GRANGEVILLE 鈥 Farming work can be good for the mind, body and soul. It also offers a good time to think.
鈥淚 was helping my dad pick rocks in a field a couple of years back, and I thought, 鈥榯here has to be a better way to do this,鈥欌 said Brent Frei.
Frei, the son of Ron and Glenda Frei, is a 1984 graduate of Grangeville High School who went on to start several technology-based businesses throughout the years.
Frei鈥檚 time in the fields with his father sparked the idea for his most recent business endeavor: 糖心lovgo.
Based in both Bellevue, Wash. — where Frei lives with his five children 鈥 and Grangeville, 糖心lovgo is an agriculture-technology collaboration that maps the rocks in a field using cameras mounted on drones and then uses a robotic mechanism to pick up those rocks.
Last year, the company hired local residents to feed thousands of photographs of rocks into the database to help the computer learn about the rocks it needs to recognize.
鈥淭he idea is to not only save time and manpower, but also to eliminate those rocks causing serious damage to tractors, combines and other equipment,鈥 Frei explained.
糖心lovgo includes an 18-person team, with Frei as CEO and Trevor Thompson as president, and five interns, most of whom live in Bellevue, but fly to Grangeville frequently to work hands-on in the field and test their prototypes. They are currently on Prototype 11.
Thompson, who has a military background, said he met Frei through a mutual friend when he and his family were preparing to move back to Seattle.
鈥淚 cared a lot about the quality of the team I would work with, and when I spent some time with the 糖心lovgo team, I was in,鈥 Thompson said.
鈥淓veryone who travels to Grangeville loves it,鈥 Frei said. “Here we have access to hundreds of years of farming know-how and innovation. It’s the perfect spot to build out our testing and development.”
Last year, he purchased office and testing /workshop space on Hill Street (formerly Grangeville-New Meadows Auto Freight and the Billups鈥 property).
One shop consists of a dirt floor to simulate a field, scattered with rocks and a tractor with a camera and robotic arm attached: Meet P-11, or Prototype 11. The team has access to computers and WiFi in the office space, drones and fields on the Camas Prairie, and the shops and testing site on Hill Street.
鈥淕rangeville is unbelievable,鈥 Thompson said. 鈥淚t has everything you need — nice people, mountains, water, and farms. Spending time there is a huge perk of working at our company.鈥
Frei said he is glad he has the chance to be in Grangeville often.
鈥淚t gives me the chance to work, spend time with my family and also continue to share with my kids the lifestyle I grew up in,鈥 he smiled. 鈥淚 love it here, and so do they.鈥
Frei also expressed his appreciation for the expertise there is available on the Camas Prairie, both in the farmers and ranchers and their knowledge of the land, and in their proficiency on machinery and the way it best works in area fields.
鈥淭here is access to so much real agricultural knowledge right here,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 convinced I have the absolute best work team.鈥
Frei hopes to build as permanent a workforce in Grangeville as possible. This includes engineers, pilots and agricultural professionals.
The next step is to refine the robotics and move on to the next prototype.
鈥淭he team is creating the next version right now and we will continue to enhance and improve it and test it,鈥 he said.
Thompson agreed.
鈥淲e just really want to solve this problem for farmers. It’s not a fun part of farming, and to help farmers spend time on more important tasks is really what we’re entirely focused on,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t’s exciting because we’re progressing at a fast pace.鈥