Allied Cooperative's Pest Pros division, located in Plainfield, Wisconsin, specializes in crop consulting and plant disease diagnostics. Serving customers since 1984, we provide a wide range of crop management services to help growers solve production problems. We also offer a full line of crop and pest management advice and testing services, including nematode testing.
Pest Pros seeks to provide the most up-to-date crop management services to our clients. These services produce a net return to the client and help them manage risk at a fair price.
 Wisconsin Association of Professional Agricultural Consultants (WAPAC) |  Potato Association of America (Sustaining) |
Certified Crop Advisors
Although Pest Pros was formed in 1984 as an IPM services company on vegetable crops, we have since expanded our offerings. As an Integrated Crop Management advisor, we provide the following consulting services to our customers:
Potatoes, carrots, cabbage, sweet corn, peas, green beans, field corn, soybeans, alfalfa and hemp. We also have experience in onions, peppers, wheat, tomatoes, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, beets, mint and strawberries.
*Disease and nematode analysis is available on all crops.
Potato Early Dying Disease is a vascular wilt produced by the fungus Verticillium, working alone or in conjunction with the root lesion nematode. It is characterized by premature senescence with a yellowing and wilting of the foliage.
Our approach is to sample the rotation crop in the season prior to planting potatoes. We measure Verticillium propagules per gram of soil (VPPG), root lesion nematodes per 100cc of soil and per gram of dried root. We do not recommend testing in the winter months.
Risk can be assessed from low to high depending on the soil type, growing area and variety, which account for much of the yield potential in any field.
Low Risk Potential
Short season varieties, short or cool growing season (<120 days), heavier textured, high organic matter soils.
Moderate Risk Potential
Involves some combination of the factors listed between low and high potential. Crop husbandry decisions made during the growing season can greatly tip the scale towards higher risk.
High Risk Potential
Long season varieties, long or hot growing season (>140 days), lighter textured, low organic soils.
Fumigation represents the main tool for management of PED. However, nematicides, resistant varieties and green manure crops all affect the degree of disease expression, as do cultural practices such as aggressive fertility, optimum irrigation, planting depth/spacing and hilling practices. Effectively managing the factors that lead to plant stress should be a goal for minimizing PED.
Pest Pros is the only full-service nematode testing lab in the Midwest. Test results are reported with a “risk rating” to help determine which nematode management options should be implemented. We utilize a proprietary risk matrix to assess the combined effect of all parasitic nematode forms in the sample.
Our lab is supported by a knowledgeable field staff that has extensive hands-on experience in diagnosing and managing nematode problems. We offer a one-week turnaround time on most samples. Our services include:
Pest Pros Lab is tackling the “Billion Dollar Pest”. By partnering with the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board and the UW-Madison Extension program, we offer 4 Free SCN tests every year to every soybean grower in Wisconsin. Wisconsin growers’ soybean check-off dollars and grant money from the WSMB fund this beneficial program.
The test offers a complete soil nematode analysis to help growers make important decisions such as varietal selection and rotation schedules. Results offer population counts of the SCN eggs and other plant parasitic nematodes, as well as a risk assessment of potential yield damage based on those populations for each crop in the rotation. We offer quick results, usually coming within a week so growers can act fast on potential problems. Professional services are also available to consult on any questions.
These samples can be pulled along with spring or fall fertility samples to help make decisions like variety selection or field location. Samples can also be pulled during the growing season to troubleshoot problem areas within a field.
Talk to Pest Pros about our sampling services!
To get your testing kits, including the postage-paid packaging to ship the samples, please e-mail freescntest@mailplus.wisc.edu.
For more information, click on the tab below to visit the Cool Bean webpage that focuses on the SCN program. If you have samples you're ready to submit, you can use the form found at the link below.
Pest Pros puts out On the Radar – a weekly crop status update during the growing season that highlights the current stage of crop growth, pest population tracking and disease pressure for the Central Wisconsin agricultural area. As crop consultants, we walk the fields every week and witness the complete progression of the growing season, from planting to harvest. This unique crop perspective gives us the ability to promptly alert the community to potential problems as they arise.
