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Abstract
The spread of crop diseases poses significant challenges to the stability and location of agriculture. This paper examines how pest pressure influences the spatial patterns of crop production. Using detailed spatial data on pest infestations and crop acreage, we study the impact of Pierce’s Disease and its vector, the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter, on the spatial patterns of grape (the target of the disease) and citrus (the host of the vector) production in California. We combine crop maps and pesticide use reports to estimate how pest outbreaks affect growers’ location decisions. Our results show that pest pressure leads to spatial avoidance behavior: grape acreage tends to decline in infested areas, and the distance between citrus and grape production increases. We also find that pest control programs mitigate some of these effects, supporting their role in stabilizing agricultural land use. These findings highlight the importance of incorporating pest dynamics into models of agricultural spatial decision-making.