b"have to truck grain to be cleaned toworking order and they have started the next closest plant in Grimshaw,We had someupgrading equipment piece by piece on Alta. which is 80 kms away. This wouldthe current plantwhich is now over increase operating costs for those in theongoing projects50 years old. farming community, and also take upthat were doing,We had some ongoing projects that precious time they could be working inwe're doing, some equipment upgrades their fields. some equipmentnow. We just want to keep working at it Its not easy to keep the plant going,upgrades now. Weto try and we want to make it better for though. Technological advancementsthem. Try and keep something for the and aging equipment are wearing on itsjust want to keepnext generation, Schmidt says.viability.working at it to tryThis year they are replacing the indent Its hard to keep it going with all thewith a new one currently ordered. In modern technology and everything. Butand we want toorder to finance the new indent, the then to build a new one is extremelymake it better forboard made a presentation to their local expensive, Schmidt says. county, Northern Lights, who provided The board and Friesen joined togetherthem. Try and keepthem with a loan and grant to purchase to discuss the future of the plant. Theysomething for thethe new indent. weighed the pros and cons of repairingWe thought, well we'll start with the plant versus building a new one.next generation.this particular piece of equipment was Rebuildings an expensive venture, andneeded the most. And then we'll go with the plant not being operational Linda Schmidt from there as to what's the next project, year-round, it didnt make sense to buildSchmidt explains.a new one. Friesen keeps it in good Ashley RobinsonFall 2021 45"