MapShots Inc. is pleased to announce that Luke Smithson and Russ Linhart have joined its expanding team of precision agriculture specialists. Smithson was named product support specialist and Russ Linhart was tapped as business development specialist for the Midwest, Northeast U.S. and Canada. Linhart replaces Tim Taylor, who has been named business development support Lead.           

From 2009 until 2015, Linhart was a crop sensors product specialist for Trimble Navigation, developing new applications for precision farming technologies and data analysis for viticulture production. In 2011, he assembled a sales team in Latin America dedicated to integrating data collection and analysis into the sugar and viticulture industry. 

Previously, Linhart was a product specialist for crops sensors, North America for NTech Industries  in California and a regional sales manager for Red Ball LLC in Willmar, Minn. He was also a commercial spray systems specialist,  general manager for a farm equipment dealership and a high school vocational agriculture instructor. A Montana native, he holds a bachelor's degree in agriculture education from the University of Wyoming. 

Most recently Smithson was a project manager for Wiser Company in Murfreesboro, Tenn., a geospatial information corporation. There, he led a 10-person team, fostered a team culture built around excellence and accountability, oversaw technical and production aspects in various areas, and provided metrics to the executive management team. He was also a quality control manager for Wiser. Smithson attended the University of Tennessee and has a passion for agriculture. 

“We are pleased to have these extremely qualified individuals join the MapShots team," said Doug Mills, business manager for MapShots. "Their expertise will be a valuable addition to our organization as it continues to grow and develop effective software tools for precision agriculture." 

As business development support Lead, Tim Taylor continues his 25-year career with MapShots. He will lead a team of training specialists to support MapShots products throughout the industry.