Businesses are connecting with potato growers
Phil Cardon, of Spudnik Harvesting Success, checks his phone for messages in between polishing a potato harvester, as his co-worker, Matt Vanweerdhuizen, watches, at the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference Tuesday.
KENNEWICK - Businesses boasting the latest in agricultural technology were part of the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference Tuesday.
The first day of the event, held at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick, brought John Petrosso, of CDMS, Inc., to the conference for the second year in a row.
The California-based company handles agronomy data bases containing information, such as pest control, nutrition and mapping, by taking satellite images of farmland, he explained.
Petrosso described their services as "Web-based," so a grower working in the field can call up their crop information on a personal digital assistant (PDA).
With the technology, he can scout a pest on a crop and have the data updated daily.
"We put all the chemical companies on contract and maintain their databases," Petrosso says.
The information is linked to growers, which helps them stay compliant with the rules and regulations concerning pesticide control.
His customers are located all throughout Washington, Oregon, California and New Mexico.
The benefits of the system including having all crop information in one place, being compliant with regulations and ensuring you're using the right pesticide properly.
Growers are able to better plan their crops.
Soil sample information is entered directly into the system.
The software also helps growers with day-to-day operations and decision support.
"You can have everything you're doing in the field in a spreadsheet," he commented.
This way, the grower is given the big picture with his operation, Petrosso added
Another vendor, Blake Hatch, with Evergreen Implement, said the company has three booths at the show, representing parts, precision farming and equipment.
"We've been busy as far as sales go," he said.
He said he makes some sales at the event and connects with customers.
"It gets them out of their environment, with more one-on-one time," Hatch said. "Here they're just window shopping."
John Klingeman, with Skone Irrigation in Warden, said he's attended the show for about 12 years.
"I think having everything under one roof has helped a lot," he said. "With the food and accommodations, it makes it real nice for everyone."