THE official opening will take place later this year, but Analytical Laboratories and Technical Services Australia’s (ALTSA) state-of-the-art, multi-functional commercial laboratory is operational.

In fact, the group has already flagged plans for an immediate expansion that will see the company provide an important and much needed one-stop testing laboratory for the agriculture sector in Sunraysia, the Riverland and further afield. Located on the more than 20-hectare site of the former CSRIO’s facility in Merbein South, ALTSA’s Soil and Plant Nutrition Laboratory is currently analysing soil samples on a daily basis, and will expand its services into other areas including a Food, Water and Environment Laboratory, specialising in the analysis of pesticide residue, by early next year.