; public health which includes mosquito abatement work; vertebrate pest control; fumigation of nonfood and nonfeed materials such as lumber, furniture, etc.; pesticide used in research; and regulatory pest control used in ongoing control and/eradication of pest infestations.

IV. TRENDS IN USE IN CERTAIN PESTICIDE CATEGORIES

Reported pesticide use in California in 2005 totaled 194 million pounds, an increase of 14 million pounds from 2004. Production agriculture, the major category of use subject to reporting requirements, accounted for most of the overall increase in use. Applications for production agriculture increased by 12 million pounds. Not all of Ventura County 2005 PUR data was available at the time of publication, mostly applications made in November and December. Based on reported use in Ventura County during November and December from 2002 to 2004, the current total pounds is probably short by 0.5 million pounds. The AIs most affected are captan and petroleum oil.

The active ingredients (AI) with the largest uses by pounds were sulfur, petroleum oils, metam-sodium, 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D), and mineral oil. Sulfur use increased by 7.3 million pounds (13 percent) and was the most highly used pesticide in 2005, both in pounds applied and acres treated. By pounds, sulfur accounted for 32 percent of all reported pesticide use. Sulfur is a natural fungicide favored by both conventional and organic farmers. Petroleum oil use increased by 182,000 pounds (1.1 percent), metam-sodium use decreased by 1.6 million pounds (-11 percent), 1,3-D use increased by 375,000 pounds (4.2 percent), and mineral oil use increased by 51,000 pounds (0.6 percent).

Major crops or sites that showed an overall increase in pesticide pounds applied from 2004 to 2005 included wine grapes (6.0 million pounds increase), oranges (2.7 million pounds), raisin and table grapes (1.8 million pounds), walnuts (1.2 million pounds), and almonds (1.0 million pounds). Major crops or sites with decreased pounds applied included rice (1.5 million pounds decrease), fresh tomatoes (0.70 million pounds), rights of way (0.42 million pounds), strawberries (0.42 million pounds), and lemons (0.37 million pounds).

DPR data analyses have shown that pesticide use varies from year to year depending upon pest problems, weather, acreage and types of crops planted, economics, and other factors. In general, spring 2005 was cool and rainy so diseases of many crops were worse than the previous year and therefore fungicide use was greater and accounted for most of the increased pesticide use in 2005. Pounds applied and acres treated of most of the other major pesticide types increased as well, except for herbicides and fumigants. A dramatic increase occurred in the use of some newer, reduced-risk pesticides such as boscalid, pyraclostrobin, indoxacarb, and methoxyfenozide. Prices improved in 2005 for most of the 12 crops discussed in Section V of this report, entitled "Trends in Pesticide Use in Certain Commodities", which may have also been an incentive to use more pesticides to protect valuable crops.

Pesticide use is reported as the number of pounds of AI and the total number of acres treated. The data for pounds include both agricultural and nonagricultural applications; the data for acres treated are primarily agricultural applications. The number of acres treated means the cumulative number of acres treated; the acres treated in each application are summed even when the same field is sprayed more than once in a year. (For example, if one acre is treated three times in a season with an individual AI, it is counted as three acres treated in the tables and graphs in Sections IV and V of this report.)

In the past several years, the PUR Annual Reports have included tables of pesticide use in various pesticide categories, including reproductive toxins, carcinogens, organophosphates and carbamates, ground water contaminants, toxic air contaminants, oils, reduced-risk pesticides, and biopesticides. This year we have added tables for fumigants.

Pounds of all the higher risk pesticide categories, except for toxic air contaminants, decreased and use of all the lower risk pesticides increased from 2004 to 2005. However, acres treated with carcinogens and organophosphates increased, mostly because of increased use of the fungicides mancozeb and maneb and the insecticide chlorpyrifos. Fungicide use in general increased as mentioned above because of the cool, wet spring in 2005. Some of the major statistical changes from 2004 to 2005 include:

Chemicals classified as reproductive toxins decreased in pounds applied from 2004 to 2005 (down 2.1 million pounds or 8.8 percent) and decreased in cumulative acres treated (down 88,000 acres or 4.1 percent). The decrease in pounds was mostly from decreases in the fumigants metam-sodium and methyl bromide.
The pounds of chemicals classified as carcinogens decreased (down 750,000 pounds or 2.6 percent), but acres treated increased (up 290,000 acres or 7.9 percent). The decrease in pounds was mainly due to a decrease in use of the fumigant metam-sodium and the herbicide diuron, which are used at high rates (pounds per acre treated). For these AIs, pounds decreased by a large amount but acres treated decreased only by a small amount. The increase in acres treated was mostly from increases in mancozeb and maneb, which are used at low rates. For these AIs, pounds increased by a small amount but acres treated increased by a large amount.
Pounds of insecticide organophosphate and carbamate chemicals, which include compounds of high regulatory concern, continued to decline as they have for nearly every year since 1995. However, acres treated increased from 2004 to 2005. Pounds decreased by 300,000 (3.9 percent) and acres treated increased by 310,000 (5.1 percent). The decrease in pounds was mostly from molinate and phosmet and the increase in acres was mostly from chlorpyrifos and methomyl. Molinate and phosmet are used at higher rates than most other organophosphates and carbamates.
Use of nearly all chemicals, except bentazon, categorized as ground water contaminants decreased from 2004 to 2005. Use decreased by 620,000 pounds (26 percent) and by 260,000 acres treated (15 percent).
Chemicals categorized as toxic air contaminants (TACs) remained about the same, as measured by pounds applied, while cumulative acres treated increased by 220,000 (6.1 percent). Fumigants represent the most TAC pounds, because they are applied at high rates. Fungicides - used at lower rates - represent the highest percentage of acres treated. Wet conditions in 2005 prompted more fungicide use, increasing the total acreage of toxic air contaminants.
Fumigant chemicals decreased in pounds applied from 2004 to 2005 (down 1.0 million pounds or 2.5 percent) and decreased in cumulative acres treated (down 54,000 acres or 14 percent). Use of about half of the major fumigants decreased in pounds but by acres treated nearly all major fumigants decreased except for potassium n-methyldithiocarbamate (metam-potassium). By pounds, metam-sodium, methyl bromide, and chloropicrin use decreased and metam-potassium and 1,3-D increased.
Pounds of reduced-risk pesticides increased by 630,000 pounds applied (60 percent) by 2.4 million acres treated (39 percent). The biggest increases (with both pounds and acres treated) were in use of potassium bicarbonate, boscalid, methoxyfenozide, pyraclostrobin, and indoxacarb. The biggest decreases were in use of pyriproxyfen, tebufenozide, bispyribac-sodium, and buprofezin.
Biopesticide use increased by 310,000 pounds (60 percent) and by 91,000 acres treated (3.8 percent). The largest increases in pounds were with potassium bicarbonate and Bacillus thuringiensis; by acres treated the major increases were with potassium bicarbonate, gibberellins, and Bacillus pumilus.

Since 1992, the reported pounds of pesticides applied have fluctuated from year to year. An increase or decrease in use from one year to the next or in the span of a few years does not necessarily indicate a general trend in use; it simply may reflect normal variations. Short periods of time (three to five years) may suggest trends, such as the increased pesticide use from 2001 to 2005 or the decreased use from 1998 to 2001. However, statistical analyses from 1992 to 2005 do not indicate a significant trend of either increase or decrease in pesticide use.

To improve data quality when calculating the total pounds of pesticides, DPR excluded values that were so large they were probably in error. The procedure to exclude probable errors involved the development of complex error-checking algorithms, a data improvement process that is ongoing.

Over-reporting errors have a much greater impact on the numerical accuracy of the database than under-reporting errors. For example, if a field is treated with 100 pounds of a pesticide AI and the application is erroneously recorded as 100,000 pounds (a decimal point shift of three places to the right), an error of 99,900 pounds is introduced into the database. If the same degree of error is made in shifting the decimal point to the left, the application is recorded as 0.1 pound, and an error of 99.9 pounds is entered into the database

To provide an overview, pesticide use is summarized for nine different categories from 1995 to 2005 (Tables 3-11 and Figures 1-9). These categories classify pesticides according to certain characteristics such as reproductive toxins, carcinogens, or reduced-risk characteristics.

The statistical summaries detailed in these categories are not intended to serve as indicators of pesticide risks to the public or the environment. Rather, the data supports DPR regulatory functions to enhance public safety and environmental protection. (See "How Pesticide Data are Used" on page 2.) The different pesticide categories, described more fully, are:

Pesticides listed on the State's Proposition 65 list of chemicals "known to cause reproductive toxicity".
Pesticides listed by U.S. EPA as B2 carcinogens or on the State's Proposition 65 list of chemicals "known to cause cancer".
Pesticides that are cholinesterase inhibitors, that is, organophosphate and carbamate chemicals.
Pesticides on the "a" part of DPR's groundwater protection list (section 6800 (a) of the California Code of Regulations, Title 3, Division 6, Chapter 4, Subchapter 1, Article 1).
Pesticides from DPR's toxic air contaminants list (California Code of Regulations, Title 3, Division 6, Chapter 4, Subchapter 1, Article 1, section 6860).
Fumigant pesticides are defined by the American Association of Pesticide Control Officials as substances which produce gas, vapor, fume or smoke intended to destroy insects, bacteria or rodents.
Oil pesticides, which may include some chemicals on the State’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals "known to cause cancer" but which also serve as alternatives to high-toxicity pesticides.
AIs contained in pesticide products that have been given reduced-risk status by U.S. EPA.
Biopesticides, which include microorganisms and naturally occurring compounds, or compounds essentially identical to naturally occurring compounds that are not toxic to the target pest (such as pheromones).

USE TRENDS OF PESTICIDES ON THE STATE’S PROPOSITION 65 LIST OF CHEMICALS THAT ARE "KNOWN TO CAUSE REPRODUCTIVE TOXICITY"

Table 3A. The reported pounds of pesticides used which are on the State’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals that are "known to cause reproductive toxicity." Use includes both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports

Table 3B. The reported cumulative acres treated with pesticides that are on the State’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals "known to cause reproductive toxicity." Use includes primarily agricultural applications. The grand total for acres treated may be less than the sum of acres treated for all active ingredients because some products contain more than one active ingredient. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Figure 1. Use trends of pesticides that are on the State’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals that are "known to cause reproductive toxicity." Reported pounds of active ingredient (AI) applied include both agricultural and non-agricultural applications. The reported cumulative acres treated include primarily agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

USE TRENDS OF PESTICIDES LISTED BY U.S. EPA AS CARCINOGENS OR BY THE STATE AS "KNOWN TO CAUSE CANCER"

Table 4A.The reported pounds of pesticides used that are listed by U.S. EPA as B2 carcinogens or that are on the State’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals "known to cause cancer." Use includes both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Table 4B. The reported cumulative acres treated with pesticides listed by U.S. EPA as B2 carcinogens or on the State’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals "known to cause cancer." Use includes primarily agricultural applications. The grand total for acres treated is less than the sum of acres treated for all active ingredients because some products contain more than one active ingredient. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use.

Figure 2. Use trends of pesticides that are listed by U.S. EPA as B2 carcinogens or that are on the State’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals "known to cause cancer." Reported pounds of active ingredient (AI) applied include both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. The reported cumulative acres treated include primarily agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

USE TRENDS OF CHOLINESTERASE-INHIBITING PESTICIDES

Table 5A. The reported pounds of cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides used. These pesticides are the currently registered organophosphate and carbamate active ingredients. Use includes both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Table 5B. The reported cumulative acres treated with cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides. These pesticides are the currently registered organophosphate and carbamate active ingredients. Use includes primarily agricultural applications. The grand total for acres treated is less than the sum of acres treated for all active ingredients because some products contain more than one active ingredient. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Figure 3. Use trends of cholinesterase-inhibiting pesticides, which includes pesticides with organophosphate and carbamate active ingredients. Reported pounds of active ingredient (AI) applied include both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. The reported cumulative acres treated include primarily agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

USE TRENDS OF PESTICIDES ON DPR’S GROUND WATER PROTECTION LIST

Table 6A. The reported pounds of pesticides on the "a" part of DPR's groundwater protection list. These pesticides are the currently registered active ingredients listed in the California Code of Regulations, Title 3, Division 6, Chapter 4, Subchapter 1, Article 1, Section 6800(a). Use includes both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Table 6B.The reported cumulative acres treated with pesticides on the "a" part of DPR's groundwater protection list. These pesticides are the currently registered active ingredients listed in the California Code of Regulations, Title 3, Division 6, Chapter 4, Subchapter 1, Article 1, Section 6800(a). Use includes both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Figure 4. Use trends of pesticides on DPR's groundwater protection list. These pesticides are the currently registered active ingredients listed in the California Code of Regulations, Title 3, Division 6, Chapter 4, Subchapter 1, Article 1, Section 6800(a). Reported pounds of active ingredient (AI) applied include both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. The reported cumulative acres treated include primarily agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

