October 9, 2015
CapitalPress.com
9
Idaho
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Farm leaders happy with new ag college dean
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
MOSCOW, Idaho — Ida-
ho’s farming industry has re-
sponded well to University of
Idaho’s announcement that Mi-
chael Parrella will be the new
dean of the College of Agricul-
tural and Life Sciences.
Parrella, who serves as the
chair of the University of Cal-
ifornia-Davis Department of
Entomology and Nematology
and associate dean of that uni-
versity’s agricultural sciences
department, will take over as
dean of CALS on Feb. 1.
A 14-person advisory com-
mittee that began a nationwide
search for the new CALS dean
in January narrowed the pool of
candidates to eight people who
were interviewed in Moscow
and also met ag industry lead-
ers in Boise.
“I met all eight candidates ...
and he clearly rose to the top in
my mind,” Idaho Barley Com-
mission Administrator Kelly
Olson said of Parrella. “I liked
his energy, his passion and he
had fresh ideas. I really con-
nected well with him.”
Olson said Parrella also
“demonstrated a very strong
record working with the Cali-
fornia ag industry,” a sentiment
echoed by others.
a search committee
“He seemed to have
member.
a good rapport with
Parrella said his
industry (and) he un-
interaction with ag in-
derstood private and
dustry stakeholders in
public partnerships real
Boise was positive and
well, which is import-
an important reason he
ant because land-grant
Michael
accepted the position.
universities are going
Parrella
He also said he did
to have to partner more
with private entities to get the some homework on Idaho ag-
things we need to get done with riculture before he came here
agriculture and the university,” to be interviewed and he was
said Wilder farmer Doug Gross. struck by how important farm-
“The industry stakehold- ing and ranching are to the
ers on the advisory committee state.
California’s total farm gate
are extremely happy that he’s
able to join us,” said Idaho receipts are much higher than
Dairymen’s Association Exec- any other state’s but farming
utive Director Bob Naerebout, accounts for a much greater
percentage of Idaho’s gross
state product, he said.
“Agriculture is very import-
ant to the state of Idaho (and)
people look to (CALS) for
solutions to their problems,”
he said. “To be a part of that is
pretty exciting.”
He also said that while he
understands California agricul-
ture, “that doesn’t make me an
expert in Idaho agriculture. I
need to listen to the stakehold-
ers and learn (from them).”
According to a UI news
release, Parrella’s research fo-
cuses on developing integrated
pest management programs for
greenhouse and nursery crops,
with an emphasis on biological
control.
He was recently named vice
president-elect of the Entomo-
logical Society of America.
Parrella, who was born
and raised in New Jersey, has
a bachelor’s degree in animal
science from Rutgers Universi-
ty and a master’s and doctorate
degrees in entomology from
Virginia Tech.
“A number of stakeholders
appreciated that he was an en-
tomologist with a ‘hard’ science
background,” Food Producers
of Idaho Executive Director
Rick Waitley said in the UI
news release.
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Children play a bean bag toss game to win Spuddy Buddy toys as
the Great Big Idaho Potato Truck visits the McDonald’s restaurant
in Chubbuck, Idaho. The truck made visits to Chubbuck and Black-
foot, Idaho, to help McDonald’s celebrate potato harvest.
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
CHUBBUCK, Idaho —
The Idaho Potato Commis-
sion’s Great Big Idaho Potato
Truck is back in Idaho and
making appearances at local
events to wrap up a fourth U.S.
tour.
IPC President and CEO
Frank Muir said the truck’s lat-
est tour covered 22,000 miles,
with stops in 50 cities and sev-
en events attended by more
than 350,000 people.
“It’s one of those iconic ex-
periences,” Muir said. “You’ll
never forget where you were
the first time you saw the Idaho
Potato Truck.”
Major stops included the
Kentucky Derby, the National
Memorial Day Parade in Ar-
lington, Va., the Fourth of July
Parade in Galveston, Texas,
Seafair in Seattle and the Na-
scar race in Bristol Tenn.
On Oct. 3, the truck visited
the Chubbuck McDonald’s to
join in the restaurant’s celebra-
tion of Idaho potato harvest.
Visitors were invited to take
photographs with the truck
and Ronald McDonald, and
children were awarded Spuddy
Buddy toys for winning a bean
bag toss game. A similar Mc-
Donald’s event was hosted in
Blackfoot on Oct. 4.
Muir said the current tour
will end with a few additional
stops in Western Idaho.
