Free Nematode Tests Through Aug. 30, 2020

The MSU Extension Service Plant Diagnostic Lab is offering free nematode testing for Miss. soybean producers through Aug. 30, 2020. This free testing will be for root-knot, reniform, and soybean cyst nematodes, the three nematode pests that can cause major economic losses to Mississippi soybeans if not controlled by recommended management practices.

Funding for the tests is provided by the SCN Coalition, a group composed of public university scientists and Extension specialists and private agricultural company representatives.

Samples submitted for this free testing should be accompanied by the SCN sample submission form (click here or access through the Lab’s website–Pub. F1178). Instructions for proper field sampling can be found here.

Hopefully, producers who suspected they had nematode infestations in their fields in 2019 conducted sampling in the fall following harvest, which is the preferred sampling time. For those producers who did not conduct fall sampling, this extended period of free testing through Aug. 30 should be an enticement to sample fields that have exhibited signs of nematode damage to soybeans, or in 2020 will have soybeans following a crop that served as a host to a nematode species that will also negatively affect soybeans.