Today’s episode goes behind the scenes of pulse crop disease diagnostics with Dr. Uta McKelvy, Dr. Raissa Moura and Erin Gunnink Troth. They explain how Montana State University’s Regional Pulse Crop Diagnostic Laboratory provides post-harvest seed testing for replanting and export phytosanitary needs (including an Ascochyta-plus fungal screen and regulated nematode tests). Dr. McKelvy contrasts this with the Schutter Lab’s in-season plant health diagnostics for crops and other plant-related services, outlining how samples are evaluated and how environmental conditions influence what diseases are seen.

"Think of the diagnostic labs: Schutter and the Regional Pulse Diagnostic Lab as just resources that are available to you that you should take advantage of. Why guessing and wondering if you could know, right? I want to point out from the Schutter side of view, we're not just sending you a report that says you have this - good luck. Every report includes information on the disease and the pathogen, and emphasizes management recommendations.” - Uta McKelvy, Ph.D.

Resources:

Schutter Diagnostic Lab: https://www.montana.edu/extension/diagnostics/

Regional Pulse Crop Diagnostic Lab: https://plantsciences.montana.edu/pulsecropdiagnosticlab/

Annual Report: https://www.montana.edu/extension/diagnostics/annual-report.html

MSU Ag and Urban Alerts: https://www.montana.edu/extension/ipm/alerts/

Extension Plant Pathology website: https://www.montana.edu/extension/plantpath/resources/

This Week on Growing Pulse Crops:

00:00 Why Guess When You Can Know

01:46 Meet the Pulse Lab Team

02:38 How the Pulse Lab Started

06:39 Funding and Lab Support

07:42 Seed Tests and Export Nematodes

12:15 Sampling and Disease Trends

16:40 What to Do With Results

17:55 Schutter Lab Overview

22:36 How Plant Diagnosis Works

29:09 Trends and What They See

33:45 Final Takeaways and Resources

38:13 Wrap Up and Next Episode Teaser

Growing Pulse Crops is produced by Dr. Audrey Kalil and hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.