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36 POTATO GROWER | JANUARY 2018 T hirty years ago, Montana State University research into plants and soils was at a crossroads: The university's facility where this research was conducted was small, stifling growth and lacking some critical infrastructure—such as adequate cooling and exhaust systems—that made it difficult to obtain consistent, accurate research results. The university and its partners made a pitch to the Montana legislature for $5.3 million to build a new facility. Now, one legislative appropriation and three decades later, the Plant Growth Center at MSU has enabled hundreds of research projects that have contributed important knowledge to Montana and beyond. The Plant Growth Center also features labs, classrooms and an insect quarantine unit. "This facility has enabled an enormous amount of research," says David Baumbauer, manager of the Plant Growth Center. That work ranges from disease testing on seed potatoes, to biodiesel production with algae, to weed management, to starting vegetables from seeds for MSU's student-run vegetable farm, to studying pollinator-plant interactions, to developing wheat varieties that will perform well in Montana's varied landscape. The Plant Growth Center runs like a hotel, Baumbauer says. People who would like to use space in the facility submit a request for a reservation, along with information about their desired start and end dates, environmental requirements and other details. Baumbauer then works to find appropriate space to fill the request. Projects using space in the Plant Growth Center can last anywhere from three months to 30 years. Funded entirely by the 1983 Montana legislature, construction on the MSU Plant Growth Center started in 1985. Part of the facility opened in the fall of 1986, and its formal dedication was held in April 1987. Baumbauer—who earlier this year marked his 30th anniversary of managing the Plant Growth Center—noted that, from the beginning, some of the facility's biggest champions were members of the greater Montana agricultural community. By Anne Cantrell, MSU News Service