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Winter
2018
Grains
West
10
THE
FARMGATE
SEEDSOFSUCCESS
ALBERTASEEDPROCESSORSMARKS ITS 65THANNIVERSARY
STAKEHOLDERS IN THE CANADIAN
ag industry are optimistic that a potential
free trade agreement (FTA) with China
could vastly increase value, predictability
and competitive edge in export. With
other countries—including Australia,
New Zealand and Chile—already securing
FTAs with China, the potential for Cana-
da to do so looks promising.
Alberta farmers can be grateful for
the province’s network of seed cleaning
facilities. With funding provided by farm-
ers as well as municipal and provincial
governments, for 65 years, seed cleaning
plants have played an important role in
protecting crops, but in recent years these
facilities have also helped support crop
diversification and marketing.
Each of the province’s 67 seed clean-
ing plants is operated as a farmer-owned
co-operative. The provincial government,
working with municipalities, established
80 of these community seed cleaning
plants in the early 1950s with a primary
objective to clean weed seeds out of seed
batches so farmers could establish cleaner
crop stands.
“That is still an important service the
seed cleaning plant provides,” said David
Bishop. Operating a grain and oilseed farm
near the village of Barons, he is also presi-
dent of Alberta Seed Processors (ASP). “But
this network of facilities has grown into so
much more. Most facilities have diversified
and expanded their role to farmers, to the
industry and to their communities.”
Along with cleaning farm-saved seed,
most plants across the province have also
developed diversified services. Clean-
ing equipment has been modernized to
handle specialty crops such as hemp. And
over the past three years, ASP member
plants have spent more than $17 million
to upgrade and modernize facilities with
equipment such as optical sorters and
improved legal-for-trade weighing systems.
In 2014, Alberta seed cleaning plants
handled about 40 million bushels (more
than one million metric tonnes) of seed
and grain. Of that, about 32 million bush-
els were processed for seed, while about
eight million bushels of grains, pulses
and oilseeds were cleaned to export- or
niche-market standards.
Photos:AlbertaSeedProcessors
Alberta Seed Processors member plants have recently upgraded andmodernized their facilities with equipment that includes optical sorters and improved legal-for-trade
weighing systems.