The NSTA Annual Meeting featured a tour of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, including the Backyard Farmer All American Selection Display Garden. (Chris Lusvardi photos)

Lincoln, NE (July 28, 2022) – The Northern Seed Trade Association (NSTA) held its Annual Meeting July 19-21 in Lincoln, NE.

The event featured a tour of various facilities on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, including the Ag Engineering/Tractor testing lab, Industrial Agricultural Products Center, Backyard Farmer Garden/Master Gardener Tour, and Innovation Campus Greenhouse.

NSTA President Jim Girardin from Arrow Seed Co. in Broken Bow, NE says he was hoping attendees could see world class facilities and catch a glimpse of the innovation that is taking place there.

“It’s an amazing place,” he says. “It’s designed to innovate and be on the leading edge of all kinds of technologies.

The Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory test car was built in 2002 by Caterpillar, Inc. and has been used to help bring the lab's total to 2,053 tractors tested since 1920.

Built in 1919, to satisfy the needs of the Nebraska Tractor Law, the lab's original building was designated as an historic site by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers. It now houses the Larsen Tractor Test & Power Museum.

Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory. The Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory (NTTL) is the officially designated tractor testing station for the United States and tests tractors according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) codes. (OECD codes)

The lab’s testing seasons are spring and fall. The temperature outdoors must be between 40 and 80 for drawbar testing on the concrete track located outside the building.

Results from the tests are published online.

Loren Isom shows how canola is being processed for industrial applications.

Industrial Agricultural Products Center. A demonstration of how oilseeds are processed for biobased uses was held during the tour.

The center’s Assistant Director Loren Isom showed how the mechanical press is used to squeeze oil through a filtering process.

The center focuses on post-harvest processing to produce renewable chemicals, polymers, and fuels. It works with entrepreneurs and private industry from the initial stages of research to final product.

The goal is to develop bio-based products and processing techniques that enhance the agricultural economy.

The Backyard Farmer All American Selections Display Garden.

Backyard Farmer Garden/Master Gardener Tour. The university tour included a look around the Backyard Farmer All American Selections Display Garden located on the East Campus.

The garden is designed to show examples of various plants and landscape designs as Backyard Farmer seeks to provide solutions to lawn and garden questions.

The courtyard of Keim Hall, where the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture is located, was featured during the tour. The area has been developed to show the work of landscape design students.

Greenhouse Director Amy Hilske explains the various features of the facility.

Innovation Campus Greenhouse. Features of the Innovation Campus Greenhouse include a LemnaTec High-Throughput Plant Phenotyping system.

Greenhouse Director Amy Hilske explained how plants are imaged, measurements taken, and data collected using a conveyor belt system in a climate-controlled facility. The greenhouses are heated and cooled with sustainable energy. The system is designed to bring consistency to the research process.

The facility includes 45,000 sq.-ft. of greenhouse and headhouse space, featuring state-of-the-art computer environmental controls and 22-foot eave heights to allow for optimal air circulation.

Work for professors and private companies is completed in the greenhouse, which is part of the university’s Innovation Campus, which has been built on the former Nebraska State Fairgrounds.

The newly-opened Scarlet Hotel is the latest addition to the Nebraska Innovation Campus.

Original bricks and doors from once was the Nebraska State Fairgrounds were preserved when constructing the Nebraska Innovation Campus.

The Innovation Campus is intended to connect the university with the private sector with the first companies opening there in 2014. The campus includes a Food Innovation Center, a 178,000 sq.-ft. complex serving private/public partnerships. Among other things, it features wet/dry lab research space and food grade/non-food grade pilot plant space.

The most recently constructed building is the Scarlet Hotel that opened in April, designed to provide students with real-world opportunities working in the hospitality industry.

The banquet included a tour of the Sideshow Spirits distillery.

Other Meeting Highlights

  • Speakers July 20 included Dr. Andrea Basche and Dr. Katja Koehler-Kole discussing cover crops/cropping systems, Dr. Virginia Jin talking about how long-term management affects soil organic carbon in Eastern Nebraska, and Dr. David Aiken presenting information about ag carbon markets.
  • Speakers July 21 included Jordan Gregory from the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) and Patrick Lechner from the USDA FSA in Nebraska along with NSTA’s Annual Meeting and crop reports from throughout the region.
  • The golf outing was held July 19 at Highland Golf Course along with the Past Presidents Welcome Reception at the hotel. The spouse/family tour July 20 featured a walk through the historic Haymarket District to Burkholder Project for a gallery tour.
  • The banquet was held July 20 at Sideshow Spirits, Lincoln’s first distillery and a business with ties to Girardin’s hometown of Broken Bow. The banquet featured a tour of the distillery along with dinner and spirits tasting.
  • More photos from the meeting are available on the Seed Today Facebook page.

Written by Chris Lusvardi, Seed Today editor


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