Diagnostic responses are provided by phone, fax, or e-mail. Imaging stations are distributed in county Extension offices statewide as funding becomes available. Stations are equipped with digital cameras and binocular and compound microscopes, Windham said. A farmer can bring in a plant or insect to the county agent's office. There the agent can put the specimen under a microscope and take a digital photo of it.
Specialists then upload the image to the diagnostic center's Web site for identification.
If necessary, the agent can take the camera to the farm and make a digital photo of conditions in the field. Scientists at the Nashville center monitor transmissions on their Web site, pull off the photos for identification purposes, then post their findings to the same site. The county Extension agent checks the site for results. Digital diagnosis is available in Nashville, Knoxville, and Jackson and in Fayette, Giles, Hamilton, Montgomery, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Shelby, Washington, and White counties. Another 15 to 20 counties have digital cameras, but without the microscopes.