The new Bolley Agricultural Lab will be located on the western edge of the NDSU campus. The facility’s namesake is Henry L. Bolley. Bolley was one of the first faculty members at North Dakota Agricultural College, now NDSU. He was the school’s first plant pathologist; the founder and coach of the university’s football team and served as the state seed commissioner from 1909 to 1929. Ken Bertsch is in his 25th year leading the North Dakota State Seed Department. “Our agency is unlike any other in the United States in that we certify all crops, including potatoes and we are the only certification agency in the country that does that.” Bertsch highlighted the diversity of North Dakota agriculture during his presentation. “More acres of certified seed are grown in North Dakota than any place in the United States and in addition to that, we grow the second largest number of acres of seed potatoes in the United States, behind Idaho as you might expect.
