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Plant Pathology Diagnostic Clinic COVID-19 Update – May 2020

The Plant Pathology Lab and Diagnostic Clinic will be doing our best to keep our collaborators and clients informed of any changes to operations at the HAREC lab. 

On March 25, in compliance with Governor Brown’s Stay at Home Mandate and OSU’s COVID-19 response, we transitioned the lab to minimal function. We determined that this was the safest way to keep our lab members and you, our community members, healthy.

Starting May 4th, we will be working more frequently to serve you and your diagnostic needs. With the growing season kicking into high gear, we want to still provide the services you value while also maintaining good hygiene and safety procedures in the lab. Therefore, we will be processing samples on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the time being, increasing our frequency with the volume of samples we receive.

For quickest results, please contact us via phone or email before submitting a sample so we can be prepared to process it. Because we must comply with OSU’s social distancing guidelines, only one of us can be working in the lab at a time, and this may lead to delays in our return of results. Please allow 7 to 14 days for reporting.

Plant samples can be mailed in or dropped off at the station but there will be no face-to-face contact with HAREC Plant Clinic staff members. Drop offs can be left in the fridge directly opposite the blue Plant Clinic door. You will find forms to be left with your submission as well. Submissions without contact information will not be processed. You can also find forms on this website for mail in samples.

Please stay safe and healthy and reach out for any support you may need. We will keep you informed on our website (blogs.oregonstate.edu/harecppath) and through email updates of any operational changes. 

Thank you for your understanding and do not hesitate to reach out with questions,

Plant Pathology Lab Staff

Ken Frost, Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology Cellphone: 608-556-9637 Email: Kenneth.Frost@oregonstate.edu

Hannah Rivedal, Plant Disease Diagnostician Cellphone: 414-207-1582 Email: rivedalh@oregonstate.edu

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Plant Pathology Lab and Diagnostic Clinic COVID-19 Update

The Plant Pathology Lab and Diagnostic Clinic will be doing our best to keep our collaborators and clients informed of any changes to operations at the HAREC lab.

As of March 25, in compliance with Governor Brown’s Stay at Home Mandate and OSU’s COVID-19 response, we have transitioned the lab to minimal function. We have determined that this is the safest way to keep our lab members and you, our community members, healthy. If you have previously submitted a soil sample or sample that required a long-term incubation, you will hear from Hannah at a later date when the assay is complete. If you have mailed in a sample, the mail will still be collected and samples will be stored, but for the time being, we will not be immediately processing samples. Please contact Hannah or Ken directly and let us know if you would like your sample dealt with at a later date.

For any Plant Clinic samples that have not yet been sent in, consider calling, texting or emailing with Hannah or Ken. Disease diagnoses can be initiated over phone or email, especially with corresponding photos. Find phone numbers and emails below.

Additionally, we will be doing our best to continue our research projects, since the agricultural research mission of OSU is an essential function of the University. We will continue to bring you scientifically vetted information on best disease management practices for potato production through extension and paper publications as much as we can during these times of less face-to-face contact. Please consider reaching out with questions or concerns.

Please stay safe and healthy and reach out for any support you may need. We will keep you informed on this website (blogs.oregonstate.edu/harecppath) and through email updates.

Thank you,

Plant Pathology Lab Staff

Ken Frost Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology Cellphone: 608-556-9637 Email: Kenneth.Frost@oregonstate.edu

Hannah Rivedal Plant Disease Diagnostician Cellphone: 414-207-1582 Email: rivedalh@oregonstate.edu

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Happy Harvest!

As the 2019 growing season winds down, the Plant Pathology program at HAREC is preparing for a fall and winter season of research, writing, and extending our work to all of you. We still have our own research trials to harvest, which will give us insights to the impact of soft rot inoculum in seed on overall potato yield, the affects of different fungicides and fumigants on the control of common potato pathogens, and what the microbiome of Columbia Basin-grown potatoes looks like. The Plant Disease Clinic is always open and available to help diagnose your post-harvest diseases and we expect to start evaluating grower’s soils for the presence and abundance of common pathogens.

We hope everyone checks back frequently to see what we are up to. We will be documenting our winter research and highlighting some pathogens and diseases that we think are pertinent to vegetable growers of the Columbia Basin. Happy Harvest and check back soon!