USE TRENDS OF PESTICIDES ON DPR’S TOXIC AIR CONTAMINATS LIST

Table 7A.The reported pounds of pesticides on DPR's toxic air contaminants list applied in California. These pesticides are the currently registered active ingredients listed in the California Code of Regulations, Title 3, Division 6, Chapter 4, Subchapter 1, Article 1, Section 6860. Use includes both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Table 7B. The reported cumulative acres treated in California with pesticides on DPR's toxic air contaminants list. These pesticides are the currently registered active ingredients listed in the California Code of Regulations, Title 3, Division 6, Chapter 4, Subchapter 1, Article 1, Section 6860. Use includes primarily agricultural applications. The grand total for acres treated is less than the sum of acres treated for all active ingredients because some products contain more than one active ingredient. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Figure 5. Use trends of pesticides on DPR's toxic air contaminants list. These pesticides are the currently registered active ingredients listed in the California Code of Regulations, Title 3, Division 6, Chapter 4, Subchapter 1, Article 1, Section 6860. Reported pounds of active ingredient (AI) applied include both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. The reported cumulative acres treated include primarily agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

USE TRENDS OF FUMIGANT PESTICIDES

Table 8A. The reported pounds of fumigant pesticides used. Use includes both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Table 8B.The reported cumulative acres treated with fumigant pesticides. Use includes both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Figure 6.Use trends of fumigant pesticides. Reported pounds of active ingredient (AI) applied include both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. The reported cumulative acres treated include primarily agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

USE TRENDS OF OIL PESTICIDES

Table 9A. The reported pounds of oil pesticides. As a broad group, oil pesticides and other petroleum distillates are on U.S. EPA’s list of B2 carcinogens or the State’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals "known to cause cancer." However, these classifications do not distinguish among oil pesticides that may not qualify as carcinogenic due to their degree of refinement. Many such oil pesticides also serve as alternatives to high-toxicity chemicals. For this reason, oil pesticide data was classified separately in this report. Use includes both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports

Table 9B.The reported cumulative acres treated in California with oil pesticides. (See qualifying comments on U.S. EPA B2 carcinogen and Proposition 65 listing with Table 8A.) Uses include primarily agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s Pesticide Use Reports.

Figure 7.Use trends of oil pesticides. As a broad group, oil pesticides and other petroleum distillates are on U.S. EPA’s list of B2 carcinogens or the State’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals "known to cause cancer." However, these classifications do not distinguish among oil pesticides that may not qualify as carcinogenic due to their degree of refinement. Many such oil pesticides also serve as alternatives to high-toxicity chemicals. For this reason, oil pesticide data was classified separately in this report. Reported pounds of active ingredient (AI) applied include both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. The reported cumulative acres treated include primarily agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

USE TRENDS OF REDUCED-RISK PESTICIDES

Table 10A.The reported pounds of reduced-risk pesticides applied in California. These active ingredients are contained in pesticide products that have been given reduced-risk status by U.S. EPA. Use includes both agricultural and non-agricultural applications. Zero values in early years likely indicate the pesticide was not yet registered for use. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Table 10B.The reported cumulative acres treated in California with each reduced-risk pesticide. These active ingredients are contained in pesticide products that have been given reduced-risk status by U.S. EPA. Use includes primarily agricultural applications. Zero values in early years likely indicate the pesticide was not yet registered for use. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Figure 8. Use trends of reduced-risk pesticides. These active ingredients are contained in pesticide products that have been given reduced-risk status by U.S. EPA. Reported pounds of active ingredient (AI) applied include both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. The reported cumulative acres treated include primarily agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

USE TRENDS OF BIOPESTICIDES

Table 11A. The reported pounds of biopesticides applied in California. Biopesticides include microorganisms and naturally occurring compounds, or compounds essentially identical to naturally occurring compounds that are not toxic to the target pest (such as pheromones). Use includes both agricultural and non-agricultural applications. Zero values in early years likely indicate the pesticide was not yet registered for use. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Table 11B. The reported cumulative acres treated in California with each biopesticide. Biopesticides includes microorganisms and naturally occurring compounds, or compounds essentially identical to naturally occurring compounds that are not toxic to the target pest (such as pheromones). Use includes primarily agricultural applications. The grand total for acres treated is less than the sum of acres for all active ingredients because some products contain more than one active ingredient. Zero values in early years likely indicate the pesticide was not yet registered for use. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

Figure 9.Use trends of biopesticides. Biopesticides include microorganisms and naturally occurring compounds, or compounds essentially identical to naturally occurring compounds that are not toxic to the target pest (such as pheromones). Reported pounds of active ingredient (AI) applied include both agricultural and reportable non-agricultural applications. The reported cumulative acres treated include primarily agricultural applications. Data are from the Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reports.

V. TRENDS IN PESTICIDE USE IN CERTAIN COMMODITIES

This summary describes possible reasons for changes in pesticide use from 2004 to 2005 for the following commodities: (1) cotton, (2) almonds, (3) wine grapes, (4) table and raisin grapes, (5) alfalfa, (6) processing tomatoes, (7) oranges, (8) head lettuce, (9) rice, (10) peaches and nectarines, (11) strawberries, and (12) carrots. These 12 commodities were chosen because each were treated with more than 5 million pounds of active ingredients (AI) or cumulatively treated on more than 2 million acres. Collectively, this represents 70 percent of all reported pesticide pounds used and 79 percent of the acres treated in 2005.

Information used to develop this section was drawn from several publications and phone interviews with pest control advisors, growers, University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisors and specialists, researchers, and commodity association representatives. The information collected was analyzed by DPR staff using their extensive knowledge of pesticides, California agriculture, pests, and pest management practices to draw conclusions about possible explanations for changes in pesticide use. However, it is important to note these explanations are based on anecdotal information, not rigorous statistical analyses.

Reported pesticide use in California in 2005 totaled 194 million pounds, an increase of 14 million pounds from 2004 (8 percent increase). The AIs with the largest uses by pounds were sulfur, petroleum oils, metam-sodium, 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D), and mineral oil. Sulfur use increased by 7.3 million pounds (13 percent) and was the most highly used pesticide in 2005, both in pounds applied and acres treated. By pounds, sulfur accounted for 32 percent of all reported pesticide use in 2005 and accounted for much of the increase in pesticide use from 2004 to 2005. Sulfur is a natural fungicide favored by both conventional and organic farmers. Petroleum oil use increased by 182,000 pounds (1.1 percent), metam sodium use decreased by 1.6 million pounds (-11 percent), 1,3-D use increased by 375,000 pounds (4.2 percent), and mineral oil use remained nearly the same.

Sulfur was used mostly to control powdery mildew on grapes and had the largest increase in use by both pounds and acres treated from 2004 to 2005. Oils and the fumigant metam sodium had the next highest use by pounds, but the biggest increase in pounds applied after sulfur were the fumigant potassium n-methyldithiocarbamate and the fungicide copper hydroxide. In 2005 oils were used mostly on almonds and oranges. Oils are low risk pesticides used mostly to control insects and mites. Nearly half of the total pounds of metam sodium were on carrots, with processing tomatoes and potato accounting for another 26 percent. Potassium n-methyldithiocarbamate was used mostly on broccoli and peppers and copper hydroxide on walnuts.

Different pesticides are used at different rates. In California, most pesticides are applied at rates of around 1 to 2 pounds per acre. However, fumigants are usually applied at rates of hundreds of pounds per acre. Thus, comparing use by pounds will emphasize fumigants. Comparing use among different pesticides using acres treated gives a different picture.

By acres treated, the non-adjuvant pesticides with the greatest use in 2005 were sulfur, glyphosate, oils, oxyfluorfen, and chlorpyrifos. Use of all of these pesticides increased. Most of the increase in total acres treated was from increased use of sulfur, boscalid, pyraclostrobin, and indoxacarb. Boscalid and pyraclostrobin are two recently registered, reduced-risk fungicides used mostly on almonds and grapes. Indoxacarb is a recently registered insecticide; 75 percent of the total pounds were applied to cotton and alfalfa. The herbicide glyphosate was used mostly on rights of way, almonds, and cotton. Oxyfluorfen is often applied with glyphosate in cotton and almonds. Chlorpyrifos was used mostly on cotton.

DPR data analyses have shown that pesticide use varies from year to year depending upon pest problems, weather, acreage and types of crops planted, economics, and other factors. In general, spring 2005 was cool and rainy so diseases of many crops were worse than the previous year and therefore fungicide use was greater and accounted for most of the increased pesticide use in 2005. Pounds applied and acres treated of most of the other major pesticide types increased as well, except for herbicides and fumigants. Prices for most of the 12 crops improved in 2005, which may have also been an incentive to use more pesticides to protect valuable crops.

In the following tables, use is given by pounds of AI applied and by acres treated. Acres treated means the cumulative number of acres treated; the acres treated in each application are summed even when the same field is sprayed more than once in a year. (For example, if the same acre is treated three times in a calendar year with an individual AI, it is counted as three acres treated).

Cotton

Cotton is grown for fiber, oil, and animal feed and is one of the most widely grown crops in California. Cotton acres planted decreased by 15 percent from 2004 to 2005. Two main kinds of cotton are grown: upland and Pima. Most cotton acreage is in upland cotton, but a greater percentage of Pima cotton was planted in 2005 than in 2004. Some cotton has also been genetically modified to be tolerant to the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup); acres planted with Roundup Ready cotton decreased by 21 percent from 2004 to 2005. Most cotton is grown in the southern San Joaquin Valley, but a small percentage is grown in Imperial and Riverside counties and several counties in the Sacramento Valley.

Table 12A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients (AIs), acres treated, acres planted, and prices for cotton each year from 2001 to 2005. Planted acres from 2001 to 2004 are from CDFA 2006; planted acres in 2005 are from NASS, July 2006a; Roundup Ready acres from NASS, June 2006; marketing year average prices from 2001 to 2003 are from NASS, July 2002, July 2003, and July 2004; from 2004 and 2005 from NASS, July 2006c.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	8,127,020	7,157,764	7,141,281	7,150,897	6,946,000
Acres Treated	9,632,312	8,298,884	10,467,671	10,422,661	11,374,132
Acres Planted Upland Cotton	630,000	480,000	550,000	560,000	430,000
Acres Planted Pima Cotton	240,000	210,000	150,000	215,000	230,000
Acres Planted Total	870,000	690,000	700,000	775,000	660,000
Price Upland $/lbs	$0.416	$0.573	$0.745	$0.516	$0.600
Price Pima $/lbs	$0.856	$0.860	$1.230	$0.882	$1.190
Acres Roundup Ready	170,100	124,800	148,500	218,400	172,000
Percent Roundup Ready	20	18	21	28	26

Table 12B. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for cotton from 2001 to 2005.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	-13	-12	0	0	-3
Acres Treated	-18	-14	26	0	9
Acres Planted Upland Cotton	-19	-24	15	2	-23
Acres Planted Pima Cotton	66	-13	-29	43	7
Acres Planted Total	-5	-21	1	11	-15
Price Upland $/lbs	-20	38	30	-31	16
Price Pima $/lbs	-15	0	43	-28	35
Acres Roundup Ready	29	-27	19	47	-21

Figure 10. Acres of cotton treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2005.

Table 12C. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for cotton from 2001 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PERCENT CHANGE**
SODIUM CHLORATE	HARVEST AID	2,515,818	2,310,248	1,713,708	1,415,551	1,142,341	-273,210	-19
CHLORPYRIFOS	INSECTICIDE	271,892	221,562	278,734	202,314	346,774	144,460	71
DEF	HARVEST AID	257,062	190,149	233,323	179,689	99,019	-80,670	-45
NALED	INSECTICIDE	165,604	87,089	69,376	36,387	107,437	71,051	195
ENDOSULFAN	INSECTICIDE	44,281	61,265	58,101	76,638	11,952	-64,686	-84
PYRIPROXYFEN	INSECTICIDE	2,415	3,812	3,529	4,970	922	-4,047	-81
METHOXYFENOZIDE	INSECTICIDE			74	2,386	9,419	7,033	295
AZOXYSTROBIN	FUNGICIDE	4	84	1,355	4,478	16,523	12,045	269
IMIDACLOPRID	INSECTICIDE	7,056	4,255	4,494	2,784	7,033	4,249	153
PYRAFLUFEN-ETHYL	HARVEST AID				449	1,110	661	147

Although cotton acreage decreased by 15 percent, pounds of AI applied decreased by only 3 percent and acres treated actually increased by 9 percent. The increase in acres treated was mostly from insecticide use, which increased by 24 percent, with herbicide and harvest aid use remaining about the same. The increase in insecticide use occurred in Kings, Fresno, and Madera counties; in nearly all other counties insecticide use decreased. Fungicide use also dramatically increased but there is much less use of fungicides than other kinds of pesticides so it did not contribute significantly to the overall increase.

The increase in pounds of insecticides was mostly from chlorpyrifos, but there were also increases in naled, oxamyl, indoxacarb, methoxyfenozide, and imidacloprid. Some insecticide use decreased, primarily the miticides propargite, dicofol, and abamectin, but also endosulfan and pyriproxyfen. Chlorpyrifos, naled, imidacloprid, and endosulfan were used mostly for aphids and whiteflies; pyriproxyfen was used mostly on whiteflies; and methoxyfenozide was used mostly on beet armyworm and other lepidopteran pests.

