WHAT WE DO

 

THE NATURE OF OUR FORENSIC PLANT PATHOLOGY PRACTICE
 

We are often called soon after a crop injury or disease problem occurs.  However, sometimes we must piece together the evidence months or years after an incident.  Our job usually is to determine what happened, why it happened, and how much damage occurred.  Often we are called in to do a complete investigation culminating with depositions and court appearances as an expert witness. 

Most cases, however, are settled before a court appearance is necessary.  We have testified many times in various counties in California and other states.

Our clients have been attorneys, insurance claims or litigation managers, pesticide applicators, growers, insurance adjusters, chemical companies, other private consultants, commodity groups, irrigation districts, cities, etc.

Most of my business comes from California.  I also have consulted in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona,  New Mexico, Nevada, Nebraska, and Oregon.  Internationally we have worked in Chile, Mexico, and Norway.

POLICY ON CLIENT SELECTION

Our policy is to begin work on a case upon request from a client.  We do not specialize in either plaintiffs or defendants in lawsuits.  We also work on several cases each year which do not involve lawsuits.  These are disease determinations, cultural problems, management problems, etc. 

FEES

A Schedule of Charges and Conditions will be provided if requested.  Work for attorneys we have no past history on require a one day advance which is credited upon our final billing in the case.                                                                                                                                                       
TYPICAL ISSUES IN PAST CASES

This summary is not intended to cover individual cases or issues.  We have investigated hundreds of cases since 1972.  These issues are meant to illustrate the breadth of our business over the years.

Field Crops (alfalfa, corn, safflower, rice, barley, wheat, sugar beets, cotton)

  • Extrazine, Lasso, Bullet herbicides

  • Corn smut, loose smut

  • Pyramin herbicide damage

  • Curly top virus

  • Injury to seed during drying process

  • Pesticide and contact herbicide drift

  • Damage due to contaminated tank

  • Treflan damage

  • Premature defoliation

  • Injury to seeds and seedlings

  • Herbicide damage as a result of run-off

  • Herbicide misapplication

  • Oust

  • Rhizomania

  • Damage caused by poor management

  • Mixed seed lots

  • Land leveling problems

  • Poor weed control         

  • Misapplication of fertilizer           

  • 2,4-D injury

  • Round-up drift

  • Spontaneous heating of silage

  • Pesticide drift

  • Determination of diseases and herbicide problems

  • Lack of Rhizoctonia control by Telone

  • Methane migration from land fill  

  • Fire damage on hay

  • Water damage, crude oil damage

  • Alleged sulfuric acid damage

  • Oust and Karmex injur

  • Problems in seed production

  • Spontaneous heating of rice hulls 

Fruit and Nut Crops (almonds, pecans, apples, citrus, pistachios, nectarines, persimmons, plums, peaches, pears, apricots, pomegranates, walnuts, strawberries, olives etc.):

  • Phytophthora

  • Soil sterilant damage

  • Copper-Zinc injury

  • Diquat drift

  • Nematode problems

  • Water and flooding damage

  • Storage problems

  • Misrepresentation of yields

  • Brine damage

  • Paraquat damage

  • Genetic abnormalities

  • Dinitro herbicide damage

  • Disease evaluation

  • Evaluation of diseased nursery stock

  • Contact herbicide drift

  • Oil and Parathion damage

  • Disease diagnosis

  • Zinc injury from foliar spray

  • Mismanagement resulting in default on load 

  • Thiosul injury

  • Trunk cankers

  • Health evaluations of orchard

  • Damage during harvesting

  • Poor planting stock

  • Oust damage

  • Malfunction of irrigation lines

  • Boron damage

  • Poor farm management

  • Simazine damage

  • Pesticide phytotoxicity

  • Botran residue

  • Apple Scab

  • Failure to control brown rot disease

  • Karathane injury

  • Dithane M22 damage

  • Funginex damage

  • Dipel 2X

  • Phytotoxicity

  • Copper and salt damage

  • Red scale damage

  • Verticillium wilt

  • Benlate and Captan

  • SO2, Freezing, and storage problems

  • Brown rot

  • Fertilizer  and chemical damage

  • Fire and insect damage

  • Wrong root stock

  • Shaker damage to trunks

  • Zinc deficiency and damage

  • 2,4-D herbicide

  • Crown gall

  • Diseased nursery stock

  • Dormant oil injury

  • Kryocide damage

  • Rovral and Topsin damage

Vegetable Crops (Beans, asparagus, cucurbits, onions, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, peppers, nursery plants, etc.)

