Potato Grower

24 POTATO GROWER | FEBRUARY 2017 522 Lincoln • American Falls, Idaho • 208-226-2555 1801 South 2800 West • Aberdeen, Idaho • 208-397-5300 CHECK FOR NEW, CUSTOM, OR USED EQUIPMENT AT WWW.DOUBLEMSUPPLY.COM Monitor your water usage with the latest irrigation technology 522 Lincoln American Falls, Idaho 208-226-2555 1801 South 2800 West Aberdeen, Idaho 208-397-5300 • Flow Meters • Remotely Monitor Your Irrigation System 164647DouMAg12h.indd 1 1/6/17 9:42 AM that is unfarmed forest, which contributes to the isolation necessary for early-generation seed potato production. "Being growers wasn't our original vision," says Derbidge. "But now that we're here, we feel that's what the market needs, and we've embraced the role of early-generation seed grower." The SunRain farm in Driggs grows an average of about 100 varieties each year, on a five-year rotation. They have long-term leases with several local farmers, growing nearly 500 acres of their seed potatoes. They partner with growers to do variety trials in 14 production areas in 12 states across the country. One of the biggest challenges the company has faced is the lack of infrastructure once it's determined one is ready to be marketed. "As long as potatoes have been around, you'd think there would existing tools you could grab off the shelf and evaluate varieties," says Derbidge. "But we've had to re-invent the wheel. We do our own trial program. We do our own quality assurance inspections during the growing season, during harvest, during shipment. All of those elements help us evaluate those varieties as they go through. So we know how they grow, how they store, how they look as they're coming through, what their grade-out percentages are, and the typical issues we see with each one. We also have a test Greenhouses near SunRain's main offi ce house early-generation seed of dozens of novel potato cultivars.

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