In 2005, the cool, rainy spring lead to high weed and lygus bug growth, but delayed build up of mites. Later in the season there were higher populations of aphids and lepidopteran pests, but fewer problems with whiteflies. These pest populations probably explain the higher use of chlorpyrifos, naled, and imidacloprid and the lower use of pyriproxyfen. Because of few mite problems earlier in the season, growers tended to not treat for mites. However, the hot summer provided conditions for mite buildups, which caused significant problems especially in Kern County. By that time it was too late to treat for the mites, which explains why miticide use was down despite the high mite populations. Also, Pima cotton has been replacing Acala cotton and Pima is less susceptible to mites. However, Pima is more susceptible to aphid and whitefly damage. Also, sticky cotton is more of a problem for Pima than Acala. Sticky cotton occurs when excretions from aphids and whiteflies fall on open cotton bolls and this causes problems when the cotton is ginned and lowers the quality of the cotton lint.

Total herbicide use was nearly the same in 2005 as in 2004. Both years had rainy winters and springs, which were conducive to weed growth, so herbicide use in both years was relatively high. Glyphosate is still by far the mostly widely used herbicide and its use increased slightly in 2005. The other main herbicides are oxyfluorfen and trifluralin. However, there were some changes in herbicides used. Glyphosate, potassium salt (Roundup Original Max® and Roundup Weathermax®) increased and glyphosate, isopropylamine decreased (mostly in product Roundup Ultramax®); oxyfluorfen increased and trifluralin decreased. Oxyfluorfen use increased possibly because it is one of the few herbicides that can be used at layby.

Fungicides are not widely used in cotton, but their use more than doubled from 2004 to 2005. The increase was mostly from azoxystrobin and TCMTB. Azoxystrobin is applied to cotton fields at planting to control seedling diseases. TCMTB is also for seedling diseases but is applied as a seed treatment. Fungicide use increased in 2005 because the cool, wet spring was conducive to seedling diseases.

Pounds of harvest aids decreased by 9 percent from 2004 to 2005; however, acres treated with harvest aids was nearly the same in 2005 as in 2004. The decrease in pounds was mostly in sodium chlorate, S,S,S-tributyl phosphorotrithioate (DEF), and ethephon, which are all used at relatively high rates compared to most other harvest aids. Pounds decreased while acres treated did not because the rate of use of sodium chlorate and S,S,S-tributyl phosphorotrithioate decreased considerably between 2004 and 2005, and because use of pyraflufen-ethyl increased by 150 percent and this AI is used at very low rates. However, pounds of urea dihydrogen sulfate (or AMADS) increased, which is one of the components of Cotton Quik® products, along with ethephon. Use of ethephon itself decreased because besides Cotton Quik® ethephon is used in the products Prep® and Finish®, whose use decreased. Growers are switching from Prep® and Finish® to Cotton Quik® because Cotton Quik® is more effective and cheaper.

Almonds

Almonds are California's largest tree nut crop in total dollar value and acreage. They are the largest horticultural export in value from the United States. Approximately 6,000 almond growers produce nearly 100 percent of the commercial domestic supply and more than 75 percent of worldwide production. Nearly 80 countries import California almonds. The United States is the largest market for almonds; overseas, Spain and Germany remain the two top markets followed by India, Japan and Italy. The top five markets accounted for 51 percent of total exports.

Table 13A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients (AIs), acres treated, acres planted, and prices for almonds each year from 2001 to 2005. Planted acres from 2001 to 2004 are from CDFA 2006; planted acres in 2005 are from NASS, May 2006a; marketing year average prices from 2001 to 2005 from NASS, July 2006c.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	10,161,186	11,932,343	13,369,000	16,191,070	17,154,773
Acres Treated	5,049,101	5,420,473	6,330,462	7,315,859	8,891,719
Acres Planted	600,000	605,000	610,000	620,000	680,000
Price $/lb	$0.91	$1.11	$1.57	$2.21	$2.60

Table 13B.Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for almonds from 2001 to 2005.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	-13	17	12	21	6
Acres Treated	-30	7	17	16	22
Acres Planted	-1	1	1	2	10
Price $/ton	-6	22	41	41	18

Figure 11. . Acres of almonds treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2005.

Table 13C. Pesticide use in pounds of AI each year from 2001 to 2005. The pesticides listed are among those with the greatest change in use from 2004 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PERCENT CHANGE**
ZIRAM	FUNGICIDE	396,435	387,770	532,546	301,759	586,331	284,572	94
SULFUR	FUNGICIDE/ INSECTICIDE	123,452	114,400	209,648	258,248	532,132	273,883	106
GLYPHOSATE	HERBICIDE	696,523	867,047	912,227	1,024,463	1,233,520	209,057	20
OIL	INSECTICIDE	6,069,660	7,507,455	7,533,377	9,582,986	9,767,957	184,971	2
PHOSMET	INSECTICIDE	98,285	108,919	76,804	279,009	185,533	-93,476	-34
FLUMIOXAZIN	HERBICIDE					11,549	11,549
PYRACLOSTROBIN	FUNGICIDE				6,217	22,995	16,778	270
BOSCALID	FUNGICIDE				12,241	45,271	33,031	270
BIFENAZATE	INSECTICIDE		174	144	6,760	17,820	11,060	164
AZOXYSTROBIN	FUNGICIDE	19,086	18,534	23,325	19,961	50,985	31,024	155

Pesticide use on almonds increased from 2004 to 2005, especially acres treated with fungicides, which increased by 55 percent. Acres treated with insecticides and herbicides also increased, though only by 15 percent. Different factors play a role in understanding pesticide use trends. The most significant current almond industry trend is the increase in planted acreage. Almond growers report thousands of new acreage being planted. Yet, until more technologically sophisticated methods of surveying acreage are employed, available objective data may lag behind actual new acreage. New acreage will increase the acres treated, particularly in the case of a one-time application of a preplant fumigant. Another significant change within the almond industry is a shift from older, more broad-spectrum pesticides to newer, reduced-risk compounds.

Total almond production in 2005 was down slightly from 2004 at 998 million pounds. However, the price for almonds remained good at $2.60 a pound. Historically, when prices are up growers are more inclined to apply pesticides to protect the crop, thereby increasing the number of acres treated.

Growers in all regions reported use of winter sanitation to reduce over-wintering populations of navel orangeworm (NOW). Generally, wet weather prevailed early in the season in all growing regions. Growers reported wet conditions through the bloom period into post-bloom, with unsettled conditions well into May. This created ideal conditions for diseases such as anthracnose, brown rot, scab and shot hole. As a result, growers were very diligent in their use of fungicides to protect the crop. This would explain the significant increase in the use of many fungicides in 2005. In particular, acres treated with reduced risk materials azoxystrobin, boscalid and pyraclostrobin increased significantly, partially due to the increased incidence of Alternaria, a summer disease. It should be noted, that due to the extended cool weather conditions growers reported a general suppression of mite problems till later in the season.

In contrast to the cool wet spring the summer was long and hot. This resulted in mite problems in many orchards as evidenced by an increase in the use of abamectin, bifenazate and hexythiazox. The use of propargite for mites decreased slightly from 2004. This may be due to a reported shift away from propargite to newer reduced risk materials, particularly in the southern growing region. Peach twig borer (PTB), navel orange worm (NOW), and Oriental fruit moth (OFM) were not a particular problem in 2005. Reported insecticide use by pounds was about the same as 2004 with a few notable exceptions. Use of reduced risk insecticides including methoxyfenozide, spinosad, and diflubenzuron increased 136 percent, 135 percent, and 48 percent, respectively. In contrast the use of phosmet decreased 34 percent. Generally, orchards were pretty clean from worm damage. Ants, however, were more of a problem. A small percentage of growers reported using chlorpyrifos to control ants. The majority seemed to prefer using baits. This is reflected by reported increases in acres treated with abamectin and pyriproxyfen.

Due to the long wet spring herbicide use was up. This is reflected in reported increases in both pounds applied and acres treated with glyphosate, oxyfluorfen, oryzalin and paraquat dichloride. Tank mixes with glyphosate and oxyfluorfen, or glyphosate and oryzalin have been a standard herbicide mix for years. Growers sometimes will use oxyfluorfen (Goal®) at a low rate to take advantage of its contact action as a boost for glyphosate (Roundup®). Also, oryzalin was in short supply for several years. It is now available again and use is increasing.

The use of fumigants methyl bromide and 1,3-D decreased in 2005. This could be attributed to a modest slow down in the huge increase in newly planted and replanted almonds over the last few years. Newly planted acreage normally requires a one-time preplant fumigation. Use of sodium tetrathiocarbonate (Enzone®) increased significantly in 2005. This increase could be attributed to its reported use as a post plant treatment to control nematodes in established orchards.

Wine grapes

California has four major wine grape production regions: 1) North Coast (Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, and Solano counties); 2) Central Coast (Alameda, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara counties); 3) Northern San Joaquin Valley (San Joaquin, Calaveras, Amador, Sacramento, Merced, Stanislaus, and Yolo counties); and 4) Southern San Joaquin Valley (Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Kern, and Madera counties). Factors that influence changes in pesticide use on wine grapes include weather, topography and pest pressures (which vary by region), competition from newer products, application restrictions, efforts by growers to reduce costs, and increasing emphasis on sustainable farming. The pooled figures in this report may not reflect differences in pesticide use patterns between production regions.

Table 14A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients (AIs), acres treated, acres planted, and prices for wine grapes each year from 2001 to 2005. Planted acres from 2001 to 2004 are from CDFA 2006; planted acres in 2005 are from NASS, March 2006; marketing year average prices from 2001 to 2005 from NASS, July 2006c.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	22,780,014	24,110,818	23,463,989	23,800,640	29,796,746
Acres Treated	6,450,639	6,661,038	6,634,442	6,569,015	8,041,013
Acres Planted	570,000	556,000	529,000	513,000	522,000
Price $/ton	$597.00	$535.00	$530.00	$570.00	$582.00

Table 14B.Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for wine grapes from 2001 to 2005.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	-18	6	-3	1	25
Acres Treated	-8	3	0	-1	22
Acres Planted	0	-2	-5	-3	2
Price $/ton	5	-10	-1	8	2

Figure 12. Acres of wine grapes treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2005.

Table 14C. Pesticide use in pounds of AI each year from 2001 to 2005. The pesticides listed are among those with the greatest change in use from 2004 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PERCENT CHANGE**
SULFUR	FUNGICIDE/ INSECTICIDE	19,705,049	21,108,331	20,310,162	20,610,744	25,038,185	4,427,441	21
OIL	INSECTICIDE	149,764	215,254	282,106	457,675	761,983	304,308	66
POTASSIUM BICARBONATE	FUNGICIDE	92,628	139,537	214,999	88,370	250,747	162,377	184
COPPER	FUNGICIDE	357,987	255,184	301,250	268,294	417,391	149,097	56
GLYPHOSATE	HERBICIDE	344,589	402,701	392,950	385,650	448,329	62,679	16
MANCOZEB	FUNGICIDE	55,660	35,950	53,937	25,577	80,625	55,048	215
BOSCALID	FUNGICIDE				13,660	32,804	19,144	140
PYRACLOSTROBIN	FUNGICIDE				6,937	16,602	9,664	139
FENARIMOL	FUNGICIDE	3,550	2,652	3,405	1,800	3,869	2,068	115
CYPRODINIL	FUNGICIDE	17,803	17,433	22,534	14,081	27,351	13,270	94

Total wine grape acres treated with pesticides increased by 22 percent and total pounds used increased by 25 percent from 2004 to 2005, even though total acres planted increased by only 2 percent. This increase was due chiefly to a jump in the application of fungicides and fungicide/insecticides (mainly sulfur) to cope with severe disease pressure caused by an exceptionally long cool, wet spring. Total acres treated with those two groups of pesticides rose 50 and 20 percent, respectively. Total pounds of fungicide applied increased by 88 percent. Total acres treated with insecticide increased 10 percent. Total acres treated with herbicide declined slightly from 2004, although total pounds of herbicide applied rose 6 percent.

Late June and July brought improved grape growing conditions. Once summer heat set in, however, there was heavy mite pressure in some wine grape regions. Cool fall weather boosted grape size and the wine grape crop was very high quality. Wine grape yield set a record in 2005. Production of both red and white wine grape varieties increased by more than a third over 2004 levels, flooding the market. In many cases, wineries accepted only contract tonnages. Some wine grape growers sold grapes at low prices for concentrate, or left their fruit to raisin on the vine. Nevertheless, the overall price per ton for wine grapes increased by 2 percent.

