When you think high-tech, what comes to mind?

Silicon Valley? Tiny microchips? Fancy smart phones?

How about potatoes?

Most people aren’t thinking technology when digging into their mashed potatoes, but you might be surprised to learn that although spuds are simple, growing them isn’t.

Eric & Gregg Halverson with farm manager, working to grow a healthy potato.

Eric Halverson is the VP of Technology for Black Gold Farms. (Yes, you read that right — VP of Technology.)

And today, technology plays a bigger role than Eric’s family predecessors could have ever imagined. These days, tractors steer by GPS. Special potato storage units are equipped with computer systems that monitor and control everything from temperature, RH, and oxygen levels, allowing farmers to store a better quality product with reduced waste for a longer period of time. New technologies are emerging that can help increase health benefits of potatoes, including adding vitamins and reducing acrylimides.

Black Gold Farms stretches across 11 states but it’s still very much the family farm that started 80 years ago on just 10 acres of land in North Dakota’s Red River Valley.

“We are family owned and operated,” says Halverson, “with the 4th generation highly involved in the daily activities of the farm.” Its family focus allows it to maintain a personal approach to the operation of the farm, while the farm’s size allows it to meet demand for a high-quality product that doesn’t have to be trucked as far. Today, their primary business is providing potatoes that are made into chips for post-feast football games.

Even as technology changes the game, an affinity for potatoes remains constant for the Halverson family.

“It’s in our genes,” says Eric. “Potato farmers are some of the nicest, productive, innovative, environmentally conscious farmers in the world. It takes a certain breed of cat to want to be a potato farmer, and I am proud to be one.”

The optical sorter is one of the cool "toys" at Black Gold Farms, sorting potatoes by size.

Did You Know?

Potato farmers have some pretty cool toys. In order to reduce costs and increase quality, they use optical sorting machines, which are able to “look” at the exterior of potatoes and removes the ones that don’t meet their customers’ specific requirements.

Consider This…

Besides being really cool, all this technology serves a very important purpose. Potatoes are the second most consumed food in the United States. By minimizing waste and improving quality, technology helps farmers decrease their carbon footprint, allowing them to raise more food on less land. And not even Apple has an app for that.

Today's family farm involves the fourth generation and has grown from the original 10 acres.

Harvesting the second most consumed food in the United States.

A healthy potato plant grows in well-cared for soil - treated as "black gold."

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