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2 CapitalPress.com Friday, January 24, 2020 Researcher welcomes farmer involvement By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press RHETT SPEAR The University of Idaho has hired a new potato vari- ety development specialist who wants farmer input to guide his research. Rhett Spear has just joined the team of potato scien- tists at the university’s Aber- deen Research and Extension Center. He grew up on his par- ents’ farm in southern Idaho. His paternal grandfather was a mechanical engineer and worked as a professor for a time at the University of Idaho in Moscow in the early 1960s. His father earned a degree in veterinary medicine and did a veterinary residency in Australia before deciding farming was his true calling. Spear was 5 when he and his parents moved to Raft River to farm, and he worked on the farm “from the time I could walk just about,” he said. Position: Potato variety development specialist, University of Idaho Location: Aberdeen Research and Extension Center Age: 35 Education: Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Utah State University, 2010; Ph.D., horticulture department working in potato science, Washington State University, 2015 Family: Wife, Aria; daughters Jenae, 10, Brooke, 7, Kylie, 6; son Carter, 2 Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press Rhett Spear, new potato variety development specialist with the University of Idaho, in his home office. After graduating from high school, he spent a year at the University of Utah before going on a two-year church mission to Mexico. When he returned, he went back to the university to hit the books. After earning a bachelor’s degree in chem- istry, he went to Washington State University, where he secured a Ph.D. doing potato research in the horticulture department. He had thought about farming, but his parents’ land wasn’t enough to sup- port another family beyond themselves and his sister and brother-in-law. “If you don’t have access already, it’s financially dif- ficult” to go into farming, he said. After earning his doctorate, he went to work for McCain Foods in Burley as the compa- ny’s regional agronomist. “I mostly worked with growers to improve growing practices,” he said. He studied ways to increase farm revenue through farming practices, variety choices and consumer preference. “I learned a lot of things,” he said. He had a pretty good han- dle on the research side of things, but he was able to see the processing facet of the industry and help with chal- lenges there. That experience will ben- efit his research at Aberdeen, he said. “I’ll be able to address some of the problems a little better, something more appli- cable to the struggles of the industry,” he said. A lot of those challenges have to do with disease and bruising, things that affect the usability of potatoes when they get into a fresh-pack shed or a processing plant, he said. The Aberdeen research center is the base for regional potato variety develop- ment, combining the efforts of researchers from the Uni- versity of Idaho, Washington State University, Oregon State University and USDA’s Agri- cultural Research Service. “They do really good research. It’s one of the pre- mier variety development pro- grams in the country,” he said. The entire team is dedi- cated to improving the indus- try, he said. Spear’s job will focus on working with other research- ers, farmers and others to assess the potential of exper- imental crosses from USDA ARS potato breeding efforts. He will help assess how well they grow in the field and per- form for processors, fresh packers and consumers. “I do want to make sure farmers have a say in what we’re doing, involve them to guide the research. They’re the boots on the ground and see the issues firsthand,” he said. This story was first pub- lished Oct. 7, 2019. Farmer invents own pivot controller Farmer Milo Call has designed and built a system that remotely controls his irrigation pivot by using UHF radios. His system, called RemoteAg, uses a radio antenna, global positioning system and a command board that relies on a timer and series of relay switches. A self-described technol- ogy nerd, Call designed and built the system, which uses UHF radios that transmit to receivers at the pivots. “I haven’t found a sys- tem like mine — a central- ized computer system that does away with the need for a computer panel at each pivot and can be remotely accessed from my phone,” said Call. “Radius range of the sys- tem is 40 miles from the base station.” He relies on it to raise pota- toes, sugar beets and grain on 1,300 acres in the Cold Water area west of American Falls in southeastern Idaho. 4 STANDARD SIZES ALL OF THEM ATTACH TO TRACTOR WITH 3-POINT HITCH FOR QUICK, EASY HOOK-UP. COMPLETE GROUND PREPARATION IN ONE PASS! “If anything has electric- ity and a switch, I can con- trol it remotely using my cell phone to communicate with the computer in my shop,” he said. “It’s putting the power of running my farm into the palm of my hand.” Several years ago, Call thought of buying a popular program that uses an “app” and his smart phone to con- trol his 22 pivots remotely. “I decided not to because I didn’t like the cost of paying for new panels on each pivot and the ongoing cell phone service charges to run them,” he said. Instead, he began doing research on the internet. “I like a challenge, espe- cially involving technol- ogy,” said Call, who is also a “Ham” radio operator and part of the local emergency preparedness network. “Any- time you tell a farmer some- thing can’t be done, he’ll say, ‘Watch me.’” After writing software for two years in his spare time and building a control box, AVAILABLE PULL TONGUE OPTION FOR THOSE WITHOUT 3-POINT HITCH HOOK-UP. Age: 64 Family: Wife, Susan, two daughters and one son Education: Self-taught computer software pro- grammer Dianna Troyer/For the Capital Press Milo Call has designed a computerized system that remotely controls his irri- gation pivots. he installed prototypes on two pivots in 2016. Now the system is fully operational on the entire farm. He still remembers run- ning it for the first time. “I couldn’t stop giggling because it worked so well,” he said. “I said to myself, ‘I did it.’ Everything I needed, I found on the internet. I designed and assembled the components to work together with the software I wrote.” The components of a RemoteAg control box include a radio antenna, global positioning system to identify a pivot’s location, and a command board that uses a timer and series of switches. To control it, he found a programmer in Florida who had written automation software. “I bought the program and customized it by writing a series of logic conditional and script statements to con- trol tasks such as variable rate 284 N. Maple Grove, Boise, ID www.arenagroomer.net for more info Darrin Lamb Account Manager (208) 340-0479 diamb@sunsrce.com (208) 722-5116 www.parmacompany.com Occupation: Farmer, RemoteAg developer irrigation, end-gun control, or to turn it off and on,” he said. “The system will text me for pivot events such as ... reach- ing a stop, or if a pivot shuts off unexpectedly.” It can also automate partial pivots, allowing unattended operation just as though it were a full circle pivot. In his shop adjacent to his home overlooking the Snake River, he clicks through screens on his computer monitor to see what is hap- pening in each field — how much it has been watered or whether a pivot is stuck or not working. With the last 15 minutes of daylight, he can pull up the program on his phone and know what needs to be done. “This system is designed by a farmer to think like a farmer and do what a farmer wants it to do,” he said. “It would be interesting to see what it would do in the mar- ket place, but I’m not sure I have the time for that.” This story was first pub- lished May 18, 2019. www.sun-source.com Call Now For Pricing & Availability Visit MILO CALL S164151-1 Agricultural and Mobile Solutions • Hydraulics • Pneumatic • Automation • Lubrication • Filtration • Service & Repair Call Us For Your S162787-1 By DIANNA TROYER For the Capital Press S164140-1 WELL STEM PIPE NEEDS We Deliver Straight To You! STEEL • USED CABLE WE HAVE EVERYTHING FROM PIVOTS TO SOLID SETS AND MORE! • ALL FENCING HARDWARE AVAILABLE PLEASE CALL US FOR A QUOTE! Office (208) 453-9155 • CABLE CLAMPS Salesmen Direct Ship & Cutting Available • CUSTOM BUILT FLATBEDS • RUGBY RANCHER FLATBEDS - IN STOCK! 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