The major insecticides and miticides applied in 2005 by acres treated were imidacloprid, methoxyfenozide, fenpropathrin, the miticide bifenazate, chlorpyrifos, and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) products. Factors that may have contributed to increased insecticide use in 2005 were localized infestations of mites and vine mealybug (VMB), pre-harvest applications against leafhoppers to improve field conditions for workers, and increased use of reduced-risk products, which sometimes require more frequent and better-timed applications to be effective. Bifenazate is a selective alternative to older, higher-risk miticides, which have longer worker re-entry periods. Imidacloprid and chlorpyrifos are being used in widening eradication and management programs for VMB, an invasive pest that had spread into 21 counties in 2005. Fenpropathrin is applied against leafhoppers, sharpshooters, and moths. Methoxyfenozide and Bt products control moths. In 2005, application of insecticidal oils increased 66 percent by weight. Oils have many attractive, broad-spectrum properties and are low-risk. They can replace a surfactant and eradicate mildew growth, as well as suppressing mites and insects such as grape leafhoppers. They are increasingly mixed with fungicides.

Rain and low temperatures lasting into June exacerbated problems with fungus diseases such as Botrytis bunch rot and mildew. Sulfur, copper products, myclobutanil, trifloxystrobin, boscalid, pyraclostrobin, and tebuconazole were the most-used fungicides in terms of acres treated. Pounds of sulfur, potassium bicarbonate, myclobutanil, and fenarimol applied for powdery mildew control jumped. Use of the broader-spectrum fungicides copper, mancozeb, boscalid, pyraclostrobin, trifloxystrobin, tebuconazole, and cyprodinil also increased sharply by weight. Five of the fungicides with large increases in pounds applied are low-risk pesticides including sulfur, potassium bicarbonate, boscalid, pyraclostrobin, and cyprodinil.

Herbicides used most in wine grapes by acres treated were glyphosate products, oxyfluorfen, paraquat, and simazine. Pounds of glyphosate products applied rose 16 percent, probably due to rank weed growth brought on by the long, wet spring, its use as an alternative to simazine, and tolerance by some vineyard weeds. Pounds of simazine decreased by 9 percent, reflecting more stringent regulation for ground water protection, the increasing availability of alternative chemicals, and unfavorably wet application conditions for pre-emergent herbicides.

Fumigants applied for wine grape production rose 13 percent in 2005 by total acres treated, and 107 percent by total pounds applied. In terms of acres treated, the preplant fumigant 1,3-dichloropropene, which controls nematodes, and sodium tetrathiocarbonate, which is effective against nematodes, phylloxera, and root rots, were the major fumigants used to kill soil pests. Use of the general purpose soil fumigant methyl bromide, though comparatively small, increased by weight (from 5,285 to 113,356 pounds) and by area treated (from 18 to 332 acres) in spite of regulatory moves to phase it out. There was an 8 percent reduction in the pounds of aluminum phosphide used for rodent control in wine grapes. Some sustainable agriculture programs are encouraging nonchemical rodent control measures, such as trapping and the provision of owl nesting boxes in or near vineyards. In addition, prolonged wet, cool weather may have reduced rodent reproduction.

Plant growth regulators (PGR) are not widely used in wine grapes, but pounds of PGR increased by 25 percent in 2005. The most common PGRs were gibberellins, which are geographically registered for certain varieties, and are applied in early spring in order to lengthen and loosen grape clusters. Less compact clusters may be less vulnerable to berry splitting and bunch rot.

Table grapes and raisins

Table and raisin grapes comprise approximately half of California’s total grape crop, the other half being wine grapes. These categories may shift depending on market conditions, since some grape varieties can be used for more than one purpose. Commercial production of table grapes is centered in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. The Coachella Valley is California’s other significant table grape production area. In an average year, the state produces 850,000 to 890,000 tons of table grapes, about 8 percent coming from the Coachella Valley. The Southern San Joaquin Valley region includes Fresno, Madera, Tulare, Kern, and Kings counties; the Coachella Valley region includes Riverside, Imperial, and San Bernardino counties. In most years, roughly a third of the raisin grape crop is crushed for wine or concentrate. California produced about 300,000 tons of raisins in 2005. Almost all were from the Southern San Joaquin Valley, although a few raisins are produced in the Northern San Joaquin Valley region (San Joaquin, Calaveras, Amador, Sacramento, Merced, and Stanislaus counties).

Table 15A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients (AIs), acres treated, acres planted, and prices for raisin and table grapes each year from 2001 to 2005. Planted acres from 2001 to 2004 are from CDFA 2006; planted acres in 2005 are from NASS, March 2006; marketing year average prices from 2001 to 2005 from NASS, July 2006c.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	19,638,908	22,161,905	21,525,557	21,399,763	23,244,868
Acres Treated	5,670,936	5,901,253	5,937,751	5,684,603	6,591,375
Acres Planted Raisin	242,000	252,000	260,000	248,000	246,000
Acres Planted Table	98,000	97,000	93,000	92,000	93,000
Acres Planted Total	340,000	349,000	353,000	340,000	339,000
Price Raisin $/ton	$186.00	$152.00	$170.00	$306.00	$246.00
Price Table $/ton	$610.00	$616.00	$601.00	$695.00	$443.00
Price all	$308.21	$280.96	$283.55	$411.26	$300.04

Table 15B.Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for raisin and table grapes from 2001 to 2005.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	-27	13	-3	-1	9
Acres Treated	-30	4	1	-4	16
Acres Planted Raisin	-16	4	3	-5	-1
Acres Planted Table	-2	-1	-4	-1	1
Acres Planted Total	-12	3	1	-4	0
Price Raisin $/ton	12	-18	12	80	-20
Price Table $/ton	8	1	-2	16	-36
Price all	15	-9	1	45	-27

Figure 13. Acres of raisin and table grapes treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2005.

Table 15C.Pesticide use in pounds of AI each year from 2001 to 2005. The pesticides listed are among those with the greatest change in use from 2004 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PCT CHANGE**
SULFUR	FUNGICIDE/ INSECTICIDE	15,675,845	18,113,628	17,693,678	17,449,547	19,453,133	2,003,587	11
CRYOLITE	INSECTICIDE	958,279	828,599	688,927	671,784	452,286	-219,499	-33
COPPER PRODUCTS	FUNGICIDES	426,434	393,581	698,879	419,997	534,794	114,797	27
POTASSIUM BICARBONATE	FUNGICIDE	7,458	24,797	37,798	29,249	90,412	61,163	209
SIMAZINE	HERBICIDE	110,101	124,878	122,347	122,462	84,270	-38,192	-31
SPINOSAD	INSECTICIDE			3	436	5,389	4,953	1,135
KRESOXIM-METHYL	FUNGICIDE	2,013	2,481	4,680	1,309	6,590	5,281	403
BOSCALID	FUNGICIDE			1	9,105	23,564	14,458	159
PYRACLOSTROBIN	FUNGICIDE			1	4,625	11,967	7,343	159
TRIFLUMIZOLE	FUNGICIDE	6,443	8,732	7,126	2,236	5,503	3,267	146

Although total acres planted to table and raisin grapes was unchanged, total acres treated with the major categories of pesticides and total pounds of pesticide active ingredients applied increased in 2005 by 16 and 9 percent, respectively. This increase was due to more acres being treated with fungicides (up 52 percent) and fungicide/insecticides (up 15 percent) to cope with high disease pressure caused by an exceptionally long cool, wet spring. Total acres treated with herbicides were almost unchanged from 2004, and acres treated with insecticides declined by 8 percent.

Spring mildew lowered the quality of the raisin grape crop. June and July brought ideal grape growing conditions, although there was some extra culling at the end of July due to off color and rot caused by extreme heat. In general, the table grape crop was of good size and quality. Once summer heat set in there were mite problems in many vineyards. Rain damage from late September thunderstorms caused some raisin losses and threatened quality, triggering applications of mold and mildew inhibitors. The size of the 2005 table and raisin grape harvest did not change much from the previous year. A high-quality, bumper wine grape crop meant, however, that relatively few table and raisin grapes were sold to vintners, and a high proportion was used for fresh-market fruit or raisins. The price per ton for both table and raisin grapes fell, by 36 and 20 percent respectively.

Insect and mite pressure was low in 2005 due to the late advent of warm weather. The major insecticides and miticides applied in 2005 by acres treated were methoxyfenozide, cryolite, imidacloprid, Bt products, spinosad, and bifenazate. Methoxyfenozide, cryolite, and Bt all control moths, and spinosad is effective against moths and thrips. Imidacloprid is used against small sucking insects: mealybugs, scales, phylloxera, leafhoppers, sharpshooters, and thrips. Bifenazate, a relatively new selective miticide, is gaining market share because of long worker re-entry periods for alternative products. The use of cryolite continued to decline in 2005, dropping 33 percent by weight while pounds applied of spinosad, a newer low-risk alternative that can be used in organic production, soared more than tenfold. These trends reflect limitations placed on cryolite by wineries and export contracts.

Severe pressure from mildew and other diseases such as Botrytis bunch rot and Phomopsis cane and leaf spot led to a 40 percent increase in total fungicide application by weight, and a 52 percent jump in acres treated. Fungicides most used for table and raisin grape production in 2005 by acres treated were sulfur, copper, myclobutanil, boscalid, pyraclostrobin, tebuconazole, and trifloxystrobin. All of these as well as potassium bicarbonate, kresoxim-methyl, and triflumizole provide good to excellent control of powdery mildew, which is the reason for most fungicide use in San Joaquin Valley and Coachella Valley vineyards. Table 15C shows exceptional increases in pounds applied of seven fungicides including four low-risk pesticides: sulfur, potassium bicarbonate, boscalid, and pyraclostrobin.

Most-used herbicides by acres treated were glyphosate, paraquat, oxyfluorfen, simazine, and oryzalin. In spite of all the wet winter/spring weather, herbicide use changed little either in terms of acres treated or pounds applied. This may be due in part to cost cutting in a year of low commodity prices. Simazine use decreased 31 percent by weight, probably because of difficult application conditions, increased restrictions for ground water protection, and the increasing availability of alternative chemicals.

Pounds applied of the two most-used soil fumigants, sodium tetrathiocarbonate for nematodes and phylloxera and the preplant chemical 1,3-dichloropropene, decreased as total vineyard acres treated with fumigants declined by 39 percent. This trend probably reflects increased adoption of pest- and disease-resistant rootstocks by table and raisin grape growers. In contrast, acres treated with methyl bromide before planting (143 in 2005) and the number of pounds applied, although relatively small, almost tripled in spite of regulatory moves to phase it out because it is an ozone layer-depleting chemical. Increased use in grape nurseries use may account for some of that change. Pounds of methyl bromide applied for postharvest treatment of grapes for export increased by 16 percent, corresponding with greater commodity volume. Use of sulfur dioxide, the major postharvest fungicide applied to table grapes, also rose 16 percent by weight, reflecting a larger amount of grapes in storage and/or longer storage periods. In contrast, pounds applied of aluminum phosphide, the main postharvest fumigant for raisins, dropped by 43 percent.

Raisin and table grape acres treated with plant growth regulators (PGR) rose 12 percent while PGR pounds applied declined by 23 percent. This seeming discrepancy resulted from increased use of the most-used PGR gibberellin, which is a lower-dose compound sprayed between mid-May and early June to reduce fruit set and increase fruit size. Fewer acres are treated with forchlorfenuron, which is used in the same way as gibberellin but is more expensive, with ethephon to improve the color of red grapes, and with hydrogen cyanamide, which is sprayed during the dormant period to promote increased and uniform budbreak in areas like the Coachella Valley that have warmer winters.

Alfalfa

Alfalfa hay is produced for animal feed. Most counties produce some alfalfa hay, but half of the state’s production comes from Kern, Imperial, Tulare, Merced, and Fresno counties. Harvested alfalfa acres decreased in 2005 by 5 percent compared to 2004, but the price per ton of alfalfa hay increased in 2005 by 19 percent. The dairy industry is still the biggest market for alfalfa hay production.

Table 16A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients (AIs), acres treated, acres planted, and prices for alfalfa each year from 2001 to 2005. Harvested acres from 2001 to 2004 are from CDFA 2006; harvested acres in 2005 are from NASS, July 2006a; marketing year average prices from 2001 to 2005 are from NASS, July 2002, July 2003, July 2004, July 2005, July 2006.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	2,919,521	3,008,510	2,921,442	2,662,360	2,838,945
Acres Treated	4,443,511	4,467,000	4,857,298	4,167,860	5,154,019
Acres Harvested	1,010,000	1,160,000	1,090,000	1,050,000	1,000,000
Price $/ton	$119.00	$98.00	$93.00	$116.00	$138.00

Table 16B. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres harvested, and prices for alfalfa from 2001 to 2005.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	-12	3	-3	-9	7
Acres Treated	-14	1	9	-14	24
Acres Harvested	-1	15	-6	-4	-5
Price $/ton	29	-18	-5	25	19

Figure 14. Acres of alfalfa treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2005.