  • Cicada problems in Mexico

  • Lannate damage

  • Bacterial disease on transplants

  • Packing house and packing line problems

  • Spray drift

  • Decay in transit

  • EPTC problems

  • Trefmid herbicide damage

  • Verticillium wilt

  • Cannonball DiseaseWatermelon damage in Imperial Valley

  • Water and flood damage            

  • Reduced crop due to Bayleton

  • Growth regulators                      

  • Ethion and Tedion damage            

  • Tillam herbicide injury                

  • Genetic problems in seed

  • Round-up and Treflan damage    

  • Water damage

  • Phytophthora

  • Nutrient deficiency

  • Oust

  • Crop reduction problems

  • Genetic problems

  • Disease evaluations

  • Damage by cows

  • Cracked potatoes due to MH-30 growth regulator

  • Potato seed loss in Wisconsin

  • Leaf drop

  • Failure of irrigation system

  • Virus infections

  • Loss due to exposure to phenoxy herbicides

  • Freeze injury

  • Vapam and Karathane damage

  • Defoliant drift

  • Dicofol, Oust, Sulfur

  • Magnacide

  • Root rot

  • Lack of fertilization 

  • Cultural and disease problems

  • Paraquat

  • Fertilization problems

  • Fertilizer damage from soil-borne pathogens

  • Herbicide misapplication

  • Effects of strike on harvest

  • Phosdrin insecticide residue

  • Salt damage

  • Cold storage problems

  • Monitor residue

  • Mosaic problems in the lettuce seed injury

  • Arsenic damage

  • Contact herbicide injury

  • Goal and Lorox damage

  • Union strike problems

  • Copper injury 

  • Phytotoxicity problems

  • Pesticide residue problems

Vine Crops (Grapes Etc . . .)

  • Spike herbicide

  • Various virus diseases

  • Simazine herbicide damage

  • Paraquat damage

  • Soidium arsenite injury

  • Insecticide mixture spray injury

  • Flooding and other water problems

  • Fungicide injury

  • Pesticide residue issues in Norway

  • Cold storage damage due to various causes

  • Zolone insecticide injury

  • Bunch rot

  • Crown gall

  • Survey of grape diseases occurring on central coast and southern San Joaquin Valley

  • Storage problems

  • Frost damage

  • Shading out

  • High temperature damage

  • Lack of mildew control

  • Pesticide burn and spray residue

  • Packing problems

  • Powdery mildew damage

  • Freeze damage in storage

  • Diesel fuel spill

  • Spike herbicide

  • Damage to raisins in storage

  • Fire injury

  • Late harvest of wine grapes

  • Poor management of vineyard

  • Transit damage

  • Leaking from railroad cars of Boron onto vines

  • Excess botrytis

  • Dithane M-22 damage

  • Botrytis rot to Thompson seedless

  • Disease control problems in Mexico

  • Garlon drift damage to grapes

  • Lack of disease control by Rubigan

  • Refusal of wine grapes by winery

  • Triazine damage

  • Downy mildew in Mexico

  • Shattering

  • SO2

  • Ammonia damage 

ORNAMENTAL CROPS
(ROSES, PINE TREES, NATIVE PLANTS, NURSERY PLANTS, TURF, ETC.):

  • Methyl bromide air pollution

  • Spike herbicide

  • Turf disease problems

  • Low temperature damage to flowers

  • Fire damage

  • Flooding damage

  • Fumigation damage to Christmas trees

  • Poor cultural practices

  • Diseases

  • Erosion of creek affecting soil

  • Herbicides

  • Planting mix phytotoxicity

  • Soil fumigation problems                        

  • Herbicide drift

 MISCELLANEOUS

  • Diagnosis of disease problems on many crops not listed

  • Fly control in dairies

  • Evaluation of land resources

  • Malfunction of harvesting equipment

  • Farm dust conditions causing auto accidents

  • Human exposure to Lannate

  • Human exposure to Methyl bromide

  • Patented variety disputes

  • Evaluation of pesticides for several chemical companies

  • Prepared portion of environmental impact report on southern San Joaquin Valley for state of California

  • Evaluation of tree fruit orchards and suitability for replanting studies

  • Inspection of properties78

 

Back to the Whaley & Steinberg Homepage
©2002 Whaley & Steinberg