Tim King (standing) talks to local farmers and ranchers about adding canola as a cash crop to their current crop rotation. King plans on setting up a temporary, portable canola crusher in Oroville within the next two months and have a permanent crusher op

RIVERSIDE – The second “Canola in Okanogan County” meeting was held in Riverside at the Mt. Olive Grange Hall in Riverside with 13 people in attendance, attendants coming from as far as Spokane and Lewiston, Idaho.

Arnie Marchand, LM Energy LLC, hosted the event, providing introductions and facilitating questions and answers at the end of the meeting. Okanogan County Commissioner candidate Jim Detro also spoke, discussing his experience in resource-based industries and his support of the project. Tim King, president of Carbon Technology Transfer Center LLP, gave a presentation on Canola to the group. John Sheldon, Great Plains Representative for The Camelina Company was unable to attend due to other commitments.

Similar to the Chesaw meeting back in July, Tim King presented his plans to bring a canola press to Oroville in order to process surplus canola and camelina seed from neighboring states and provinces. King hopes to engage local farmers and ranchers, providing them the opportunity to add a sustainable cash crop into current rotations.

Due to the continued support of citizens and local officials, King’s plans for the canola press continue to move forward. He has been busy looking at potential construction sites in Oroville. He has arranged for a portable, temporary crusher that could be up and running within two months, crushing 120 tons of seed per day, while a permanent crushing facility is erected. Once financing for the project is finalized, King anticipates the permanent crusher to be online within six to eight months.