Following storm damage from December 2021 in Princeton, the loss of the UK Research and Education Center’s offices and laboratories has temporarily left the western part of the state without a Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. While rebuilding is underway, many stakeholders, including county agriculture and natural resources extension agents, still need a reliable way to transport plant submissions to the Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (PDDL) in Lexington on a regular basis for analysis.

To address this challenge, once temporary offices at the UKREC at Princeton were available, Dr. Craig Wood, Assistant Extension Director of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Horticulture at the University of Kentucky, worked with Julie Beale, the Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory Director,  and extension specialists in the department of Plant Pathology, to initiate a pick-up service for plant submissions from western Kentucky counties by courier, who would take them to the lab in Lexington.

As an Extension Associate for the PDDL, I coordinate sample collection and storage, and coordinate with the courier, extension agents, the Lexington PDDL, and Plant Pathology extension specialists to make sure samples from western Kentucky are accurately documented and sent to Lexington. As a result of the service, western Kentucky agents once again have a regular means to drop off plant submissions without relying on the postal service for transport.

In its first year, 14 county extension offices from western Kentucky used the courier service to transport plant submissions received from producers or homeowners, with almost 50 samples being received. While not a complete list, some samples included dark tobacco, corn, boxwood shrubs, blueberry and strawberry plants, tulip tree leaves, mums, soybean and peppers. 

Agents who used the service were polled in 2023 on its importance to them. Approximately 57 percent cited the cost of shipping samples was higher than having a courier transport them to Lexington. Almost 70 percent planned to continue using the courier service, with one comment that indicated it was easier to send submissions by courier than by mail because submissions might remain overnight in a postal facility. It is a solution that provides faster outcomes regarding plant diseases for the western Kentucky community and keeps a vital service available to clientele.