News Release Native Seedsters, Inc. Announces New Employee, Mark Majerus Senior Scientist Specializing in Native Grasses, Forbs, and Shrubs Billings, MT June 10, 2008 - Native Seedsters, Inc. (NSI) recently hired Mark Majerus a plant scientist with years of experience working with native grasses, forbs and shrubs in support of conservation and restoration of natural environments. Mark spent over thirty years at the USDA-NRCS Bridger, Montana Plant Materials Center; the last 10 years Manager. His expertise includes the production and harvest of over 100 native species, and has worked in technical assistance projects in China and Mongolia. One responsibility of Mark will be to further develop the NSI knowledge base in how the structural characteristics of plants, seedheads and seeds influence seed harvestability. Mark will deliver Seedsters to customers and provide on-site training and technical assistance in the use of the Seedster. The counter-rotating brush and combing drum of the Seedster is particularly effective with seed that has long awns, bristles, hair, or other attached appendages, the very features that make them difficult to harvest with conventional equipment. Mark will soon initiate shop and field trials as Principal Investigator in an NSI project funded by USDA to test the feasibility of harvesting camelina and canola with a modified Seedster. NSI aspires to provide the most efficient harvesters of biofuel and specialty crops to plant high yield strains in this high growth industry. The focus on these species follows the rapid development of a specialized harvester of switchgrass seed. Later in the summer Mark will lead the assessment of Seedster performance in the harvest of switchgrass seed in fields produced by Ceres Inc. For additional information on Native Seedsters new employee, contact Lee or Maggie Arbuckle or visit www.nativeseedsters.com. ABOUT Native Seedsters, Inc. |