Table 16C. Pesticide use in pounds of AI each year from 2001 to 2005. The pesticides listed are among those with the greatest change in use from 2004 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PERCENT CHANGE**
CHLORPYRIFOS	INSECTICIDE	231,575	186,815	249,221	174,553	260,386	85,833	49
DIURON	HERBICIDE	168,962	236,864	275,190	294,543	211,537	-83,006	-28
TRIFLURALIN	HERBICIDE	548,173	626,609	613,411	554,322	593,243	38,922	7
METHOMYL	INSECTICIDE	79,681	38,839	59,055	21,121	59,801	38,681	183
EPTC	HERBICIDE	137,783	129,273	57,366	71,196	97,065	25,869	36
IMAZETHAPYR, AMMONIUM SALT	HERBICIDE	398	478	355	479	4,183	3,704	773
INDOXACARB	INSECTICIDE		7,211	18,547	8,620	23,784	15,164	176
BT	INSECTICIDE	5,154	5,037	2,874	1,448	3,451	2,003	138
(S)-CYPERMETHRIN	INSECTICIDE		4	1,033	2,874	5,993	3,120	109
DIQUAT DIBROMIDE	HERBICIDE/ DEFOLIANT	17,323	9,056	9,424	17,587	11,138	-6,450	-37

The total pounds of pesticide active ingredient applied increased 7 percent from 2004 to 2005 and acres treated increased 24 percent. This increase was due to increased use of insecticides; the use of herbicides, the only other major pesticide category, decreased by 2 percent.

Insecticide use in pounds increased by 31 percent from 457,000 pounds in 2004 to 598,000 pounds in 2005, while the acres treated increased by 44 percent. The increased use of insecticides was mainly chlorpyrifos (49 percent), methomyl (183 percent), indoxacarb (176 percent), Bt (138 percent), and (s)-cypermethrin (109 percent). Insecticide use increased probably because of higher insect populations (western yellow striped armyworm, beet armyworm, alfalfa caterpillar, and Egyptian alfalfa weevil). The increased use of chlorpyrifos and methomyl were attributed specifically to the heavy pressure of western yellow striped armyworm, beet armyworm, and alfalfa caterpillar in Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley. As for chlorpyrifos, the North East and South East regions of California showed a decrease in use in 2005.

The decrease in herbicide use may be explained mostly by the decrease in alfalfa acres planted. Another possible reason for the decline in herbicide use was the introduction of Roundup Ready® genetically modified varieties in the Valley. The use of some herbicides, such as diuron and diquat dibromide decreased, and the use of other herbicides, such as trifluralin, EPTC, and imazethapyr ammonium salt, increased. Diquat dibromide is a desiccant used in seed production. In 2005, diquat dibromide and paraquat dichloride were used by seed growers to desiccate seed fields prior to harvest. Diquat was preferred, but it took multiple applications in most locations. Use of diquat dibromide decreased in San Joaquin Valley and other regions except Sacramento Valley. Diuron use decreased in most regions in the state except in the South Coast region. Most of the increased use of trifluralin was in the San Joaquin Valley and South Coast region, while use of imazethapyr ammonium salt increased in all regions except the South Coast region. Although the reasons for selecting certain herbicides were unclear, the awareness of groundwater contamination by some active ingredients may have played a role in this reduction.

Tomato (Processing)

Processing tomato growers planted 267,000 acres in 2005, 34,000 fewer acres than were planted in 2004 and the third fewest acres in the last sixteen years. Virtually all of the processing tomatoes continue to be located in the Sacramento Valley (28 percent) or San Joaquin Valley (67 percent). Fresno County accounted for over a third of the crop, followed by Yolo County with 14 percent.

Table 17A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients (AIs), acres treated, acres planted, and prices for processing tomatoes each year from 2001 to 2005. Planted acres from 2001 to 2005 are from NASS, May 2006b; marketing year average prices from 1999 to 2001 are from NASS, January 2002; prices from 2002 to 2004 are from NASS, January 2005; from 2005 from NASS, January 2006.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	7,917,190	10,645,802	10,943,416	11,530,842	11,293,906
Acres Treated	1,893,948	2,031,303	2,673,696	2,509,685	2,775,383
Acres Planted	258,000	296,000	289,000	301,000	267,000
Price $/ton	$57.50	$56.80	$57.20	$57.40	$59.60

Table 17B. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for processing tomatoes from 2001 to 2005.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	-26	34	3	5	-2
Acres Treated	-21	7	32	-6	11
Acres Planted	-11	15	-2	4	-11
Price $/ton	-2	-1	1	0	4

Figure 15. Acres of processing tomatoes treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2005.

Table 17C. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for cotton from 2001 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PERCENT CHANGE**
METAM-SODIUM	FUMIGANT	2,277,842	2,761,785	2,647,542	2,526,294	1,791,937	-734,357	-29
COPPER HYDROXIDE	FUNGICIDE	38,740	26,141	94,583	15,727	156,478	140,751	895
SULFUR	FUNGICIDE/ INSECTICIDE	4,887,829	6,844,656	6,912,869	7,757,126	7,882,610	125,484	2
MANCOZEB	FUNGICIDE	23,936	19,301	43,597	14,869	79,547	64,678	435
MANEB	FUNGICIDE	2,690	2,319	43,210	7,272	45,614	38,342	527
CYMOXANIL	FUNGICIDE					2,539	2,539
FAMOXADONE	FUNGICIDE					2,539	2,539
COPPER OXIDE (OUS)	FUNGICIDE	127		24,481	4,862	25,442	20,580	423
ETHEPHON	PLANT GROWTH REGULATOR	22,267	19,718	18,034	4,004	19,696	15,692	392
TEBUFENOZIDE	INSECTICIDE	10,646	9,011	17,103	5,842	1,792	-4,050	-69

Although planted acres decreased by 11 percent, pounds of AI decreased by only 2 percent and acres treated actually increased by 11 percent from 2004 to 2005. Most of the increase in acres treated was from fungicides, due to early season wet and cool weather which led to an increased threat of foliar pathogens, mainly bacterial speck. Acres treated with herbicide decreased by 5 percent and insecticide acres treated was about the same in 2005 as in 2004.

Weather conditions in March, April and May were wet compared to 2004. In 2005, over 4 inches of rain fell in the north and nearly 3 inches in the south, a 6-8 fold increase over the same March - May period in 2004. Grower use of copper compounds and other fungicides increased over 125 percent from 227,282 pounds in 2004 to 512,858 pounds in 2005. Most of the increase came in March, April and May as growers applied fungicides, particularly copper compounds, to prevent bacterial speck and other foliar diseases from affecting yields. Maneb and mancozeb-used as tank mixes with copper to help combat copper resistant foliar diseases-also increased. Sulfur use remained about the same in comparison to 2004.

Sulfur and metam-sodium accounted for over 87 percent of the total pounds of pesticide active ingredient applied to tomatoes in 2005. Sulfur was used for russet mite and powdery mildew during May, June and July. Warm weather during early summer was conducive to both pests and helps explain the increased use, despite fewer planted acres. Use of the fumigant metam-sodium for preplant weed control decreased by 29 percent (pounds AI) as transplanted tomatoes increased and growers used traditional preplant herbicides like s-metolachlor and metribuzin. Nearly 70 percent of the metam-sodium was applied during the winter, January through March

Insecticide use by pounds of active ingredient increased by 8 percent over 2004 levels, but accounted for less than 2 percent of total pesticide use. Dimethoate (Cygon®) remains the highest use insecticide in pounds in 2005, increasing slightly from 2004 to 41,768 pounds. Methomyl use increased 56 percent in 2005, from 12,423 pounds in 2004 to 19,368 pounds in 2005. Use of low-risk insecticides increased 32 percent to 32,280 pounds, led by increases in methoxyfenozide (Intrepid®), Bt products, and indoxacarb (Avaunt®). These three insecticides increased 82 percent, from 15,186 pounds in 2004 to 27,627 pounds in 2005. Methoxyfenozide use doubled from 2004 levels and continued to replace tebufenozide (Confirm®Ó) for armyworm control.

Overall, pounds of herbicides decreased slightly (1.1 percent) from 2004 to 2005. The use of the three major herbicides- s-metolachlor, trifluralin, and glyphosate-accounted for 93 percent of the 419,026 pounds of herbicide use on processing tomatoes in 2005. Transplant tomatoes continue to increase over direct seeded, resulting in increased use of s-metalochlor (1 percent increase to 175,133 pounds) and metribuzin (13 percent increase to 8,279 pounds) and decreased use of napropamide (31 percent, 4,728 pounds) and pebulate (86 percent, 1,124 pounds).

Oranges

Oranges are the eighth highest value crop grown in California. Eighty-six percent of California oranges are grown in the San Joaquin Valley (Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties). The rest are grown in the interior region (5 percent, in Riverside and San Bernardino counties) and on the south coast (about 7 percent of the state’s acreage, mostly in Ventura and San Diego). Intermittent rain hampered the orange harvest in California in 2005.

Table 18A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients (AIs), acres treated, acres planted, and prices for oranges each year from 2001 to 2005. Bearing acres from 1999-00 to 2003-04 are from CDFA 2006; bearing acres in 2004-05 are from NASS, September 2005; marketing year average prices (equivalent P.H.D.) in 1999-00 to 2001-01 are from NASS, July 2003; prices in 2001-02 to 2002-03 are from NASS, July 2005; prices from 2003-04 and 2004-05 are from NASS, July 2006c. A box is about 75 pounds of oranges.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	6,293,041	6,949,452	7,237,990	9,603,848	12,304,564
Acres Treated	1,727,085	1,910,155	2,050,026	2,249,087	2,623,957
Acres Bearing*	198,000	195,000	189,500	182,000	176,000
Price $/box*	$9.44	$10.85	$7.51	$11.16	$10.51

* The bearing acres and prices values are for the season that starts the fall of the previous year to the summer of the year shown in heading in the table, although the PUR values are by calendar year.

Table 18B. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for oranges from 2001 to 2005.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	-27	10	4	33	28
Acres Treated	-21	11	7	10	17
Acres Bearing	-1	-2	-3	-4	-3
Price $/box	75	15	-31	49	-6

Figure 16. Acres of oranges treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2005.

Table 18C. Pesticide use in pounds of AI each year from 2001 to 2005. The pesticides listed are among those with the greatest change in use from 2004 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PERCENT CHANGE**
COPPER HYDROXIDE	FUNGICIDE	216,731	265,955	252,534	259,964	474,286	214,322	82
COPPER SULFATE (BASIC)	FUNGICIDE	179,118	301,091	286,414	407,592	486,532	78,939	19
GLYPHOSATE	HERBICIDE	229,344	262,840	297,500	285,727	357,377	71,650	25
SIMAZINE	HERBICIDE	180,431	194,463	199,705	187,163	208,031	20,869	11
DIURON	HERBICIDE	173,960	182,711	179,096	167,782	181,505	13,723	8
PYRIDABEN	INSECTICIDE	3,347	3,357	4,741	2,011	6,364	4,353	216
IMIDACLOPRID	INSECTICIDE	2,533	4,370	6,825	6,007	2,063	-3,944	-66
ORYZALIN	HERBICIDE	230	1,444	5,253	11,279	21,296	10,017	89
BT	INSECTICIDE	2,029	3,323	2,972	7,812	11,826	4,014	51
MALATHION	INSECTICIDE	21,979	11,545	12,001	10,832	15,440	4,608	43

More acres were treated with pesticides in 2005 than in 2004, although there were fewer bearing acres. The number of bearing acres has steadily decreased every year since the 1999-00 season, a national trend. Total pesticide use (as pounds AI) in oranges between 2004 and 2005 increased by 28 percent. Most of the change was due to increased fungicide use, although there were increases in insecticides, herbicides and plant growth regulators used. The acres treated in 2005 also increased, by 17 percent.

California weather in 2005 was unsettled. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, winter storms in Southwest California led to record or near-record seasonal precipitation for much of the region. Spring rains continued into May in some of the citrus-growing regions. Temperatures were cooler than normal for much of the spring and early summer, but later in summer temperatures were unusually high. Fresno had a record-breaking string of days over 100°F in late July and August. This brought the yearly average temperature above normal. Unsettled weather also brought tornadoes to the San Joaquin Valley.

Overall the acres treated with insecticides were up 7 percent from 2004, a change of approximately 65,000 acres. Petroleum oil, spinosad, chlorpyrifos, cyfluthrin, mineral oil, and pyriproxifen remain the most widely used insecticides. Others are of interest this year due to large changes in acres treated. These are Bt, imidacloprid, malathion and pyridaben. Bt is used for caterpillar pests. Its use increased possibly due to an increase in two new lepidopteran pests, citrus peelminer and citrus leafminer although this insecticide is not very effective on these pests. Imidacloprid is used primarily for glassy-winged sharpshooter control. Its use decreased as a direct result of the successful treatment and reduction of glassy-winged sharpshooters in the San Joaquin Valley. Malathion is used for scales, especially cottony cushion scale. Pounds used of malathion increased while acres treated decreased. The pounds per acre increased because it takes a higher rate of malathion to kill scale insects. Pyridaben is used for mite control. Its use increased because citrus red mites were a problem this year due to the prolonged cool, wet spring weather.

