HISTORY
BROOKSIDE IS THE OLDEST LABORATORY/CONSULTANT ASSOCIATION IN NORTH AMERICA
From the very beginning, the Brookside early leaders emphasized the importance of soil health as it relates to animal health and ultimately human health. And the history goes way back.
1840
Fredrick Herman Kuckerman (Henry Kuck) emigrates from Germany to New Knoxville Ohio.
He becomes the town minister, physician, school teacher and agricultural specialist.
He purchases 80 acres and names it Brookside Acres. After his retirement, Fredrick moves to his farm and changes the name to Brookside Farm. Fredrick drills and hits oil on the farm, builds a motorized carriage for his wife, and purchases the first manure spreader built by New Idea. He also builds various farm implements and performs farm research related to crop nutrition and variety variations. He spent a lot of time with his great grandson Eugene Kuck (E. R. Kuck) who was in high school. With the assistance of Fredrick, E. R. Kuck wins 3 state crop growing contests.
1933
E.R. Kuck purchases Brookside Farm from his father and moves to the farm.
1937
E .R. Kuck turns the farm smoke house into a laboratory (Brookside Farms Laboratory) and performs testing and research on soils, feeds, and waters.
1937-1947
E. R. Kuck (Brookside Farms Laboratory) provides extensive testing (soils, feed, water, blood) for dairy farmers to enhance milk production and reduce diseases. In 1946, with the assistance from interested agronomists from American Cyanimid Corporation and the American Potash Institute, E. R. Kuck publishes a paper in Better Crops with Plant food on the soil/dairy nutrition research done at Brookside Farms. This publication brings E.R. Kuck extensive fame and interest from many farmers and researchers around the world. Due to such great demand for testing from local farmersE. R. Kuck moves the laboratory from the farm into New Knoxville in 1947
1950
E. R. Kuck begins working closely with Dr. William Albrecht who is the Department Head at the University of Missouri. Brookside quickly adopts the soil testing methods used at The Un. Of Missouri. Dr. Albrecht serves as an agronomist/trainer for Brookside until his death in 1974. Dr. Albrecht leaves all his personal research with Brookside upon his death.
1952
Brookside Farms Laboratory incorporates as Brookside Research Laboratories, Inc. and starts the Brookside Farms Laboratory Association. The Board of Directors establishes a new constitution and by‐ laws for The Brookside Farms Laboratory Association. The Board was made up of very prominent businessmen in Ohio. The board chairman was past president of Packard Motor Company –George T. Christopher. The laboratory was now one entity and the association of clients/consultants was another. At this time Brookside began bringing in independent consultants to serve the clients and reduce the amount of direct dealings with farmers. It was decided consultants could become the local experts and better work with clients as the organization grew into many states with varying crops and soils. The first consultants were ex‐university extension and soil conservation personnel. During these early years with the research laboratory and association of consultants, a lot of detailed animal nutrition work was performed. This was mainly for dairy and equine. Soil health was a key factor in the Brookside program to enhance animal health. In addition to complete mineral analyses of soils, feeds, waters and animal bloods (to maximize animal health) soil microbiological reactions
were performed with mold forming microbes (Aspergillus Niger) to estimate soil life.
1956
A special greenhouse was built at the laboratory to study soil health. Research was conducted on soils to provide information concerning the populations and types of microbial life in soils and the various roles they play in making essential nutrients available for feeding plants. In the late 1970’s
more consultants begin working in sports turf
and Brookside becomes active in soil physical testing.
1983
Brookside adds an Environmental Division
which provides consultants with complete environmental testing services (pesticides, heavy metals, organics, and bacterial testing) and is EPA certified.
1992
Brookside Farms Laboratory changes corporate name to Brookside Laboratories Inc.The Board of Directors wanted the company name to better define the laboratory which now provided many testing services (environmental, turf, bacteria, etc.) which were not necessarily associated with farming. The word “farm” was removed. In the early 1990’s Brookside begins contract testing with government agencies and universities. Brookside’s reputation as a top laboratory spreads quickly and university research testing becomes considerable.
1995
Brookside becomes the first accredited (A2LA/ISO 17025) laboratory with the USGA providing extensive geotechnical services for turf consultants. Brookside quickly becomes the leader in sports turf testing (geotechnical, soil, irrigation water, plant).
2013
Brookside moves into a custom designed and built, state of the art laboratory on 6 acres in New Bremen Ohio.
2014
Brookside becomes a leader establishing a comprehensive soil health test. Brookside continues to work with world leading scientists on providing the most complete soil health assessments to consultants providing optimum guidelines for today’s soil health questions. E. R. Kuck began soil health testing in the early 1950’s. With today’s advances in testing equipment, Brookside can provide assistance in soil health assessments that E. R. Kuck could only have dreamed of.
Presently
Brookside is a highly automated (robotics) laboratory providing complete analytical services to over 200 consultants around the world. These 200 consultants work with over 6.5 million acres of crops or sports turf. Brookside consultants work with over 2,600 golf courses around the world and over half of the top PGA courses in North America work with a Brookside Consultant. Over 15 government agencies and 56 universities annually send their testing to Brookside Laboratories Inc.