U of S Crop Development Centre Opens $1.2-M Seed-Cleaning Plant
Posted July 14, 2000
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? Friday, July 14, 2000 2000-07-06-AG
U of S Crop Development Centre Opens $1.2-M Seed-Cleaning Plant
About 200 seed growers from across the country attended the official opening
today of Western Canada?s newest seed-cleaning plant, a $1.2-million project
involving the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and the
Canada-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund (AFIF).
The 10,000-square-foot facility on the U of S Kernen Crop Research Farm east
of Saskatoon will be used to clean the U of S Crop Development Centre?s
breeder seed which is shipped to select growers and seed companies across
Western Canada.
"This state-of-the-art plant will enable us to maintain the highest quality
of seed being shipped out to farmers and seed companies as numbers of crop
varieties and seed volumes increase," said Rick Holm, director of the Crop
Development Centre (CDC).
He explained that to meet standards for seed purity and ensure that seed
lots are not mixed, modern high-tech equipment is needed. As well, pulse
crops such as peas, beans and lentils, which farmers are increasingly
growing, have to be handled more gently than cereal crops to prevent seed
damage.
The U of S paid the $750,000 plant construction cost. The $450,000 cost of
specialized seed-cleaning equipment was shared equally between the
Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and the Canada-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation
Fund (AFIF).
"The generous financial contributions provided by these two organizations
was critical to the establishment of a first-class cleaning facility and we
are very grateful for their support," said Ernie Barber, dean of the U of S
College of Agriculture.
Bernie Sonntag of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, who was on
hand on behalf of Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lyle Vanclief, said
that the new plant is an example of the type of emerging growth that will
fuel tomorrow?s agricultural economy. "It provides a value-added product to
producers and encourages the development of new niche markets for Canadian
products," he said. "AFIF was designed to support exactly this type of
activity."
Nial Kuyek, director of the Provincial Extension Service who was speaking on
behalf of Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food Minister Clay Serby, said, "The
Breeder Seed Cleaning Plant is a fine example of what can be achieved when
public and private organizations pool their efforts and their resources to
stimulate economic growth." Saskatchewan Pulse Growers chair Lyle Minogue
said the new equipment will ensure that all breeder seed shipped from the
CDC will be of the highest quality. "It is absolutely essential to seed
growers and the industry that all of these different seed lots be kept
separate and this is a major challenge when handling this number of seed
lots through one facility," he said, adding "This seed plant will make it
easier to achieve this goal."
This past spring, the CDC shipped 1,100 seed lots -- 26,000 kilograms of
breeder seed ? to select seed growers across Western Canada. Last year, the
CDC produced breeder seed of 65 different varieties representing 12
different crops -- from flax and canary seed to peas and Kabuli chickpeas.
The Breeder Seed Cleaning Plant is one of more than 200 projects the
Canada-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund has supported since its
inception in 1995. The $91-million Fund received two thirds of its money
from the federal government and one third from the province.
The opening of the new facility coincides with the annual meeting of the
Canadian Seed Growers Association.
The CDC is a field crop research organization which seeks to increase the
diversification of crops and their products for the farmers and agriculture
industry of Saskatchewan by improving existing crops, creating new uses for
traditional crops and introducing new crops. For more information, visit the
CDC web site at: http://www.usask.ca/agriculture/plantsci/
For more information, contact:
Rick Holm
Director, Crop Development Centre
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-8195
Dave Benallack
Manager, Breeder Seed Cleaning Plant
Crop Development Centre
(306) 931-9299
Garth Patterson
Executive Director, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers
(306) 668-5556
John Babcock
Canada-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund
Regina, Saskatchewan
(306) 787-9768
Backgrounder
U of S Crop Development Centre Breeder Seed Cleaning Plant
$1.2 M Funding:
$750,000 University of Saskatchewan
$225,000 Saskatchewan Pulse Growers
$225,000 Canada-Saskatchewan Agri-Food Innovation Fund
Key features of plant equipment:
- The 10,000-square-foot plant is designed for quick clean-out and maximum
flexibility due to the large number of seed lots and crop types processed by
the Crop Development Centre.
- The entire plant is designed to handle pulse crops in a manner that does
not damage the seed minimizing losses due to mechanical damage.
- A huetronic color sorter, one of three in Western Canada, can be set to
electronically sort the seed sample by hue, color intensity and color
brightness. Special software also allows the machine operator to select the
size of seed blemishes to accept or reject. This is the first time the
huetronic color sorter has been used in seed cleaning. Typically it?s used
in the food trade for such products as cashews, almond and peanuts, and
seafood such as shrimp.
- A cleaning machine called a Dodder mill removes dirt and splits which
cannot be removed from seed samples by aspiration or gravity table.
- An air exhaust system is designed to remove air from strategic locations
along the cleaning line, remove the dust and recycle the clean air back into
the building.
- The plant is the initial source for seed of all varieties developed at the
CDC. The breeder seed processed in this plant is distributed to select
growers and seed companies across Western Canada.