Overall fungicide use was up 41 percent from 2004, a change of approximately 74,000 acres. This increase was mostly due to increases in use of copper hydroxide and copper sulfate (basic). Copper hydroxide and copper sulfate are used to prevent Phytophthora gummosis, Phytophthora root rot, and fruit diseases such as brown rot and Septoria spot. The fungus responsible for Septoria spot causes spotting of Valencia oranges and this damage to the rind lowers the fruit’s grade. It occurs in the San Joaquin Valley and interior districts of southern California during cool, moist weather. Brown rot, caused by Phytophthora fungi, also occurs when conditions are cool and wet. In 2005, weather during harvest provided optimal conditions for these two fruit diseases, requiring preventive fungicide applications. Respraying is recommended in years with heavy rainfall although field workers report that there was not a lot of either disease in 2005. Copper was applied a second time, in many cases to qualify for export to Korea.

Overall acres treated with sulfur increased 98 percent from 2004, a change of 2,896 acres, and pounds used increased by 117 percent. Sulfur is used to control fungal diseases, mites and citrus thrips. It can also be used for citrus peelminer, a pest that was seen in larger numbers in 2005. A higher use rate of sulfur is needed to treat this insect pest.

Overall herbicide use was up 7 percent from 2004, a change of approximately 44,000 acres. The prolonged cool wet spring of 2005 contributed to the rise in herbicide use. Glyphosate was the most frequently used herbicide with a 25 percent increase in pounds used. It is used for post-emergent weed control. Use of simazine and diuron increased (11 percent and 8 percent, respectively). Simazine and diuron are used for pre-emergent weed control in established orchards. Bearing acres decreased as growers pulled out old trees and replanted. Oryzalin use has increased every year since 2001. Pounds of oryzalin used increased 89 percent between 2004 and 2005. It is used for pre-emergent treatment of weeds in newly planted orchards and established orchards. Acreage treated has increased each year although bearing acres have decreased.

Head Lettuce

Head lettuce is grown in four regions in the state: the central coastal area (Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara counties); the southern coastal area (Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties); the San Joaquin Valley (Fresno, Kings, and Kern counties); and the southern deserts (Imperial and Riverside counties). In 2004, 59 percent of all California head lettuce was planted in the central coastal area, 17 percent in the southern coastal area, 12 percent in the San Joaquin Valley, and 11 percent in the southern deserts. California produces 70 to 75 percent of the head lettuce grown in the United States annually. In this analysis, the central and southern coastal areas are combined.

Table 19A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients (AIs), acres treated, acres planted, and prices for head lettuce each year from 2001 to 2005. Harvested acres from 2001 to 2004 are from CDFA 2006; harvested acres in 2005 are from NASS, January 2006; marketing year average prices from 2001 to 2005 from NASS, July 2006c.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	1,431,087	1,440,302	1,468,612	1,617,854	1,824,787
Acres Treated	2,071,215	2,008,936	2,042,801	2,226,577	2,357,304
Acres Harvested	128,000	130,000	132,000	139,000	131,000
Price $/cwt	$18.50	$14.90	$21.00	$15.10	$15.90

Table 19B. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for head lettuce from 2001 to 2005.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	–19	1	2	10	13
Acres Treated	2	–3	2	9	6
Acres Harvested	–2	2	2	5	–6
Price $/cwt	–2	–19	41	–28	5

Figure 17. Acres of head lettuce treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2005.

Table 19C. Pesticide use in pounds of AI each year from 2001 to 2005. The pesticides listed are among those with the greatest change in use from 2004 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PERCENT CHANGE**
FOSETYL-AL	FUNGICIDE	97,313	66,378	142,117	85,207	138,994	53,787	63
POTASSIUM PHOSPHITE	FUNGICIDE			47	17,583	49,429	31,846	181
SULFUR	FUNGICIDE/ INSECTICIDE	13,274	9,473	12,589	17,168	29,155	11,987	70
DIAZINON	INSECTICIDE	70,909	74,293	78,712	87,027	75,783	-11,245	-13
ACEPHATE	INSECTICIDE	95,641	97,985	81,183	82,661	71,856	-10,804	-13
CYMOXANIL	FUNGICIDE					5,588	5,588
FAMOXADONE	FUNGICIDE					5,588	5,588
TEBUFENOZIDE	INSECTICIDE	3,743	2,516	3,456	2,756	839	-1,918	-70
MEFENOXAM	FUNGICIDE	991	563	356	858	2,523	1,666	194
BOSCALID	FUNGICIDE				3,310	8,974	5,664	171

Pesticide use by pounds and acres treated on head lettuce gradually declined from 1995 through 2003, but increased in 2004 and 2005. Overall use of fungicides, fumigants, and herbicides rose and use of insecticides declined from 2004 to 2005. Major pesticides with the largest percent increase in pounds AI were mefenoxam, potassium phosphite, boscalid, sulfur, and fosetyl-al. Major pesticides with the largest percent decrease were tebufenozide, diazinon, and acephate. During 2005, the top insecticides used (by acres treated) were permethrin, diazinon, spinosad, (S)-cypermethrin, and lambda-cyhalothrin. The main fungicides used were maneb, dimethomorph, fosetyl-al, cymoxanil and famoxadone. Three herbicides dominated - propyzamide (pronamide), bensulide, and benefin. Metam-sodium was the main fumigant used, followed by 1,3-dichloropropene, chloropicrin, and methyl bromide.

Use of insecticides varied among the different lettuce-growing areas. In the coastal area, 17 percent fewer acres were treated with insecticides during 2005 than 2004. Acres treated with insecticides increased by 28 percent in the southern deserts, and by 16 percent in the San Joaquin Valley. There was a 6 percent decrease from 2004 to 2005 in acres of head lettuce harvested. Fungicide use increased by acres treated in all lettuce-growing areas, possibly due to a wet winter and wet, cool spring along the coast, and a wet spring in the southern deserts, which led to outbreaks of diseases such as downy mildew and anthracnose.

The insecticides spinosad and (S)-cypermethrin are used to manage larvae of beet armyworm and cabbage looper, primarily pests in the southern deserts. Use in pounds of these two insecticides, as well as methoxyfenozide and emamectin benzoate, increased in the southern deserts in 2005, possibly due to high worm pressure. Permethrin, primarily used for controlling seedling pests in the southern deserts such as crickets, earwigs, cutworms, and sowbugs, increased by 2 percent. Use of tebufenozide, an insect growth regulator (IGR) for worms, plummeted in most areas, possibly because of the recent registration of methoxyfenozide, another IGR thought to be more effective. Use of methoxyfenozide increased in use by 65 percent. The increase in use of (S)-cypermethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, methomyl, cyfluthrin, and esfenvalerate probably resulted from higher populations of thrips, which have become serious pests in the southern deserts of California. Abamectin use decreased in all regions while permethrin use increased in all areas except for the San Joaquin Valley.

Diazinon is a preplant treatment applied for soil pests, and until 2005 was recommended for symphylans. A recent trial showed better control by the pyrethroids lambda-cyhalothrin and (S)-cypermethrin. Use of diazinon decreased by 14 percent and lambda-cyhalothrin by 12 percent in the coastal area, possibly because symphylans were not as abundant as in 2004. However, use of S-cypermethrin (in pounds) increased in the coastal area. Diazinon use decreased by 18 percent in the southern deserts, where it is often used for stand-establishment pests such as crickets, darkling ground beetles, earwigs, and sowbugs. In the coastal area, use of acephate and the neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid, decreased because lettuce aphids were scarce.

Several active ingredients-both old chemistry and reduced risk, are rotated for downy mildew, a disease that has many pathovars. In 2005, maneb was the dominant fungicide used in head lettuce production, primarily to control downy mildew and prevent anthracnose. In the coastal area, pounds of maneb declined by 7 percent from 2004 to 2005, dimethomorph, first registered in 2003, increased in use by 49 percent. Use of fosetyl-al rose in all lettuce-growing areas by 54 percent from 2004 to 2005, possibly due to effectiveness against the prevalent downy mildew pathovars. A new reduced-risk product for downy mildew registered in 2005 contains equal amounts of the active ingredients cymoxanil and famoxadone. Over 11,00 pounds of these AIs were used on over 45,000 acres, mostly in the coastal area. Potassium phosphite is another new active ingredient for downy mildew of lettuce. Its use throughout California has increased by 181 percent from 2004 to 2005 (pounds used), and it seems to be most popular in the coastal area. From 2004 to 2005, mefenoxam use for downy mildew increased by 194 percent (pounds used). Finally, another newly registered reduced-risk product for downy mildew that contains the active ingredient fenamidone was used on nearly 22,000 acres in 2005. (See Sulfur below for powdery mildew.)

Lettuce drop (Sclerotinia drop) is another fungal disease with a shift in popular active ingredients. Use of iprodione fell by 12 percent from 2004 to 2005, but use of boscalid, a new reduced-risk material, rose by 171 percent. (See also chloropicrin below.)

According to NOAA (2005), the citrus growing regions of California remain in a severe drought with another dry year (the fifth in a row). California had a wet winter and a warm, dry spring. Temperatures were above normal across California especially in the spring. Fall was wet and cold with precipitation was above average across the state and temperatures were below normal.

Sulfur is applied as a foliar treatment for powdery mildew, and along with the reduced-risk fungicide, azoxystrobin, is the only labeled product used to manage this disease. Sulfur use increased from 2004 to 2005 by 77 percent (over 14,000 acres covered), while that of azoxystrobin increased by 159 percent (almost 5,000 acres covered).

Herbicide acres treated increased by 1 percent from 2004 to 2005, despite wet spring weather throughout the state. Pounds of propyzamide (pronamide), applied as a postplant-preemergence herbicide, increased statewide by 3 percent from 2004 to 2005 The increases in propyzamide use occurred in the San Joaquin Valley and southern deserts, where use increased by about 50 and 28 percent, respectively. As consistent with its use for the past ten years, propyzamide was applied to many more acres than the preemergence bensulide, which targets small-seeded annual grasses and is not as effective as propyzamide in the coastal areas. Use of benefin, a pre-plant herbicide popular in the San Joaquin Valley, decreased statewide from 2004 to 2005.

Nematodes are not economic pests of head lettuce, so soil is primarily fumigated to control soil-borne diseases. In 2005, fumigants, mostly metam-sodium, were used on fewer than 17 percent of all lettuce acreage. Each lettuce-growing area had a unique assortment of fumigants. Metam-sodium use dominated in the San Joaquin Valley; 1,3-dichloropropene in the deserts; and methyl bromide in the coastal area. Although mainly used to eliminate soil-borne diseases, metam-sodium also controls weeds in lettuce fields, if somewhat unreliably. In 2005, fields fumigated with metam-sodium represented less than 3 percent of all lettuce acreage. Use of 1,3-dichloropropene increased by half, but only a fraction of lettuce acreage was treated. In the deserts, 1,3-dichloropropene was used exclusively, and only 35 acres were treated. The third most widely used fumigant, chloropicrin, reduces soil populations of Verticillium wilt and lettuce drop alone or when combined with methyl bromide or 1,3-dichloropropene. In 2005, chloropicrin was used only in the coastal area, and use decreased by 35 percent.

Rice

California’s Sacramento Valley contains more than 95 percent of the state’s rice acreage. The remainder is in north to central San Joaquin Valley. The leading rice-producing counties are Colusa, Sutter, Butte, Glenn, and Yolo. Approximately 500,000 acres in the Sacramento Valley are of a soil type restricting the crops to rice or pasture. The remainder of the acreage has greater crop flexibility.

Table 20A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients (AIs), acres treated, acres planted, and prices for rice each year from 2001 to 2005. Planted acres from 2001 to 2004 are from CDFA 2006; planted acres in 2005 are from NASS, July 2006a; marketing year average prices from 2001 to 2003 are from NASS, July 2003 and July 2004; from 2004 and 2005 from NASS, July 2006c.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	5,945,926	5,962,401	6,490,215	6,615,296	5,123,593
Acres Treated	1,738,355	2,061,850	2,226,949	2,755,210	1,996,951
Acres Planted	473,000	533,000	509,000	595,000	528,000
Price $/cwt	$5.28	$6.32	$10.40	$7.34	$10.50

Table 20B. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for rice from 2001 to 2005.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	-16	0	9	2	-23
Acres Treated	-20	19	8	24	-28
Acres Planted	-14	13	-5	17	-11
Price $/cwt	6	20	65	-29	43

Figure 18. Acres of rice treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2005.

