News
New Wyoming seed lab offers high-tech help
The state’s new seed analysis laboratory is completed and nearly ready to begin testing seed produced in Wyoming.
Associated Press Billings Gazette
The lab was moved from Cheyenne to Powell so it could be closer to the Big Horn Basin, where 90 percent of the state’s seed industry is located.
The Denny J. Smith Memorial Seed Analysis Laboratory was named for the late Powell state legislator who first spearheaded the idea.
The lab is operated by the University of Wyoming’s College of Agriculture. The Cheyenne facility closed years ago, forcing clients to use out-of-state labs.
The Powell facility allows for more timely analysis of seed and offers clientele easy access to the lab and its employees.
The lab is set to be officially dedicated Wednesday.
Smith, and his replacement, Rep. Alan Jones of Powell, are credited with securing state money that provided $313,000 to build the lab, $69,000 for equipment and personnel and $157,000 for the operation of the facility.
"It will provide a complete seed technology unit that takes advantage of the expertise of Wyoming Department of Agriculture employees, UW seed certification specialists and UW extension researchers and educators," said Ron Delaney, head of the UW Department of Plant Sciences.
The lab will be used by seed processing companies, seed growers, producers, consumers and agencies such as the highway department, Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service.
"The lab will also enforce Wyoming seed laws by protecting residents against the purchase of fraudulent seed lots that could inadvertently be used for horticulture, wildlife and soil conservation and forage and crop production," Delaney said.
Additionally, the 2,500 square-foot facility will employ the use of a state-of-the-art computer system that will assist with data entry and provide automatic e-mail reports about germination and purity results for clients who have submitted seed for analysis.
The system was developed in part by Gil Waibel, the man who also happens to be director of the new laboratory.
"The computer system is a tool that will really help people stay on top of what’s happening to their sample in the lab," Waibel said. "It’s a really good deal for us."
The system, he said, eliminates all paperwork required in the past, and figures calculations without error.
Waibel said growers will be able to check the progress of their sample online.
"When the sample is tested, the client can go into the system from his computer at home with a password and see when his sample was tested, when a purity test was run and the results from that, the date it was planted, date of germination, whether or not any noxious weeds were present in the sample; all of that," he said. "Plus, they can access a detailed history of all the samples they have ever sent in."
Waibel said the purity test is one of the most frequently requested seed trials.
The lab can also test seeds for germination.
"If people want special tests conducted, the lab is set up very nicely to test practically anything they want us to do," Waibel said. "It is a state-of-the-art lab that is well laid out."
In addition to seed analysis, the new laboratory will provide a facility for courses and research associated with the UW/Northwest College agro-ecology undergraduate and graduate programs.
Waibel said the seed lab is not just for large seed producers but also for area farmers and growers as well.
"We are here for the growers, too," he said. "And the staff and I are ready to help anyway we can."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
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