Even if you don’t produce commercial crops, the office of the Napa County agricultural commissioner has valuable information for you. Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer Dave Whitmer and his staff are happy to share a wealth of knowledge on subjects such as pest prevention and management, protecting the environment and the accuracy of weights and measurements.

“How does our work impact a local person?” asked Whitmer. “It affects them in the supermarket and at the gas pump. Pest prevention keeps damaging insects out of both crops and a homeowner’s landscape. A lot of what we do is based on ecology. For example, red imported fire ants, gypsy moths and Japanese beetles are pests that can significantly damage home and garden landscapes. People from the east are familiar with the damage Japanese beetles do to rose gardens and fruit tress. In the northeast, gypsy moths have defoliated thousands of acres of forest.”

The agricultural commissioner’s office will help identify insects and suggest the best way of treating the problem.

“A lot of times, people see an insect and spray it with pesticide,” said Whitmer. “We concentrate on identifying the pest so we know how to solve it. Some methods may not involve the use of chemicals. Chemicals are there as a help, but should be selected only when you have to.

“One of the goals of our office is education. We’d like people to think first before reaching for a chemical. Think about what they’re doing and how it will affect the world and the world’s children.”

In the middle of the agricultural season, there is a 24 person staff, 20 of which are in the field.

Whitmer points out that there is also an increase in biological pollution.

“California was isolated for a long time from the rest of the world. Geographically, it was difficult to get around and it took a long time to arrive by ship or wagon. Now, you can be standing in Nairobi in the morning and in a few hours you’re in San Francisco. There are lot of plants, diseases and pests that can travel here.”

While much of the agricultural commissioner’s focus has been on keeping the glassy winged sharpshooter out of Napa County, there are many other pests and non-native plants that can be spread.

“Disease can be spread through soil, the plants themselves or equipment. Our office acts as the quarantine officer, both in moving out and bringing plants into the county. We help people figure out the rules and regulations. Local nurseries are dealing with a perishable commodity. We tried hard to create a program that works for them and doesn’t impede their work. No one wants to be the one who brings in the glassy winged sharpshooter into the county, so they welcome our help.”

The agricultural commissioner’s office has the unenviable task of keeping this particularly destructive insect out of the county. To do this, they need everyone’s attention. With the help of Balzac Communication, they created a zany, 50s-style monster movie poster campaign.

“The hardest thing is people’s attention span. How do we keep a community and people who aren’t involved in the wine industry focused? We’ve done it through outreach and education. We even had a sharpshooter costume made and ‘Sharpie’ strolls around events such as the Chef’s Market. We have a great staff, but a limited number of eyes. I need the interest and people’s eyes in the community. It’s amazing how people care when they learn it’s important to them.”

Weights and Measures

As the Department of Weights and Measures, the agricultural commissioner’s staff protects the interests of buyers and sellers. They do this in a variety of ways.

“We have a new program that checks on barcodes with a scanner,” said Greg Clark, Napa County’s assistant agricultural commissioner/sealer. “We pull random samples off shelves, ones both on and off sale, and scan them with a handheld device. It reads and prints the bar code. We can then check the prices. From time to time we find discrepancies. As a regulatory agency, we see to it that the stores are put in compliance.

“This isn’t always one-sided,” said Clark. “Everyone is a shopper. The business could be selling products for less than they should. It’s consumer protection, but also fair business practice. Discrepancies might be a fraction of a cent, but collectively it can add up to a lot of money.”

With a staff of only two employees, the Department of Weights and Measures has a lot of territory to cover.

“We check hardware, things such as wire, cable and firewood, grocery stores, fabric store meters, taxi meters,” said Clark. “The list is almost endless.”

They inspect and test all commercially used weighing and measuring devices including scales. They inspect packaged commodities to make sure they have the proper amount with the correct labeling. The office checks the quality and labeling of petroleum products and service station advertising as well as responding and investigating all consumer complaints.

“It’s interesting how the job gets us into the community,” said Whitmer. “We had a consumer complain that a restaurant advertised a 27 ounce Margarita and she didn’t think her drink was 27 ounces. We checked, she was correct and the restaurant changed their menu. The business has a responsibility to fix the problem.”

Weights and Measures inspectors check over 900 scales and 1,600 measuring devices every year. If they are not accurate, they are taken out of service until repaired. The usual procedure is to first notify the business about non-compliance. For repeat offenders the penalty is a fine. Serious issues are taken to the district attorney’s office.

“Our philosophy is that our main issue is compliance,” said Whitmer. “People have to know the regulations, so a lot of what we do is education. Once they know, they want to be in compliance. We educate first, and then if we notice a violation they’re given a certain amount of time to fix it. If they ignore that or repeat the offense, we have due process to go through. We notify, fine and then give them an opportunity to be heard in an official hearing. They can provide evidence and they have the right of appeal.”

Whitmer estimates his office sends out 10 to 15 notices of non-compliance a year.

The Agricultural Commissioner’s office has free pamphlets on various pests, invasive garden plants, the Agricultural Crop Report and their newsletter “The Ag Rag.”

Clark wants to make one thing perfectly clear.

“What this office does is not for some people, it’s for the protection of all people and the environment. Dave’s not the wine grape ag commissioner, he’s everyone’s commissioner from farm workers in the field to shoppers.”

To reach the Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer’s office, phone 53-4357, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 1710 Soscol Ave., Suite 3, Napa.