Potato Grower

70 POTATO GROWER | JANUARY 2018 Diggin' In Diggin' In Diggin' In Diggin' In Diggin' In Diggin' In IRRIGATION| Industry Report Pivots with the Valley X-Tec drive help grow potatoes - and families X Factor On Black Mesa Farms, in King Hill, Idaho, the main objective is to raise families. Raising potatoes and other crops is simply a means to that end. Decisions on the farm are influenced by their "family first" philosophy. From the crops they grow to the way in which they irrigate, their commitment to family is resounding. Justin Wootan is the owner and operator of Black Mesa Farms. While he grew up on the farm, he left to become an aeronautical engineer. As he climbed in his engineering career, designing airplanes and moving into upper management, Justin determined he needed a change and to focus on a different way of life. He and his wife decided to move back to the farm to raise their children. "We are family-centered, and farming makes that possible," Justin says. "It's beneficial to the kids to learn responsibility and grow up with that sense of life. It was great for me, and in turn we want to provide the opportunity of that life for our kids." CHALLENGES OF GROWING POTATOES The main cash crop on Black Mesa Farms is Russet Burbank potatoes, which they sell to McDonald's for french fries. "They demand the absolute top-of-the-line potatoes," says Wootan. Burbanks grow on about 650 of Black Mesa Farms' 4,000-plus acres. The Wootans also rotate alfalfa and dryland rye. Wootan has irrigated with two pivots for some time, but until recently, he used only solid-set irrigation over his potatoes. He would generally apply two inches of water over a 12-hour period, followed by a few days of drying out the field. He says there were always problems with that type of irrigation setup, including fungal issues. "We had some success, but it seemed like we were always over- or under-watering, and it was very hard to get it right," says Wootan. "We'd sometimes fall behind in our moisture levels, and we'd have to play catch-up. Fortunately, we could catch up with solid-set. The problem is, it was also very expensive and time-consuming." In fact, Wootan says he had to spend tens of thousands of dollars per year in labor alone. "We'd spend $50,000 to $60,000 each year because we had to move all the pipes from one field to another as we rotated our potato crop with other crops," he says. "Then, there was the maintenance cost and the time it took to actually operate the system. It wasn't a great situation. Wootan decided to make a change and try pivots over his potatoes to save both time and money. Because he already had pivots, he knew that they would be much less labor-intensive, but he did have concerns about keeping up with the watering needs of his prize crop. Wootan likes to be on the cutting edge of technology when he sees a tangible benefit. So when he heard about a drive that would allow the pivot to move faster, he asked his Valley dealer, Jim Schrader of JTS Farmstore in Glenns Ferry, Idaho, if Valley had anything that would compete. "I was about to purchase a new pivot, and I really wanted one that could move fast enough to keep up with the kind of irrigation my potatoes require," Wootan says. Justin Wootan of Black Mesa Farms, left, discusses the progress of his potato crop under a Valley pivot with Jim Schrader of JTS Farmstore.

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