The Foremost Co-operative Seed Cleaning Plant is run by a father and son team, but the family roots don’t stop there.
Jarret Granberg basically grew up at the Foremost Co-operative Seed Cleaning Plant with his father, Rod Granberg, working as the plant manager. Throughout his youth, Jarret would work at the plant during summers off from playing with the junior A hockey team the Brooks Bandits.
“I would come home and help him in the offseason. We were also running like 20-hour days at that time, so we needed a night shift guy. I’d come home and work the night shift,” Jarret says in a phone interview.
Those summer jobs morphed into a full-time gig as assistant plant manager when he was older following university and moving away from the community for a while. The two Granbergs work side-by-side running the Foremost plant. They also have one other employee, Reece Hollingsworth, working alongside them.
The plant was built in 1973 and has been upgraded and expanded over the decades, run as a family affair in the community during that time. Pedigreed seed grower Tony Crooymans was one of the original board members who helped get the plant up and running. His son John Crooymans now serves on the board.
“It’s sort of like your own farm. Your father started this thing, kind of passed it on down and you want to maintain it. And as things progress you want the farm to progress. Well, it’s like the same with this plant,” John explains in a phone interview.
Keeping the Seed Plant Going
Rod started working at the plant three decades ago as assistant plant manager. He had farmed and worked on a custom spraying operation before getting into the seed cleaning game. He worked under Harvey Beacome and when Beacome left, Rod was offered the job as plant manager, thus beginning what has so far been a quarter of a century career.
“Dad’s kind of run this place basically like it’s his own kind of thing. We have a board of directors and what not, but it’s a business to us that we’ve kind of grown up with,” Jarret explains.
Since Jarret has come on board full time at the plant seven years ago, business has increased. The plant provides both pedigreed and common seed cleaning services. Over the past decade, crop production in the area has rose as more farmers have switched from chem fallowing some of their acres to seeding every acre each year, which has raised demand for seed cleaning services.
The Foremost Co-operative Seed Cleaning Plant was built in 1973 and has been upgraded and expanded over the decades. Photo: Foremost Co-operative Seed Cleaning Plant
To cope with the increased business, Foremost has added a second seed cleaning line to its plant. Seed volume has been hovering around the one million bushels mark and before adding the second line, the staff were working 15-to-18-hour days starting in October through seeding time.
“We’re doing just as much or more and putting in less hours. Now we’re back to our normal kind of 10-hour days. So, it’s improved that way,” Jarret explains. He adds they are working on adding another colour sorter in order to have a colour sorter on each line.
The original plant, including bins, is still used. It’s a tin structure with a metal frame, which Jarret says has allowed them to upgrade and add equipment to it easily. They have also built on to the back of structure, adding the second line and new receiving pits.
“When these plants first started in ‘73, they weren’t designed to handle the volumes that Rod puts through now. They weren’t designed to handle the trucks and the equipment that exists today,” John says. “It’s really important to have somebody that can see that progression and Rod’s good at it.”
Each year something new is added or upgraded on the plant depending on what year end financials are like.
“There’s always even a small or medium upgrade every year that’s doing something to it. Because if you don’t do that, then you kind of fall behind and then eventually you will have to build a new one,” Jarret explains.
Seed Cleaning — A Family Affair
Keeping a seed cleaning plant going with knowledgeable staff isn’t an easy job, and the Foremost Plant’s board knows how lucky they are to have the Granbergs working there.
“Foremost has had its trying moments where you might have to hire new management and it’s difficult,” John says. “With Jarret coming in and working alongside Rod for years basically, that’s so much different than somebody just coming in and then having to learn the system right from scratch.”
John’s family has cleaned seed at Foremost for their pedigreed seed business, Tony Crooymans and Sons, since the planted was built. With Rod having been there for decades and now Jarret working there too, they understand John’s business and the seed cleaning he requires.
“When your product goes in and it comes back out there’s quality there. And that’s for us, as a seed grower, that’s really important. For as long as we’ve been there now, they understand our business,” he explains.
For Jarret working at the plant he grew up visiting his dad at and working part-time at, he sees the importance of keeping it going for the community.
“I grew up in Foremost, now I’m raising my family in Foremost. So, it’s kind of nice,” Jarret says.
Header photo — (L-R) Foremost Co-operative Seed Cleaning Plant workers Reese Hollinsworth, Plant Manager Rod Granberg, and Assistant Plant Manager Jarret Granberg, standing in the plant. Photo: Foremost Co-operative Seed Cleaning Plant
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