Stratton sales barn needs $202,000 of improvements

By Ken Johnston
Editor

The Stratton Sales barn is in need of some upgrades.
That was the word from Barn Modification Committee member Aarne Hahkala at the annual meeting of the Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association (RRCA) last Wednesday evening in Stratton.
Hahkala said the committee turned the facility in November and came up with a list of improvements to it. They include reworking the pen structure (i.e. dividing larger pens into smaller ones) and installing state of the art Radio Frequency Identification reading equipment.
All told, the estimated costs of the improvements will be about $202,000. Hahkala said that they are confident that they can get 40% from FedNor, 40% from NOHFC and $5,000 from Rainy River Future Development Corporation. “We will need $20,000 in cash and $15,000 in kind labour from our members,” said Hahkala.
The scheduled start date for the work would be April 1, 2008 with the project being completed by Dec. 31, 2008.
“I figure with the in kind labour we are looking at 90¢ dollars,” concluded Hahkala.