Manhattan Plant Materials Center

Manhattan, Kansas

Established 1936

The Manhattan Plant Materials Center (KSPMC) develops plants and new plant technologies for America’s heartland. The Center offers services to a diverse region of the heartland including northeastern Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and northern Oklahoma. The Center is located on sandy loam soil in the Kansas River Valley, southwest of Manhattan, Kansas. The primary objective of the Center is to develop plant material for conservation purposes.

Plant and technology development objectives of the KSPMC include water quality improvement, erosion control, range and pasture improvement, Native American outreach, and plant development and production. The Center’s primary projects include work on long term storage of native seed, effect of seed storage on stand establishment, reclamation of disturbed sites, planting and harvesting native plants, and restoring threatened native plant species.

The Center develops management and cultural techniques necessary for the establishment and acceptance of promising plant materials by the conservation community. The staff also produces limited quantities of foundation quality seed or plants to stimulate commercial production of its products. The Manhattan Plant Materials Center has developed 30 improved conservation plants, including varieties of big bluestem, indiangrass, switchgrass, bur oak, grayhead prairie coneflower, and little bluestem.

Contact

3800 S. 20th St.
Manhattan, KS 66502-9535

Telephone: 785.539.8761
FAX: 785.539.2034
Email: Richard.Wynia@ks.usda.gov