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Winter
2018
grainswest.com11
BY LEE HART
“It is not only an important service, it
is a unique service,” said Bishop. “Having
this network of producer-run facilities is
unique in Canada and in North America.”
This collective group of co-operatives
is bound together by the ASP. “We are
an association of associations,” explained
Bishop, who is a member of the Carman-
gay Seed Cleaning Plant. As such, the role
of each co-operative is to manage individ-
ual seed cleaning plants.
“We provide support services to our
member associations,” said ASP general
manager Monica Klaas. These services in-
clude employee training on best practices
for safety and management as well as pro-
fessional development. Additional services
include the delivery and enhancement
of employee and group service benefits,
advocating for the collective membership
and assisting with market development.
Cleaning plants are handling ever-
increasing volumes of pedigreed seed
as farmers and grain buyers develop
new markets for various commodities,
including organic crops. Many plants also
sell crop inputs such as certified seed and
fertilizer.
While each seed cleaning plant is
managed as a not-for-profit co-operative,
plants do need to operate as a business,
said Klaas. “The objective may not be to
generate dividends for the shareholders,
but plants need to be planning and saving
toward ongoing maintenance and facility
improvements.”
Along with upgrades, several replace-
ment construction projects have taken
place. The Strathmore Seed Cleaning
Plant opened a new processing plant in
2015, the Enchant Seed Cleaning Plant
launched a new facility in 2016, and
Lougheed Co-op Seed Cleaning held the
official opening of its plant in mid-2017.
New facilities are also under construction
in Bashaw and Taber.
“We hope farmers agree with our
theme for 2018: The Future is Bright,” said
Bishop. “I’m optimistic about agriculture
in general, and as an association I believe
our plants have a great deal of opportu-
nity ahead to diversify and expand their
services.”
NEWPLANT AT LOUGHEED
An excellent example of howASP co-operatives use state-of-the-art technology
to increase capacity and diversify their business, the new LougheedCo-op
SeedCleaning Plant in east-central Alberta opened this past year.
The $6-million plant replaces the original facility built in 1954 at a cost of
$65,000, said plant manager Mick Patten, who has beenwith the co-operative
for 32 years.
With an emphasis on increased capacity and efficiency, the plant features
51 overhead bins with a total capacity of 54,000 bushels. Depending on the
end-use specifications, the newplant processes grain 40 per cent faster than its
predecessor at anywhere from350 to 900 bushels per hour.
It has been outfittedwith some of the latest equipment, including an easy-
change indent cylinder machine for sizing crops. ItsOliver 4800 gravity table
features amodular deck, making it much easier and faster to changemodules
for various crops.With two colour sorters, capacity has dramatically increased
in the sorting of pulse crops and the cleaning of ergot fromgrain, for example.
“With greater capacity and newcleaning technology, we hope to draw
customers froma larger trading area and be able to offer improved services for
people looking to prepare crops for nichemarkets,” said Patten.
The Lougheed Co-op Seed Cleaning plant was launched in 2017, while additional new and under-
construction facilities can be found in Strathmore, Enchant, Bashaw and Taber.