Invasive species are a major threat to biological diversity

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) awarded California Department of Food & Agriculture a cooperative agreement totaling $4,145,323 on July 1, 2026, to deploy and oversee 14 detector dog teams intercepting actionable agricultural pests in parcels shipped through private carriers and the United States Postal Service.

The recipient will manage county agricultural commissioners' deployment of dog teams at parcel distribution centers including UPS, USPS, FedEx, and Amazon facilities to detect unmarked packages containing agricultural materials. Activities include oversight of dog procurement, maintenance, care, and handler compliance; monthly accuracy reviews targeting a 90-percent alert rate on packages containing unmarked agricultural commodities; training for dogs, handlers, and county personnel; and community outreach, demonstrations, and workshops. The California Department of Food & Agriculture's Plant Pest Diagnostics Center performs laboratory diagnostics for pest identification and DNA sequencing. Data analysis identifies highest-priority facilities based on interception volume. Success is measured by the number of actionable pest interceptions in unmarked packages and interception rate.

The award runs through June 30, 2027, with performance across California. The program addresses California's vulnerability to invasive species given its agricultural production diversity and high volume of interstate and international agricultural trade. Intended beneficiaries include California's agricultural sector, which generates approximately 10.9 percent of U.S. agricultural production value.

Activities

Oversee the county agricultural commissioners (CAC) utilization of the 14 DOG teams and secondary personnel support to intercept actionable pests at parcel centers like UPS, USPS, fedex, amazon, etc. Oversight also includes the procurement, maintenance and care of the dogs, ability to follow guidelines, and the submission of samples for identification. Cdfa's plant pest diagnostics center (ppdc) will perform laboratory diagnostics for pest identification and DNA sequencing. Data will be analyzed to determine the highest priority facilities based on the number of unmarked parcels detected by the DOG teams. Accuracy of each DOG will be reviewed each month based on the handler's daily data entry. Work will be performed with each team to achieve an accuracy rating of 90% in alerting on unmarked parcels containing agricultural materials. Training will occur for the dogs, DOG handlers, and county personnel involved. Cacs will also perform community outreach, demonstrations, workshops, and other public relations. Deliverables and expected out comes: prevention of the introduction of exotic pests and diseases, and the protection of international export markets will be measured by the number of interceptions of actionable pests in unmarked packages containing agricultural commodities, and the success of intercepting the unmarked packages. Intended beneficiary(IES): california produces about 10.9% of the country's agricultural production value ($58.4 billion) and 40% of the nation's fruits, nuts, and vegetables. In reality, the risk to california is a risk to the nation's food supply. An outbreak of disease or pest infestation could cost billions of dollars in pest eradication efforts and threaten the nation's and/or state's economy, domestic food, and fiber supply. This program will ensure that plant material shipped into california is free of significant pests and plant diseases. Subrecipient activities, if known or specified at the time of award: cacs and their personnel will maintain the dogs locally and utilize them for pest detection at parcel facilities, and assist DOG teams with collecting and sending suspect samples to the ppdc lab for identification and data collection. Cost categories: personnel: $221,773; fringe benefits: $98,777; travel: $$2 ,600; supplies: $6,278; other: $12,800 (facility rent/county audits); contractual: $3,687,761 (county cooperative agreements); indirect: $115,334