LINCOLN, Neb.—Tractor testing required in Nebraska will continue as it has for the past 87 years.
A new 2,100-foot concrete testing track is scheduled to be poured next week on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln East Campus. UNL’s tractor-testing lab is the only one of its kind in the nation.
“We think we’re here for the long haul,” director Roger Hoy said. “There’s even a little motion now with some manufacturers to see if they can get the Nebraska law federalized.”
Since 1920, Nebraska law has required that all tractors sold in the state must be tested beforehand to make sure they meet horsepower claims and other selling points promoted by dealers.
The UNL lab is also the only U.S. testing point for imported tractors and the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Japanese-built Kubotas are in the test grouping, and FarmTrac tractors from India are scheduled to be tested this fall.
More than 1,900 tractor models have been tested at UNL the past 90 years.
The recent annual schedule usually includes 25 to 30 new entries for testing. There are nine new Case-New Holland models in the latest grouping for 2007-08.
Costs typically add up to $20,000 or more per model for tractors of 100 or more horsepower.
There have been efforts to scale down the number of tractors needing to be tested, most recently by state Sens. Carroll Burling of Kenesaw and Gail Kopplin of Gretna.
Kopplin wanted to raise the minimum horsepower requirement for testing from the current 40 to 60. Burling bandied a 100-horsepower threshold.
Although tractor lab assistant director Dave Morgan said Burling’s bill would have reduced revenue by 25 percent from what is supposed to be a self-supporting operation, Burling said his intent was not to have the lab closed.
“But the way tractor horsepower has gone here lately, there are very few tractors actually used on the farm that are under 100 horsepower,” Burling said.
John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, is among the staunch supporters of the UNL lab.
“Tractor dealers have historically tried to argue that all they want to do is eliminate the testing requirement in Nebraska,” Hansen said. “That’s their public stance, and yet they know good and well that’s the only known source of revenue to support the tractor testing lab.”
Hansen said the test-track renovation is a good sign.
“Our organization’s position has supported the creation and funding for the tractor test lab since 1917,” he said, “and our position has not changed. Nor is it likely to.”
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On the Net:
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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star,
