Heartland Plant Innovations & the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center

HPI is located in the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center (KWIC) in Manhattan, Kansas.

The KWIC Features 48,000 Square Feet of Space, Including:

• 15,000 square feet of research laboratories. The laboratory section features 13 environmentally-controlled growth rooms, in which young plants can be grown in a controlled environment.
  
• 22,750 square feet of greenhouses. Six of the eight greenhouse rooms are used by HPI to conduct its services. One of the rooms is air-conditioned, providing ideal growing conditions for wheat and other crops in the hottest summer months. All eight units have automated controls for shade, ventilation and watering. The greenhouse portion of the building includes a headhouse in which soil preparation, potting and seed processing occur.
  
• 10,000 square feet of offices. HPI is one of several tenants at KWIC. In addition to HPI, these other tenants include Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, Kansas Wheat Alliance, Earth’s Harvest, the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom and the Poland Lab for Wheat Genetics and Germplasm Improvement. The office portion features a boardroom, large meeting space/classroom and a test kitchen.

The Kansas Wheat Innovation Center (KWIC) was built by the Kansas Wheat Commission, through the Kansas wheat check-off, to accelerate innovation in wheat and other crops grown in Kansas. The KWIC represents the single largest research investment by Kansas wheat farmers in history. The center was built on land owned by Kansas State University.

Construction on the $15 million state-of-the-art facility began in October 2011 and was completed in November 2012. Four additional greenhouse bays were completed in spring 2018.