Crop Consultant Intelligence: New HLB Maps and USDA Crop Forecasts

October 12, 2026

Crop Consultant Intelligence from the publishers of Progressive Crop Consultant arrives every Monday with pest management, quarantine and agronomy updates for California PCAs and CCAs. Subscribe free to get it by email.

Research through October 12, 2026, 8:45 a.m. PT. This week brings two material primary-source updates: revised CDFA HLB quarantine maps for Southern California and USDA’s October California crop forecasts. The remaining items keep still-relevant shipment, sanitation, cover-crop and leaf-sampling actions on the calendar, including a sampling window that closes Thursday, October 15.

This week in numbers

• 3: new HLB quarantine grids in western Riverside County on CDFA’s October 8 map.¹
• October 15: close of UC’s recommended citrus and avocado leaf-sampling window.⁸
• 50.5 million: boxes of California oranges in USDA’s first 2026–27 forecast, vs. 49.5 million utilized in 2025–26.⁷

For PCAs: Pesticide and Pest Management

1. CDFA updates HLB quarantine maps across western Riverside County

New this week · CDFA HLB quarantine map, October 8, 2026

CDFA’s current HLB quarantine page identifies grids 472, 484 and 485 as new and dates the active quarantine map October 8. The grid maps show current and previous boundaries across areas including Perris, Lake Elsinore, Murrieta and Temecula.¹

This is a quarantine-boundary update, not a pesticide-use change. CDFA separately maintains compliance agreements and permits governing affected citrus nursery stock, bulk citrus and other regulated articles; requirements vary by article and destination.^1,2

Next step: Before moving citrus plants, budwood, green waste, bulk fruit or equipment from western Riverside County, check the live parcel boundary and confirm the applicable safeguarding, cleaning, permit and documentation requirements with CDFA or the county agricultural commissioner.

Sources: CDFA HLB quarantine boundaries · CDFA nursery compliance information

2. California Brassica shipments to Arizona require a release workflow

Recent update · AZDA guidelines September 2; UCCE update September 16, 2026

Arizona’s amended diamondback moth requirements apply to Brassica transplants shipped from California into La Paz, Maricopa and Yuma counties. The phytosanitary certificate must be issued by CDFA or a county agricultural commissioner within three business days of shipment, and the shipper must provide Arizona with the load report, certificate and invoice or bill of lading before departure.^3,4

Plants may be offloaded at arrival but cannot be moved or planted until Arizona releases them.^3,4

Next step: Before the next Arizona load, walk the paperwork and notification sequence with the nursery, carrier, receiver and county agricultural commissioner. Assign every handoff and retain the release email.

Sources: UCCE Salinas Valley update, Sept 16 · AZDA industry guidelines (PDF)

3. Turn almond harvest damage into the winter sanitation plan

Seasonal reminder · UC IPM text June 2019; treatment table June 2023

UC IPM identifies timely harvest plus fall and winter mummy removal and destruction as core navel orangeworm practices. UC recommends using a harvest sample to assess program performance and sampling mummy nuts by January 15 to plan sanitation.⁵

Regional pressure differs: abundance is generally lower in the Sacramento and northern San Joaquin valleys than in the mid- and southern San Joaquin Valley, while orchard history, neighboring sources and sanitation quality still matter.⁵

Next step: Crack a representative harvest sample by block and variety this month, map damage and mummy hot spots, and reserve labor and equipment for January mummy counts and block-specific sanitation.

Source: UC IPM: navel orangeworm in almond

Pesticide-use note: Current California labels, permits and county requirements govern pesticide use. Verify the product, crop, pest, timing, restrictions and local conditions before recommending or applying any treatment.