Table 20C. Pesticide use in pounds of AI each year from 2001 to 2005. The pesticides listed are among those with the greatest change in use from 2004 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PERCENT CHANGE**
COPPER SULFATE (PENTAHYDRATE)	ALGAECIDE	2,666,466	2,209,754	3,259,593	2,958,246	2,372,354	-585,892	-20
PROPANIL	HERBICIDE	1,382,080	1,470,045	1,376,294	1,685,833	1,418,100	-267,732	-16
MOLINATE	HERBICIDE	732,507	877,572	539,870	367,155	171,302	-195,853	-53
THIOBENCARB	HERBICIDE	644,570	839,171	587,156	521,556	448,182	-73,374	-14
CYHALOFOP BUTYL	HERBICIDE	5,490	8,172	25,910	56,184	24,984	-31,200	-56
PENOXSULAM	HERBICIDE					2,643	2,643
BENSULFURON METHYL	HERBICIDE	3,048	2,421	1,286	1,697	784	-914	-54
CARFENTRAZONE-ETHYL	HERBICIDE	492	2,128	12,250	8,247	4,019	-4,228	-51
BISPYRIBAC-SODIUM	HERBICIDE		2,378	2,214	3,238	1,991	-1,246	-38
AZOXYSTROBIN	FUNGICIDE	8,822	15,848	13,954	25,949	16,622	-9,326	-36

Pesticide use decreased approximately 28 percent from 2004 to 2005 in terms of acres treated, and decreased approximately 23 percent in terms of pounds AI applied. That decrease was partly due to a decrease in rice acres planted, which decreased from 595,000 acres planted in 2004 to 528,000 acres in 2005, a 13 percent decline. In 2005, there were no major shifts in pest pressure. Herbicides accounted for most of the non-adjuvant pesticide use, in terms of both acres treated (74 percent) and pounds of AI (47 percent). Herbicide use has increased slightly during the 1990’s, but herbicide acres treated decreased by approximately 23 percent from 2004 to 2005. Acres treated with insecticides decreased by 8 percent and fungicides decreased by 28 percent from 2004 to 2005. None of the non-adjuvant pesticides that accounted for 95 percent of all use by acres treated increased from 2004 to 2005, except for penoxsulam and lambda-cyhalothrin. Pesticides with the largest percentage decreases in use include cyhalofop butyl, bensulfuron methyl, molinate, and carfentrazone ethyl, which are all herbicides.

The major herbicides by acres treated in rice in 2005 were propanil, triclopyr, thiobencarb, cyhalofop butyl, and penoxsulam. Use of nearly all the major herbicides decreased dramatically, except for penoxsulam. One reason for decreased herbicide use, in addition to the reduced planted acres, was wet weather causing difficulty with proper application timing. In 2005, penoxsulam was registered and available for use the first time.

Lambda-cyhalothrin is the most widely used insecticide and one of the few pesticides that actually increased from 2004 to 2005. It is used primarily for rice water weevil control and secondarily for armyworm control. In 2005, a late season armyworm infestation took place, which resulted in the increase in lambda cyhalothrin use. Insect pressure is low for California rice and lambda-cyhalothrin is used on approximately 10 percent of all rice planted in California.

Copper sulfate is the only algaecide registered for use on California rice, and one of the few products acceptable for organic rice production. The product doubles as a control for tadpole shrimp, which is very important to organic rice growers.

Peaches and Nectarines

California ranks first in the United States in peach and nectarine production, growing 75 percent of peaches and 92 percent of nectarines in 2005. The state produced 100 percent of U.S. processed peaches and 55 percent of U.S. fresh market peaches. Clingstone peaches, largely grown in the Sacramento Valley, comprise about 56 percent of total peach tonnage in California. They are used exclusively for processing into canned and frozen products (including baby food) and juice. Most fresh market peaches and nectarines are produced in the central San Joaquin Valley. California freestone peaches for fresh shipping represent 33 percent of annual peach tonnage. Fresh market nectarines comprise approximately 100 percent of annual nectarine tonnage. Clingstone and freestone peach acreage both decreased slightly in 2005, while nectarine acreage remained unchanged. Peaches and nectarines are discussed together because pest management issues for the two crops are very similar.

Table 21A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients (AIs), acres treated, acres planted, and prices for rice each year from 2001 to 2005. Planted acres from 2001 to 2004 are from CDFA 2006; planted acres in 2005 are from NASS, July 2006a; marketing year average prices from 2001 to 2003 are from NASS, July 2003 and July 2004; from 2004 and 2005 from NASS, July 2006c.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	6,003,210	6,510,986	6,486,354	6,432,523	6,497,930
Acres Treated	1,609,554	1,581,916	1,496,832	1,518,626	1,579,062
Acres Bearing Peach	65,800	68,000	68,000	69,000	66,400
Acres Bearing Nectarine	36,500	36,500	36,500	36,500	36,500
Acres Bearing Total	102,300	104,500	104,500	105,500	102,900
Price $/ton Peach	$428.00	$418.00	$406.00	$341.00	$540.00
Price $/ton Nectarine	$464.00	$382.00	$436.00	$342.00	$504.00
Price $/ton Total	$440.84	$405.43	$416.48	$341.35	$527.23

Table 21B. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for rice from 2001 to 2005.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	-11	8	0	-1	1
Acres Treated	-5	-2	-5	1	4
Acres Bearing Peach	1	3	0	1	-4
Acres Bearing Nectarine	3	0	0	0	0
Acres Bearing Total	2	2	0	1	-2
Price $/ton Peach	13	-2	-3	-16	58
Price $/ton Nectarine	17	-18	14	-22	47
Price $/ton Total	14	-8	3	-18	54

Figure 19. Acres of rice treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2005.

Table 21C. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for cotton from 2001 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PERCENT CHANGE**
OIL	INSECTICIDE	2,994,836	3,207,022	3,302,142	3,333,768	3,257,233	-76,535	-2
COPPER	FUNGICIDES	599,802	683,336	722,225	672,799	598,432	-74,367	-11
PHOSMET	INSECTICIDE	140,965	137,730	99,266	117,423	79,081	-38,343	-33
SULFUR	FUNGICIDE/ INSECTICIDE	1,104,404	1,221,616	1,122,603	1,028,113	1,061,816	33,703	3
GLYPHOSATE	HERBICIDE	90,953	104,589	96,086	132,134	159,568	27,434	21
PYRACLOSTROBIN	FUNGICIDE				617	1,786	1,169	190
BOSCALID	FUNGICIDE				1,215	3,516	2,302	190
MYCLOBUTANIL	FUNGICIDE	2066	2101	1091	1,199	2,446	1,247	104
SIMAZINE	HERBICIDE	22313	20911	19251	22,754	12,525	-10,228	-45
PROPICONAZOLE	FUNGICIDE	4,435	3,890	4,754	4,615	7,995	3,380	73

Peach and nectarine acreage treated with the major categories of pesticides has fluctuated from year to year since 1993 without clear increasing or decreasing trends. Total pounds of pesticide AI applied and acres treated increased somewhat in 2005 (1 percent and 4 percent, respectively), even though there was slightly less planted acreage than in 2004. The overall increase was mainly due to a jump in fungicide applications against diseases favored by the long cool, wet spring. Rain during bloom reduced fruit set and the low temperatures slowed maturation of early varieties. There was little pest pressure until summer heat brought on mite problems in some locations. Extreme heat in July/August caused some damage to fruit, such as flesh corking, and increased culling. In general, however, fruit size, quality and color were good. Yields were down about 12 percent from 2004 levels’ Prices were 54 percent higher, regaining a more normal level after several downward-trending years.

Total acres treated stayed about the same or decreased for the major insecticides used: oils; esfenvalerate; phosmet; the Oriental fruit moth (OFM) mating disruption pheromones E-8-dodecenyl acetate, Z-8-dodecenyl acetate, and Z-8-dodecenol; spinosad; and chlorpyrifos. This is probably due to the short season and relatively light pest pressure in 2005. Oils are applied during the dormant season to forestall outbreaks of scales, mites, and moth pests. Esfenvalerate and chlorpyrifos are broad-spectrum chemicals that may be used in dormant applications or during the growing season. Spinosad and phosmet both control moths and katydids. The use of phosmet declined by 33 percent, perhaps because of delayed emergence and reproduction of moth pests due to cool weather, and growers’ increasing adoption of OFM mating disruption and other reduced-risk alternatives.

In 2005 the most-used fungicides by acres treated were sulfur, copper, propiconazole, ziram, iprodione, cyprodinil and tebuconazole. Fungicide applications increased because rain and cooler-than-normal temperatures lasted until June and favored disease development. Applications of sulfur, the standard treatment for powdery mildew, were up 3 percent by weight. Use of copper, which controls leaf curl and shot hole disease, decreased 11 percent by weight, probably due to recent price hikes and the availability of alternative chemicals. Although total acreage treated with fungicides increased by 30 percent, total pounds applied decreased by 3 percent. That difference in trends reflects increasing adoption of lower-dose chemicals that are being substituted for older products, or used in rotations to avoid resistance development. The use of propiconazole and myclobutanil, low-dose chemicals applied against powdery mildew and fungus diseases such as brown rot and ripe fruit rot, grew 73 and 104 percent, respectively. New research findings indicated that propiconazole also controls sour rot, a yeast infection. Use of pyraclostrobin and boscalid, low-dose, reduced-risk alternatives for mildew and fungus control, jumped 190 percent.

Even though 2005 was a problem year for weeds because of higher than normal winter/spring rainfall, slightly fewer acres were treated with herbicides than in 2004. In 2004, herbicide use jumped in these crops; that may have reduced 2005 weed pressure. However, pounds of herbicide applied increased 13 percent, perhaps in response to exceptionally rank weed growth, or because of dosage differences between products or AIs. The most-used herbicides in 2005 by acres treated were glyphosate, oxyfluorfen, paraquat, 2,4-D, simazine, and oryzalin. Although simazine remain important, its use decreased 45 percent by weight due to regulatory restriction for ground water protection and the increasing availability of alternative chemicals. Pounds of glyphosate used went up 21 percent, perhaps partly as a substitute for simazine, and possibly reflecting glyphosate tolerance by some orchard weeds.

Total acres treated with preplant fumigants declined by 8 percent, including reductions in areas treated with chloropicrin, sodium tetrathiocarbonate, and methyl bromide. In contrast, fumigant use by weight increased. That was due in large part to a 32 percent jump in the amount of 1,3-dichloropropene applied, even though acres treated with that fumigant increased by only 2 percent. That disparity may have been caused by changing application patterns. Methyl bromide is coming under increasing regulatory restriction. Its preplant use in stone fruit orchards declined 9 percent by weight Pounds of methyl bromide used for postharvest treatment of peaches and nectarines fell by 47 percent because there was a smaller crop in storage and new export protocols adopted by several countries (especially Mexico) allow alternatives to postharvest fumigation.

Strawberries

Strawberries are grown mostly for fresh market. Depending on market prices, some are processed. California strawberry production occurs primarily along the central and southern coast, with small but significant production occurring in the Central Valley.

Table 22A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients (AIs), acres treated, acres planted, and prices for strawberries each year from 2001 to 2005. Harvested acres from 2001 to 2004 are from CDFA 2006; harvested acres in 2005 are from NASS, July 2006b; marketing year average prices from 2001 to 2005 from NASS, July 2006c.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	7,892,756	8,208,032	9,175,187	9,566,254	9,145,802
Acres Treated	874,220	981,757	1,267,524	1,241,172	1,185,481
Acres Harvested	26,400	28,500	29,600	33,200	34,300
Price $/cwt	$70.60	$67.40	$72.80	$73.30	$61.80

Table 21B. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres harvested, and prices for strawberries from 2001 to 2005.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	2	4	12	4	-4
Acres Treated	-14	12	29	-2	-4
Acres Harvested	-4	8	4	12	3
Price $/ton	15	-5	8	1	-16

Figure 20. Acres of strawberries treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2004.

Table 22C. Pesticide use in pounds of AI each year from 2001 to 2005. The pesticides listed are among those with the greatest change in use from 2004 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PERCENT CHANGE**
METHYL BROMIDE	FUMIGANT	3,777,605	3,706,589	3,671,982	3,190,832	2,922,984	-267,848	-8
CHLOROPICRIN	FUMIGANT	3,011,780	2,910,013	3,282,719	3,258,930	3,182,417	-76,513	-2
1,3-D	FUMIGANT	146,636	440,338	884,326	1,523,348	1,596,114	72,766	5
SULFUR	FUNGICIDE/ INSECTICIDE	252,776	278,557	326,340	491,637	458,876	-32,761	-7
CAPTAN	FUNGICIDE	170,360	217,646	285,272	236,823	261,563	24,740	10
BORAX	FUNGICIDE/ INSECTICIDE				67	336	269	399
BOSCALID	FUNGICIDE			0	8,572	15,779	7,207	84
AZOXYSTROBIN	FUNGICIDE	830	5,289	4,512	4,941	2,831	-2,111	-43
HEXYTHIAZOX	INSECTICIDE	2,141	2,513	2,578	2,896	1,729	-1,167	-40
BT	INSECTICIDE	6,596	4,460	11,200	16,092	26,156	10,064	63

The amount of strawberry acreage treated with pesticides and pounds applied declined 4 percent from 2004 to 2005. Fungicides, followed by insecticides, account for the largest proportion of pesticides applied. Use of pesticides in the major AI categories decreased from 2004 to 2005 except for fungicides, which increased by 8 percent. The major pesticides with greatest increase in percent of pounds of AI from 2004 to 2005 were borax, boscalid, Bt, pyraclostrobin, and cyprodinil. The major pesticides with greatest decreased use by pounds were azoxystrobin, hexythiazox, mefenoxam, thiram, and harpin protein. Most of the November and December PUR data from Ventura County had not been received by the time of this report. The crop most affected by these missing data is strawberry and based on the average use in November and December from 2000 to 2004, the final total pounds of AI is projected to be about 60,000 pounds higher. The AIs most affected in strawberries are captan and sulfur.

