Rain-Flooding Hit Ca. Farms & April Invasive Plant-Pest Awareness

**Months of heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding have dealt a new financial blow to California farmers.

After a multiyear drought that had them fallowing land and plowing under crops, they now face flooded fields, property damage and crop delays.

The damage has extended from dairies and orchards in the San

Joaquin Valley to strawberry and vegetable fields along the Central Coast, with potential longer-term fallouts impacting some of the world’s most productive agricultural regions.

**The USDA has declared April as 2023 Invasive Plant Pest and Disease Awareness Month.

Each year, invasive insects and plant diseases cause an estimated $40 billion in damages to plants, including key agricultural crops.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack encourages everyone to familiarize yourself with the invasive pest quarantines in your area and do your part to avoid inadvertently moving invasive insects and plant diseases to new areas.

**New data from USDA’s Economic Research Service shows the United Kingdom is the world’s fifth-largest importer of agricultural products.

The U.K. imported $78.2 billion in ag related goods in 2021 and exported $31.9 billion.

Historically, the European Union has been the largest trading partner with the U.K., but the U.K.’s formal departure from the European single market, known as “Brexit,” will likely impact the UK’s trade dynamics.