Time To Test! MU Plant Diagnostic Clinic Offers FREE Wheat Virus Tests

Mar 09, 2023

It is that time of the year to get your wheat tested for viruses. Over the past year, MU Plant Diagnostic Clinic has diagnosed multiple viruses from Missouri wheat samples. In 2023, the clinic continues to offer the five-virus screen test. This test includes testing Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), Wheat spindle streak mosaic virus (WSSMV), Soil-borne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV), Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) and Cereal yellow dwarf virus (CYDV). The service fee for the test is normally $65 per sample, but in partnership with the MU Integrated Pest Management and MU Extension Field Crop Pathology programs we will offer the service FOR FREE. With this service, we hope to collect both wheat variety and location data of current incidences of wheat virus in Missouri to better understand the disease severity and help growers better prepare for controlling detected diseases in the next season.

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Symptoms of Wheat spindle streak mosaic virus (WSSMV) showing yellow lesions running parallel to the leaf veins and leaving spindle shaped appearances on some leaves.

Source : missouri.edu

Video: How Can We Grow More Food With Less Impact?

For over two decades, Dr. Mitloehner has been at the forefront of research on how animal agriculture affects our air and our climate. With deep expertise in emissions and volatile organic compounds, his work initially focused on air quality in regions like California’s Central Valley—home to both the nation’s richest agricultural output and some of its poorest air quality.

In recent years, methane has taken center stage in climate discourse—not just scientifically, but politically. Once a topic reserved for technical discussions about manure management and feed efficiency, it has become a flashpoint in debates over sustainability, regulation, and even the legitimacy of livestock farming itself.

Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Professor and Air Quality Specialist with the CLEAR Center sits down with Associate Director for Communications at the CLEAR Center, Joe Proudman.