What seed growers do when they need to grow

The family have been seed growers since the 1960s but investing in a new seed plant was a big decision, said Mark Watson of Watson Seeds.

“It was getting to the point that if we wanted to stay in the seed business we needed to build a new cleaning plant or get out. It has been a pretty key part of our farm for a long time,” said Watson, of Avonlea, Sask.

It took two years of planning before work began on the new building. They worked with seed equipment sales staff, toured other plants and spent hours discussing what they wanted from the new facility. Once they settled on an equipment company, they were put in touch with a general contractor who had built other seed cleaning facilities.

“We went through a lot of the planning so we were not making it up as we went along.”