Bob Mulrooney, Extension Plant Pathologist; bobmul@udel.edu
After 38 years with the Cooperative Extension System at the University of Delaware I will be retiring officially at the end of June and this will be my last contribution to Weekly Crop Update. After three years as the assistant county ag agent in Kent County I had the opportunity to go to Newark and take the Extension Plant Pathologist position in the fall of 1977. It has been a wonderful career and I have had the pleasure of working with great colleagues at UD and our clientele in the agronomic crops, vegetable, and ornamentals industries. I will be out of the office beginning May 18. Plant samples will continue to be handled by Nancy Gregory in the Diagnostic Clinic as in the past. If you need help with any plant disease issues contact the county Extension agents first and they can help you, or find someone who can. As for the Nematode Assay Service, I have agreed to help continue this service in retirement. The Nematode Assay Service will continue to be part of the Plant Diagnostic Clinic, which will continue to be the point of contact for those services. There will not be any soil accepted for nematode testing from May 16 until July 1. If you have any questions please contact Nancy Gregory at 302-831-1390, or our website http://ag.udel.edu/plantclinic.
The Nematode Assay Program fees for service (effective July 1) are:
· Routine nematode assay, includes enumeration of plant parasitic nematode larvae- $20
· Routine nematode assay for plant parasitic nematodes for tree fruits and grape – $25 (Counting of individuals is necessary for Xiphinema nematodes often found in these samples which takes more time.)
· Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) egg assay – $10
· Routine nematode assay plus SCN egg assay – $30
We will miss you, Bob. Best wishes for your retirement!