Aaron Troyer grows family farm into computer age

COUTESY PHOTO Aaron Troyer oversees the day-to-day operations of Troyer Brothers potato farm in Southeast Lee County. One of the most valuable lessons Aaron Troyer learned at college was where he belonged. "College really showed me what I did and didn't like," said Troyer, 30, who oversees the day-to-day operations at Troyer Brothers, the familyowned potato farm in southeast Lee County. "I didn't like being stuck in a building surrounded by cinder blocks and fluorescent lights. I wanted to be outside."

Although most children of farmers tend to leave the family business for greener pastures, Troyer, the son of Pennsylvania Mennonites and full-time farmers who now reside in Florida, devoted his college education to improving operations back home. He's used his teachings and double master's degrees from the University of Florida to create software programs that monitor pesticide usage and rainfall, and he has introduced technology in the potato fields — a move that has whittled manpower and increased productivity.

Tractors use lasers to level the sandy soil and an optical scanner can be programmed to harvest specific-sized potatoes. "Weather stations at the farms upload information that I can track on my laptop," said Troyer.

The farm, which grows everything from creamers to jumbos that are sold locally, nationally and in Canada, consists of individual properties owned by Troyer's father, David, and his uncles, Vern and Don. The family works about 3,000 acres in Florida and has been farming in Pennsylvania since 1943. Aaron, who moved to Florida with his parents when he was 5, oversees the local operation, which is one of the state's top potato producers.

Troyer has been working in the family business since he was a youngster, sandwiching school between farm chores. "I'd do whatever was needed — cultivating, painting, working in the packing house," he said.

He graduated from Lehigh Senior High School, then attended Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia, fasttracking his studies by taking summer classes at Edison State College and earning a bachelor's degree in economics in just three years. He attended the University of Florida on a USDA national needs scholarship, finishing with master's degrees in agribusiness and agribusiness economics.

"Growing potatoes in Florida is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole," said Troyer. "Potatoes like to start out in cool temperatures, grow in warmth and get harvested when it's cool again. We do the opposite."

But, technology is aiding the process, and allowing the Troyer brothers — and son — to battle farming's biggest unknown.

"We're constantly working against the elements, the weather," Troyer said. "Rain's a risk, dryness is a risk, and we also have freezes here."

His father and uncles now carry cell phones that keep them in constant communication with the home office and the weather.

"The big thing for us has been the optical sorter," says Troyer. "We've really been able to eliminate a lot of the labor. In farming, and in business, you always want a bigger yield using fewer people."

Troyer Brothers employs about 25 fulltime workers and 75 seasonal workers.

The Florida potato-growing season lasts just a few abbreviated months. Seed potatoes, started at the Pennsylvania farm, are planted in the late fall and harvesting begins in February and continues to April. The remainder of the year is spent preparing fields for the next year's crop.

The farm's end product - yielded in shades of white, red and yellow — are fresh table stock, some sold locally under the Sun King name or a private label. None of the crop goes to a processing plant. If you eat potatoes for dinner tonight, they could very well have come from the Troyer farm.

Troyer, who married a Russian exchange student he met at college, lives in Alva. He serves on Lee County's Agricultural Advisory Committee, and in 2002 founded Agricultural Risk Management, an insurance agency specializing in crop insurance.

"The future is what you make of it," he said. "You want to grow and expand and become more efficient and competitive. To do that, you have to use new techniques and new technologies."

Despite the challenges he and his family face, Troyer says he's happy with his career path.

"You either like farming or you don't like it; there's really not much in the middle," he said. "We're fortunate that we're a profitable company and do pretty well, but it's a huge effort every season with a tremendous amount of risk. You're literally putting money back into the ground."