South Dakota's newest agricultural testing laboratory is settled in and opening up.
South Dakota Agricultural Laboratories LLC in Brookings will hold an open house Nov. 30, says Regina Wixon, director and owner of the company. The event will run from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 1006 32 Ave., Suite 105, north of the Swiftel Center, just east of the intersection of Interstate 29 and U.S. Highway 14.
Wixon says the laboratory employs more than 10 people, many key employees from the former Olson Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory that had been located on the South Dakota State University campus. Wixon, an Iowa native who holds a doctorate in food science and nutrition from SDSU, had worked in that laboratory until it was closed in April 2011 because of budgetary reasons. Lawrence Novotny, formerly with the Olson lab, is the quality assurance manager for the new lab.
The new laboratory was opened Oct. 21, 2011, and has been gathering equipment and personnel. It is a "one-stop shop" that emphasizes quality, Wixon says. It has analysis for pesticides, mycotoxins, feed, forage and fertilizer, as well as animal tissue, water, meat, drug and manure analysis. Samples are coming from all over the nation.
Capabilities include liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, high-performance liquid chromatography and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. "We are very well-rounded in that if you have feed analysis sample, we can do the fat, fiber, mineral, selenium and drug analysis," Wixon says.
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For cost and other details, go to www.sdaglabs.com .