For CCAs: Agronomy

4. UC offers a low-biomass cover-crop playbook for bedded vegetable ground

New this week · UCCE Salinas Valley, October 7, 2026

For Salinas Valley vegetable fields prepared in beds for late-winter or early-spring planting, UCCE describes low-biomass cover crops on furrows, bed tops or both. The authors report that full bed-and-furrow cover controlled runoff better in prior comparisons, while furrow-only planting also reduced erosion versus bare soil.⁶

Species, seeding equipment, weed pressure and termination timing materially affect fit, and unfamiliar approaches should begin as a strip trial. The evidence is regional and practice-specific, not a universal yield recommendation.⁶

Next step: This month, identify one erosion-prone field and design a small, measurable strip trial around soil type, bed geometry, equipment access and the next crop date. Leave enough lead time for termination and residue breakdown.

Source: UCCE: El Niño cover crops, Part 2

5. USDA trims California rice yield and opens 2026–27 citrus forecasts

New this week · USDA NASS Crop Production, October 9, 2026

USDA NASS lowered California’s 2026 rice yield forecast from 8,750 pounds per acre in September to 8,700 pounds on October 1, with 498,000 harvested acres and 43.326 million cwt of production forecast.⁷

Its first 2026–27 citrus outlook placed California oranges at 50.5 million boxes, lemons at 28 million, grapefruit at 4.8 million and tangerines/mandarins at 32 million, each above the prior season’s utilized production. These are statewide survey forecasts, not block-level yield, maturity, quality or price estimates.⁷

Next step: Rice and citrus advisers should treat the figures as budgeting and logistics context only. Update field and orchard plans from actual harvest results or crop-load checks, buyer specifications, storage capacity and current contracts before changing inputs or timing.

Source: USDA NASS Crop Production, Oct 9 (PDF)

6. The UC citrus and avocado leaf-sampling window closes October 15

Seasonal reminder · UC Topics in Subtropics, September 4, 2026

UC’s current guidance places citrus and avocado leaf collection between August 15 and October 15, when properly selected spring-flush leaves provide a relatively stable basis for nutrient assessment.⁸

UC cautions that an apparent nutrient problem may reflect irrigation, root disease, pH or salinity rather than an insufficient fertilizer rate, so leaf results should be interpreted with block history and relevant soil and water information.⁸

Next step: Finish protocol-consistent sampling by October 15 and keep the lab and sampling method consistent with prior years. Review trends alongside irrigation, crop load, root health and water quality before changing the nutrient plan.

Source: UC Topics in Subtropics: leaf analysis

What are you seeing?

Email info@jcsmarketinginc.com with your crop, county and biggest field question. We may take it up in a future edition.

Editorial note: Source findings and regulatory descriptions are summarized above. The “Next step” passages are MyAgLife editorial suggestions for field review, not source-issued prescriptions. This report does not award CE credit.

Sources

1. California Department of Food and Agriculture, Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Division, “Huanglongbing (HLB): Regulation and Quarantine Boundaries,” active map updated October 8, 2026; grids 472, 484 and 485.
2. California Department of Food and Agriculture, “Asian Citrus Psyllid / Huanglongbing: Quarantine Information for Nurseries,” compliance agreement and permit sections, accessed October 12, 2026.
3. Dylan J. Beal, Carrie Brown and Ian M. Grettenberger, UC Cooperative Extension Salinas Valley Agriculture, “Update on Arizona Diamondback Moth Quarantine and Inspections of California Transplant Shipments,” September 16, 2026.
4. Arizona Department of Agriculture, Plant and Produce Services Division, “Diamondback Moth Industry Guidelines,” September 2, 2026, pp. 1–4.
5. F.G. Zalom, D.R. Haviland, E.J. Symmes and K.E. Tollerup, UC Statewide IPM Program, “Navel Orangeworm,” Almond Pest Management Guidelines, text updated June 2019, treatment table updated June 2023; Management and Monitoring sections.
6. Michael D. Cahn, David L. Chambers, Jorge Calva, Noe R. Cardenas and Richard F. Smith, UC Cooperative Extension Salinas Valley Agriculture, “Get prepared for El Niño with fall and winter cover crops: Part 2,” October 7, 2026.
7. USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, “Crop Production,” October 9, 2026; California rice and citrus tables.
8. Ben A. Faber, UC ANR Topics in Subtropics, “Avocado and Citrus Leaf Analysis,” September 4, 2026.