IPC has spent roughly
$700,000 on each tour, Muir
said. The 6-ton replica russet
Burbank on a flat-bed trailer
traveled to raise awareness
about the Meals on Wheels
program for homebound se-
niors in its first two years, and
supported the American Heart
Association’s Go Red for
Women campaign in its third
year. Both organizations re-
ceived donations from IPC.
During the most recent tour,
the truck’s philanthropic theme
was “a big helping,” with funds
directed at charitable causes of
local interest at various stops.
Muir explained IPC donat-
ed $1 for every visitor’s sig-
nature on a poster board to a
designated local charity, with
a maximum donation capped
at $500. The maximum was
reached at every stop. Muir
said supporting local charities
helped increase public and me-
dia interest, and IPC plans to
use the same strategy during
its fifth tour, which will depart
next spring. Muir said charita-
ble donations from the tour to-
taled less than $10,000.
John O’Connell/Capital Press
Idaho Falls grower James Hoff stands by the Boeing Stearman biplane he piloted in an Idaho Potato Commission commercial in this
file photo from December 2014. Hoff has been chosen as the newest IPC board member.
Idaho Falls grower to join IPC board
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
EAGLE, Idaho — James
Hoff is a small-scale potato
producer by modern standards,
raising 250 acres of Russet
Burbanks for the fresh market
this season.
But lately, the Idaho Falls
grower has been making a
large impact on his industry.
During its October meet-
ing, the Idaho Potato Commis-
sion will appoint Hoff, 47, to
replace departing board mem-
ber Boyd Foster, of Ririe.
Last fall, Hoff — a pilot
with a small fleet of vintage
airplanes in a hangar on his
farm — co-starred in an Idaho
Potato Commission commer-
cial, in which he piloted his
1943 Boeing Stearman biplane
in search of the “missing”
Great Big Idaho Potato Truck.
Hoff has also served two
six-year terms with the U.S.
Potato Board, with his most re-
cent term ending in 2013, and
ended his tenure as president
of Potato Growers of Idaho in
January.
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter ap-
pointed Hoff from three nom-
inees.
“It’s quite an honor and a
privilege to be able to serve
the Idaho potato industry at
that level,” Hoff said.
He was nominated by
American Falls grower Klaren
Koompin.
“James is very bright and
very engaged in the potato in-
dustry, and he has a good back-
ground,” Koompin said.
IPC Commissioner Ran-
dy Hardy, of Oakley, believes
Hoff made great strides with
PGI, a political action com-
mittee that supports state law-
makers who back the potato
industry. During his five-year
tenure, Hoff helped increase
PGI’s annual fundraising from
roughly $18,000 to about
$45,000.
As PGI president, Hoff
also occasionally attended IPC
meetings to report on his orga-
nization and got to know some
of the staff and other board
members.
“The biggest thing for me
is that Idaho retains its strong
identity as the potato state,”
said Hoff, who credits IPC
with creating that perception.
Hoff’s personal efforts
build Idaho potato awareness
haven’t gone unnoticed. For a
few days of his ongoing har-
vest, he hosted a German film
maker producing a documen-
tary about Idaho, who saw the
airplane commercial. He also
received a letter from crop
duster pilot who researched
the Stearman’s registration
number and confirmed he’d
flown it in the 1960s.
Hoff’s farm was purchased
in 1903 by his great-grandfa-
ther. He and his wife, Dara,
have two daughters, Savan-
nah, 19, and Paige, 15.
Also during the meeting,
commissioners Dan Nakamu-
ra and Lynn Wilcox will be
sworn in for their second
three-year terms.
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Potato truck returns to
Idaho from fourth tour
Zebra chip
confirmed in
4 Idaho fields
Capital Press
KIMBERLY, Idaho — Ze-
bra chip disease has now been
confirmed from fields in four
Idaho counties, according to
University of Idaho Extension
storage specialist Nora Olsen.
Olsen said the most recent
infected tubers were found
during harvest in Twin Falls
County on Sept. 25 and in
Minidoka County on Sept. 28.
The first confirmed infection
was reported in Ada coun-
ty on Aug. 13, followed by a
confirmed infection in Power
County on Sept. 10.
Olsen said each county’s
case involved a couple of tu-
bers, at most, from a single
field. Olsen said the tubers
were discovered either during
test digs or random crop sam-
pling.
Zebra chip, caused by the
Liberibacter bacterium, first
arrived in the Pacific North-
west in 2011 and is spread by
tiny, winged potato psyllids.
It’s characterized by patterns
throughout tuber flesh that
darken during frying. There
were no confirmed cases in
Idaho tubers last season.
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