Soil, Plant and Pest Center Offers Diagnoses of Production Issues

Located at Ellington Agricultural Center in Nashville, the University of Tennessee Extension Soil, Plant and Pest Center provides a variety of soil and plant and pest analyses and identification services for homeowners, farmers, nursery growers and researchers.

Services available include soil testing, forage and grain analyses, and plant and pest diagnosis. In some cases distance diagnosis is available for plant disease and pest identification. Images of specimens are submitted through local county UT Extension Offices using digital cameras and microscopes, computers and the internet. The system uses conventional software and hardware proven to be effective and reliable.

A complete description of services is available online at http://soilplantandpest.utk.edu/. Most services carry a modest surcharge. These can range from $7 to $30, depending on the service. A complete fee schedule for 2014 is available online at
http://soilplantandpest.utk.edu/pdffiles/feeschedule1-1-14.pdf.

The Soil, Plant and Pest Center is a function of UT Extension, the off-campus educational unit of the UT Institute of Agriculture, with offices in every county in the state. The Institute also serves research and teaching missions for the state through the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the College of Veterinary Medicine and UT AgResearch programs in Knoxville and at 10 research and education centers located throughout the state.

Source: W. Alan Bruhin, University of Tennessee Extension Director