b"SEED PLANTBelow: Construction on the new Westlock Seed Cleaning Co-op broke ground last fall and is expected to be done in the fall of 2024.PHOTO: WESTLOCK SEED CLEANING CO-OPUpgrading the PlantWestlock Seeding Cleaning Co-op has taken on a massive new projectbuilding a whole new plant.OVER THE YEARS business hasHe started at the plant working part timefit for selling seed at the plant.increased at the Westlock Seed Cleaningand as the years went on his job evolvedI started contacting the seed growers Co-op, including adding services suchuntil he took over as the manager in 1987. around Westlock to get them to come as pedigreed seed sales. As business atI grew up on a farm and I have alwaysback here and put some bins in. And so the plant grew, the time spent running itbeen passionate about agriculture,that's kind of how it started, he explains.rose until it was going 24/7. Walker explains. It was a way to stayAt the time there were only 20 bins It's kind of a shame that we're havingconnected to agriculture. And I knewsurrounding the plant that were used to build this new plant, because thisonce I got to the managers role, I did seefor seed storage. There are now 137 bins plant still does have some life to it. Butthere was avenues to grow this business. with more than half a million bushels of physically we've outgrown it, WayneWhen Walker took over managementpedigreed seed storage space, and 22 seed Walker, manager of Westlock Seedof the plant, they were cleaning aroundgrowers sell their seed through the plant. Cleaning Co-op, says in a phone400,00 bushels of seed per year andPedigreed seed cleaning was the interview. there were a few seed growers sellingavenue that I saw the greatest growth The plant was initially built in 1949their seed through the plant. Walker waspotential in when I first started. It kind of but sadly perished in a fire in 1974. Thementored by Art Gorda, an inspectormorphed into more and more seed sales, community rallied together and rebuiltwith the Canadian Food Inspectionbecause we had a big enough yard and in 1975. The rebuilt plant is the plant stillAgency, who taught him about seedgrowers were able to put their own bins operating to this day.grading and pedigreed seed production.here. We charge them a rate for leaving For Walker, hes been part of the plantGorda mentioned there were more seedtheir bins here, plus we charge them for going on four decades as of this spring.growers in the area who could be a goodsales, Walker says.26seed.ab.ca"