WILSON CREEK - A sign of what the owners of Pacific Coast Canola hope are slightly changing times arrived at the grain elevator recently, with the first shipment of canola seed.

Construction is underway on the company's processing facility in Warden, scheduled to open in January. The facility will process the seed into edible canola oil; the leftover material is used as animal feed, said Steve Starr, the company's vice-president. "It's a healthy alternative to other vegetable oils," he said.

Canola harvest is underway now, so company officials need storage, Starr said. Like wheat, Canola seed can be stored for long periods of time without damage, so company officials are building an inventory in anticipation of the facility opening.

Starr said Pacific Coast Canola officials are hoping to persuade farmers to add Canola to their inventory of available crops.

"Very good (in) rotation," Starr said. Canola would help to restore fields, and currently it's providing a good return to farmers, he said.

There are a lot of grain silos around the Warden area, but most of them are already committed to wheat storage, Starr said. Wilson Creek had a "significant amount of available space," he said.

The Warden facility will have storage space for about 11 days of operation on site, and its operators hope to expand that, Starr said.