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28 POTATO GROWER | FEBRUARY 2016 GROWER OF THE MONTH from the get-go," says Alicia Pavelski. "Right now, we're doing several test projects with things like variable-rate irrigation and application, as well as a lot of GPS technologies." "Farming isn't easy; you need to make sure everybody's on the same page with a common goal," adds Jeremie. "We have a lot of people, so we utilize a lot of technology. We really pride ourselves on utilizing technology and getting our people trained on that technology. Over time, we're going to need to produce more food with fewer inputs. I think the emerging technology is going to drive that." Heartland Farms is currently constructing a 30,000-square-foot facility dubbed the farm operations, technology and training center. The facility will house Each year, Heartland Farms hosts fi eld trips to the farm for local fourth-graders. Many schools have cut agricultural fi eld trips from their budgets, so the farm has worked to provide the schools with the necessary means to continue these fi eld trips. Heartland's teams and provide a home for collaboration and technology training, further enabling the farm to remain on the leading edge of agricultural technology. Heartland Farms also strives to be a leader in educating the general public in farm life and business. Every effort is made to regularly bring local and state governments officials to the farm to get their hands dirty and answer questions. In fact, public education is so important to the company that it has donated money to ensure that elementary school field trips to the farm (many of which would have been eliminated in recent years due to school districts' budget cuts) continue. "Agriculture in general has a big challenge in educating the public," says Alicia. "People are becoming so far removed and often don't understand or want to take the time to understand what we do and why we do it. We're doing all we can to educate them." Construction of Heartland's new 320,000-hundredweight storage with in-fl oor ventilation is scheduled to be complete by mid-year.