Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 11646 www.seed.ab.ca | Advancing Seed in Alberta region, but if you’re able to tap into something outside of that local base, that seed reaches a bigger market. You draw business in and bring more clientele through your facility that way.” Progressive Approach A progressive, thoughtful approach was crucial in designing the new plant, which is being built for efficiency and with user- friendliness in mind. “We’ve incorporated new things that aren’t often done. We’ve put two scales in, one for dumping the grain and one for loading the grain. In the past, having one scale was a big bottleneck for us,” Patten says. “That will make things easier on everyone. Other plants have tried that, but it can often be difficult to fit both scales inside the plant. We deliberately designed it so we could fit both.” Part of the co-op’s progressive approach is due to the fact the six-member board is now composed of younger people, Patten says. “The older generation can sometimes be reluctant to change,” he says. “The younger people really have a good vision for the future. It’s nice to have a board that’s willing to listen and trusts you to make the right choice to make the plant a profitable and successful business. It’s been a very pleasant experience working as a manager here.” Patten says the last two-and-a-half years have been busy and stressful, but it’s all a part of helping the co-op modernize itself and prepare for the future. “Why am I doing this when I’m ready to retire? I ask myself that every morning,” he says with a chuckle. “My retirement isn’t tied to a date on the calendar. It’s tied to a feeling, and the closest I came to that was when we went through those tough couple years when the ergot hit — and it was tough because we were trying to do everything with a facility that couldn’t handle it. With the new plant, I’ve got some more left in me before I turn the reins over to someone else.” Marc Zienkiewicz The original plant was built in 1954. AAC Synergy Barley CDC Copeland Barley AAC Penhold CPSR Wheat AAC Brandon CWRS Wheat AAC Lacombe Yellow Peas—NEW! CDC Amarillo Yellow Peas Snowbird Faba Beans AC Foremost CPSR Wheat Office: 403-556-2890 Cell: 403-994-0290 OLDS, ALBERTA [email protected] Twitter: @BrianEllisSeed