Honey Bee Pathogen Panel News
2017 News Release
NAGC Launches “BeeCare”, Testing for Honey Bee Diseases
Bulk Discounts Offered to Benefit Local Beekeeper Groups
Fargo, ND; January 18, 2017 – The National Agricultural Genotyping Center (NAGC) will launch “BeeCare” testing service for honey bee diseases in January 2017. A total of nine viral and two bacterial diseases will be covered in the BeeCare test panel, which includes all currently known major honey bee diseases found in North America.
NAGC is offering a discount to beekeeper clubs and associations for bulk shipments of 90 or more samples. Regular BeeCare pricing is $20 for any one viral or bacterial disease test, and $75 for the panel of all eleven diseases. Bulk shipments of 90 or more samples will cost only $50 each sample for the full disease panel. Beekeeper groups can pass the savings onto its members, or take the difference in pricing to help offset the group’s operating expenses.
The BeeCare disease panel has been validated through test samples from Central North Dakota and Eastern Missouri. It includes testing for:
- Acute Bee Paralysis Virus
- Black Queen Cell Virus
- Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus
- Deformed Wing Virus
- Israeli Acute Bee Paralysis Virus
- Kashmir Bee Virus
- Lake Sinai Virus 1
- Lake Sinai Virus 2
- Slow Bee Paralysis Virus
- American Foulbrood Bacteria
- European Foulbrood Bacteria
Sampling Protocol
- Specimen containers should be in a breathable container such as a double bagged paper bag. Have bags already double bagged prior to sample collection.
- Label the prepared brown paper bags with the proper descriptions. At minimum include: Submitter Name, Hive Number, and Date/Initials of collection.
- Submit a minimum of 50 bees by scooping approximately 1 cup of honey bees into the labeled brown paper bags. Be sure to keep samples from different hives separate.
- Fold the bags closed 3-4 times and secure with staples and/or tape.
- Place all labeled paper bags containing honey bee samples in a crush-resistant box.
- Ship samples dry, at ambient temperature. For extreme conditions where the ambient temperature exceeds 26°C (80°F), it is recommended to ship the samples at 4°C (cold packs) or at -20°C (dry ice).
- If bees are live, label the outside of the box with LIVE BEES.
- Avoid shipments over the weekend.
Each bulk shipment of 90 samples or more should be sent by the beekeeper group with a submission form, payment and a spreadsheet that identifies the source of each sample: name, address and contact information for the group; and identification of the hive being tested. A submission form can be found on the NAGC’s website: www.genotypingcenter.com.
About NAGC
NAGC is a not-for-profit corporation that uses state-of-the-art technologies to help farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers find solutions to production challenges. NAGC is headquartered at the Helix Center in suburban St. Louis, with its laboratory facilities in Fargo, ND.
For more information, contact: Megan O’Neil, Laboratory Manager, NAGC, 1605 Albrecht Blvd North, Fargo, ND. Megan.Oneil@genotypingcenter.com, 701-239-1449.
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Agri Marketing Online | 01/30/2017
…identify and address diseases plaguing bee colonies, according to the National Agricultural Genotyping Center (NAGC). …
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KGFW-AM – Online | 01/30/2017
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Farms.com mentioned NAGC
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Corn News
2017 News Release
NATIONAL CORN GROWERS ASSOCIATION
NEWS RELEASE
National Agricultural Genotyping Center Announces New Tools in Corn Disease Identification
St. LOUIS (June 5, 2017) — Identifying corn diseases and pursuing the best management plan available just got easier, faster and more cost effective due to new testing protocols announced today by the National Agricultural Genotyping Center located in Fargo, North Dakota.
“Farming is a complicated pursuit that involves many choices. Making the right choice at the right time can have a huge effect on profitability,” said Larry Hoffman, Chairman of the National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Productivity & Quality Action Team. “This is especially true when it comes to identifying the dozens of diseases that can harm healthy corn plants, yields and grain quality.”
Corn has effective genetic resistance to many of the important diseases, according to Pete Snyder, President and CEO of NAGC, however, numerous challenges remain in identifying corn diseases in timely fashion. NAGC is targeting a couple of key diseases, Goss’s Wilt and Xanthomonas, in their first disease assays, or tests now available to corn farmers, agronomists and crop consultants.
“A key part of our mission at the National Agricultural Genotyping Center is to translate scientific discoveries into solutions for farmers and production agriculture. This is another important step in that regard,” Snyder said. “The new assays we have developed will provide proper identification in weeks rather than months and cut costs substantially.”
NAGC, a non-profit initiative founded by the National Corn Growers Association and Los Alamos National Laboratory, will provide research and testing services to both public and private researchers. The center translates scientific discoveries into solutions for production agriculture, food safety, functional foods, and bioenergy.
Cost savings from the actual testing are as much as 75 percent less with a move from single sample testing to utilizing 96 sample trays. NAGC is working with farmers via crop consultants and agronomists to streamline the process of collecting samples and ramping up the assay process.
Goss’s wilt is a bacterial disease that may cause systemic infection and wilting of corn plants, as well as severe leaf blighting. Under the right conditions this disease can cause devastating damage with grain yield losses approaching 50%. Xanthomonas, another bacterial disease, is being targeted because it is often confused with Gray Leaf Spot leading to ineffective fungicide treatments and loss of income for farmers.
“It can cost $40 an acre to treat Gray Leaf Spot, but those treatments are ineffective against Xanthomonas,” Hoffman said. “And it’s not just lost profit but lost opportunity. Once identified we can deal with Xanthomonas through management practices such as tillage and crop rotation.”
Testing is largely done through samples of the effected plant leaf tissue. However, soil samples can be assayed by NAGC early in the growing season to identify or the presence of Xanthomonas.
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Goss’s Wilt and Xanthomonas
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