Two new Bingham County fields have been added to a quarantine list in the effort to eradicate pale cyst nematode from Idaho.

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture announced in early January the fields were suspected of PCN infestation based on initial observations of soil samples made at the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service laboratory in Idaho Falls. Tina Gresham, director for the USDA's PCN program, said subsequent testing has confirmed those suspicions.

Gresham said the samples underwent further morphological assessment at a Kansas lab before heading to Maryland for more advanced measurements and DNA testing.

"There are many things that look like PCN," Gresham said.

The fields encompass 100 combined acres and were owned by different growers, Gresham said. Counting the new additions, the program quarantines 2,015 infested acres in 19 fields, all within a 5-mile radius of Bingham and Bonneville counties. Another 14,042 acres are regulated within fields that have associations with infested fields but have produced no positive samples.

"It would seem these recent detections are fields closely related to the infested fields and weren't terribly surprising to find," Gresham said.

SOURCE: John O’Connell, Capital Press

http://www.capitalpress.com/newsletter/JO-PCNConfirmed-012513