LCS Announces New Technologies
For the second straight year, Mother Nature did her best to disrupt our Central Plains field day. And for the second straight year – she just couldn’t get the job done. We ended up having the most successful event ever! However, the evening before the event, LCS staff were careful not to stray too far from a building with a basement. A massive storm system had moved up from Oklahoma bringing tornados with it, but fortunately none made their way through Wichita. Every year we always worry the field will be muddy, but this is the first time we’ve been concerned that the Trio Research Station might not be there when we arrived to set up in the morning.
We had a record attendance this year, and all were able to hear several special presenters share their area of expertise. Along with a nursery tour of the next generation of material coming out of Dr. Barnett’s program, including a look at 40 potential new HRWW lines, we introduced two new technologies that LCS is helping to bring to market in the near future. LCS has been collaborating on a new type of High Fiber wheat, as well as a new herbicide resistant wheat production system called CoAxium. Guests at the Wichita field day were among the first in the US to learn about these projects. We also had staff from Grain Craft who spoke on key quality parameters that milling companies and other end-users are looking for in today’s market. Our quality lab manager, Hayley Butler, presented alongside Tim Aschbrenner from Grain Craft, and answered questions about the increasing importance of wheat quality in the Central Plains.
As we like to do, we ended our field day with steak and craft beer. Using our new portfolio of malting barley varieties, which are tailored for craft brewing and malting operations, we continue to partner with the best brewers in the US to craft beers with LCS barley. Central Standard Brewing of Wichita hit a homerun again with their field day beer. The folks at CSB are brewing the best beer in Kansas right now, and the well-balanced, citrusy, floral IPA they brewed this year was exceptional. We also had two malting companies join us to educate our guests on the growing market for malting barley in the Central Plains. The Forty Six Grain Company in Oklahoma, and a new start-up operation just east of Wichita, Amber Waves Malting, completed the supply chain discussion on barley.
If you weren’t able to join us this year, we hope you’ll make it next year for our Central Plains field day.
Cheers – Zach Gaines, Technical & Marketing Manager