The major strawberry pests are botrytis, powdery mildew, and lygus bugs in the northern growing areas. Worms (various moth and beetle larvae) especially cutworms and beet armyworms continue to be particularly troublesome in the southern growing areas.

Most of the pesticides used, as measured by acres treated, were fungicides. Between 2004 and 2005 fungicide use increased by 6 percent. The major fungicides by acres treated in 2005 were captan, sulfur, pyraclostrobin, fenhexamid, boscalid, and myclobutanil. The older registered fungicides (captan, thiram, thiophanate-methyl, and benomyl) and the newly registered fenhexamid, fludioxonil, cyprodinil and boscalid are generally used to control Botrytis fruit rot, a major disease of strawberries. Use of all of these products increased in 2005 in terms of pounds applied except thiram. This increase was likely due to prolonged rainy and cloudy conditions during bloom and increased acreage, specifically of summer planted strawberries. Thiram use continued the declines seen from 2002 to 2003 and 2003 to 2004. Declines were likely due to replacement by captan for resistance management. Following a 104 percent increase in 2003, thiophanate -methyl increased another 3 percent in 2004 and again by 12 percent in 2005. This increase continues the trend of thiophanate-methyl replacement of benomyl as an inexpensive systemic fungicide.

Conventional strawberry growers primarily used sulfur, myclobutanil, boscalid, and pyraclostrobin to control powdery mildew. Sulfur is inexpensive and is also used by organic growers. Sulfur, myclobutanil, azoxystrobin and triflumizole use declined in 2005 because of replacement by boscalid and pyraclostrobin, which are very effective against powdery mildew. Both acres treated with these two products and pounds of active ingredient increased in 2005 over 2004. Pyraclostrobin is frequently used in combination with boscalid.

The major insecticides used by acres treated were spinosad, malathion, fenpropathrin, naled, and methomyl. Acres treated with all of the major broad-spectrum insecticides decreased primarily because of reduced pest pressures from lygus and worms (moth and beetle larvae) in 2005 although lygus bugs continue to be a serious problem. Fenpropathrin is also used in combination with malathion to control whitefly. Pyriproxyfen, a newly registered insect growth regulator, is effective against white flies. Reduction of whitefly pressure has lead to lower use of pyriproxyfen and imidacloprid (also a growth regulator) as well as a reduction in use of pyrethroids mixed with malathion. Reduction in two-spotted spider mite pressure may also have resulted in some reduction in petroleum oil use and replacement by the miticides: etoxazole, spiromesifen and bifenazate. Most conventional growers continue to use the pyrethroid miticide, bifenazate since its introduction in 2003. Use of hexythiazox declined by 40 percent, and bifenazate declined by 18 percent in 2005 from 2004 as spiromesifen and etoxazole have become available. Use of spinosad for cutworm and beet armyworm control declined by 5 percent while acres treated with Bt (all forms) increased proportionally.

Strawberry production relies on several fumigants. Overall fumigant use decreased by 4 percent, including chloropicrin, methyl bromide, metam sodium and metam potassium. 1,3-D, use alone increased. Fumigants usually are applied at higher rates than other pesticide types, such as fungicides and insecticides. Fumigants are applied at high rates, in part, because they treat a volume of space rather than a surface area such as leaves and stems of plants. Thus, the pounds applied are large relative to other pesticide types even though the number of applications or number of acres treated may be relatively small. Fumigants accounted for about 87 percent of all pesticide AIs by pounds applied in strawberries. Methyl bromide pounds used decreased by 8 percent, from 3,190,832 pounds in 2004 to 2,922,984 pounds in 2005 despite a 3 percent increase in acres harvested. Decline in methyl bromide use continues a steady trend since a peak in 1999. The missing data from Ventura County is not expected to have much effect on methyl bromide totals because historically little methyl bromide has been used in Ventura in November and December. This decrease in methyl bromide use was likely a result of increase in price for this fumigant due to the Montreal Protocol phase-out, and use of less costly replacements such as 1,3-D. However, township caps on 1,3-D are limiting use of this AI as well. Growers also appear to be replacing methyl bromide with 1,3-D formulated with various percentages of chloropicrin, chloropicrin alone, and metam sodium. 1,3-D use both in pounds and in acres treated with this fumigant increased 5 percent in 2005. Chloropicrin use in pounds decreased by 2 percent from 2004 to 2005. Pounds of metam sodium decreased by 17 percent. Metam sodium is generally more effective in controlling weeds, but less effective than 1,3-D or 1,3-D plus chloropicrin against soil-borne diseases and nematodes.

Carrots

California is the largest producer of carrots in the United States. Carrots are grown for fresh market and processing. California has four main production regions for carrots: the San Joaquin Valley (Kern County), with significant production in Cuyama Valley (San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties); the low desert (Imperial and Riverside counties); the high desert (Los Angeles County); and the central coast (Monterey County). The San Joaquin Valley accounts for more than half the state’s acreage.

Table 23A. Total reported pounds of all active ingredients, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for carrots each year from 2001 to 2005. Harvested acres of all carrots from 2001 to 2004 are from CDFA 2006; harvested acres in 2005 are from NASS, January 2006; marketing year average prices from 2001 to 2005 from NASS, July 2006c.

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	6,506,317	7,823,438	8,613,683	8,075,913	8,957,476
Acres Treated	359,125	426,126	448,463	503,022	531,778
Acres Harvested	72,300	71,100	71,500	70,800	71,100
Price $/cwt	$18.10	$20.30	$20.40	$21.50	$21.70

Table 22B. Percent difference from previous year for reported pounds of all AIs, acres treated, acres planted, and prices for carrots from 2001 to 2005..

	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Lbs AI	-14	20	10	-6	11
Acres Treated	-13	19	5	12	6
Acres Harvested	-2	-2	1	-1	0
Price $/cwt	36	12	0	5	1

Figure 21. Acres of carrots treated by all AIs in the major types of pesticides from 1993 to 2004.

Table 23C. Pesticide use in pounds of AI each year from 2001 to 2005. The pesticides listed are among those with the greatest change in use from 2004 to 2005.

AI	AI TYPE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	CHANGE*	PERCENT CHANGE**
METAM-SODIUM	FUMIGANT	5,226,254	5,536,826	5,919,588	5,062,340	5,918,304	855,964	17
1,3-D	FUMIGANT	404,770	980,857	1,197,998	1,359,024	914,918	-444,106	-33
SULFUR	FUNGICIDE	171,488	217,912	298,558	324,131	559,029	234,898	72
TRIFLURALIN	HERBICIDE	28,023	31,343	32,522	29,486	32,384	2,898	10
LINURON	HERBICIDE	46,319	51,845	46,511	55,620	58,412	2,792	5
ESFENVALERATE	INSECTICIDE	690	423	509	264	594	329	125
FLUAZIFOP-P-BUTYL	HERBICIDE	2,667	2,840	1,835	3,332	5,078	1,745	52
DIAZINON	INSECTICIDE	4,451	6,677	5,751	5,750	4,090	-1,660	-29
AZOXYSTROBIN	FUNGICIDE	137	2,337	1,626	1,609	1,264	-345	-21
MEFENOXAM	FUNGICIDE	15,339	17,495	15,049	19,217	16,803	-2,414	-14

While total acres of carrots harvested remained nearly constant, pesticide use (as acres treated) in carrots continues to increase yearly since 2001. Between 2004 and 2005, pounds of AI applied increased 11 percent and acres treated increased 6 percent. Acres treated with fumigants remained constant, fungicide use declined 9 percent, herbicide use increased 7 percent, and insecticide use increased 25 percent. Pesticides used most (as measured by acres treated) were mefenoxam, linuron, sulfur, trifluralin, iprodione, metam-sodium, copper hydroxide, pyraclostrobin, and chlorothalonil. The major pesticides with increased percentage in acres treated were esfenvalerate, sulfur, fluazifop-p-butyl, metam sodium, iprodione, chlorothalonil, and trifluralin. The major pesticides with decreased percentage use were copper compounds, mefenoxam, 1,3 dichloropropene, diazinon, and azoxystrobin.

Cumulatively, the most used pesticide category for carrots, as measured by acres treated, was fungicides. From 2004 to 2005 acres treated with fungicides decreased 9 percent while pounds increased by 57 percent. The most applied fungicides in 2005 were mefenoxam, sulfur, copper compounds, iprodione, and pyraclostrobin (registered in 2003). Alternaria leaf blight, a foliar disease, is generally controlled by iprodione, chlorothalonil, pyraclostrobin, or azoxystrobin. Azoxystrobin and pyraclostrobin are strobilurins with the same mode of action. In terms of pounds of AI, azoxystrobin decreased in use 21 percent while pyraclostrobin, iprodione, and chlorothalonil use increased. Alternaria leaf blight has become less of a problem recently because of the introduction of resistant carrot varieties. Cavity spot is a major, troublesome soil-borne fungal disease that is commonly controlled by applying mefenoxam or metam sodium (a soil fumigant). Growers might have relied less on mefenoxam, which declined by 13 percent by pounds, to manage this root disease in 2005, resulting in an increased use of metam sodium. Powdery mildew is primarily controlled by sulfur, which is inexpensive and especially popular with organic growers. Sulfur use increased in desert regions in 2005 because weather conditions increased powdery mildew infections.

The main herbicides used in carrot production were linuron, trifluralin, and fluazifop-p-butyl. The two most important are linuron (58412 pounds, 82,136 acres treated) and trifluralin (32,384 pounds, 41,059 acres treated). Linuron, a postemergence herbicide, provides good control of broadleaf weeds and small grasses. Pounds of fluazifop-p-butyl a selective postemergence phenoxy herbicide used for control of most annual and perennial grass increased by 52 percent. Also use of the post emergent herbicide clethodim increased 128 percent in 2005. Trifluralin, a preemergent herbicide, is used by carrot growers to complement linuron for weed management. There are no alternatives to trifluralin; use of this herbicide increased 10 percent. However, metam sodium and crop rotation may be more effective for controlling specific weeds, e.g., nut sedges, especially purple nutsedge.

Carrot production relies on the fumigants metam sodium, 1,3-D, and chloropicrin. These fumigants are used at high rates to control soil-borne pests. Methyl bromide is no longer used on carrots. In 2005, fumigants accounted for about 80 percent of the total pounds of pesticide AIs applied to carrots. This figure is unchanged from 2004. Acres treated with fumigants remain unchanged. By pounds 1,3-D use decreased by 33 percent, while use of metam sodium increased 17 percent and chloropicrin use increased by 11 percent. 1, 3-D is used to control nematodes and secondarily against wireworms, cutworms, and symphylans, but is less effective than metam sodium against fungi and weeds. Fields are sampled for nematode populations. If the counts are low to moderate the fields are usually treated with metam sodium. If the counts are high they are treated with 1,3-D. 1,3-D usage was down in 2005 probably because nematodes were less of a problem.

Insects are not generally a major problem in carrot production, except for white flies that are controlled with esfenvalerate. The major insecticides used in 2005 were esfenvalerate, diazinon, spinosad, cyfluthrin, and carbaryl. In 2005, pounds of esfenvalerate applied increased by 125 percent. Esfenvalerate is generally used to control white fly and flea beetle but also against leafhoppers and cutworms. The pyrethroid, cyfluthrin, used to control cutworm and crown root aphids also increased. Carbaryl use declined by 14 percent. Foliar spray formulations of carbaryl are used for control of armyworms, leafhoppers, and flea beetles, while bait formulations are primarily used for saltmarsh caterpillars and cutworms. Esfenvalerate and cyfluthrin use may have increased because they are slightly more insect specific while spinosad, carbaryl, and methomyl are broader spectrum older materials. It appears that greater problems with leafhopper in 2005 may have led to increased use of pesticides targeting those insects. Use of methoxyfenozide against armyworms also increased.

VI. SUMMARY OF PESTICIDE USE REPORT DATA 2004 INDEXED BY CHEMICAL

The report presents information of statewide pesticide use for 2005. For each chemical, the commodity on which it was used, total pounds applied, the number of agricultural applications made, and the amount of commodity treated are summarized.

A summary by commodity is presented in a separate report, Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data 2004 Indexed by Commodity. Both versions of the Pesticide Use Report can be purchased from DPR or downloaded from the DPR web site

Sources of Information

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Almond Board of California. (October 2005).

Blue Diamond Growers. (October 2005).

California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), 2006. California Agriculture Resource Directory 2005.

Cline, Harry. SJV '05 cotton year stark contrast to '04. Western Farm Press, Dec 17, 2005.

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NASS, September 2005, Citrus Fruits 2005 Summary. USDA. Fr Nt 3-1 (05)

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NASS, May 2006a. 2005 California Almond Acreage Report

NASS, May 2006b, California Processing Tomato Report

NASS, June 30, 2006. Acreage. USDA. Cr Pr 2-5 (6-06)a

, July 2006a, California Field Crop Review

NASS, July 2006b, Noncitrus Fruits and Nuts 2005 Summary USDA. Fr Nt 1-3 (06)

NASS. July 2002. Agricultural Prices 2001 Summary. USDA. Pr 1-3 (02)a.

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Williams, Michael. Cotton Insect Losses - 2005.