Blog

Jul 7, 2020

A Brief History of the Newest Flaman Store in Swift Current

Flaman Group of Companies started on the farm over 60 years ago, when founder Frank Flaman saw a way to help other farmers by buying bins in bulk. That spirit of “making things better” for the farming community continues on today, so when Flaman had the opportunity to partner with an innovative, farm-focused company like Gatco Manufacturing, known for its quality products designed for farmers, the choice was easy.
 
The Flaman Swift Current and Gatco location

Products Designed by a Farmer, For Farmers
Gatco was started by a Saskatoon area farmer, Gary Schreiner. Schreiner had a problem: he was losing canola bins to overheating and needed a solution for remote bin yards that had no power.  He began trying different combinations of perforated tubes in an effort to create a venting system inside the grain bin.  This led to the creation of the GrainAir Tube powerless aeration system.  The GrainAir tube allows heat and moisture to escape the bin quickly, by letting heat collect in the central tube and relying on convection to remove heat from the bin without any fans.
 
A couple year’s later, Schreiner was moving his load out auger and plastic hopper in his yard and slipped while maneuvering the plastic hopper.  He knew there had to be a safer way to do this, and so the Auger Hog Hopper was born. This adjustable, detachable grain auger hopper attaches and detaches in seconds with a single mount pin, stays on your auger between bins, and adjusts from 12" to 29" in height merely by moving the handle. Due to the Auger Hog’s u-trough design, it also increases the average augers speed by 20-25% and prevents any product loss.
 
The Auger Hog

With the GrainAir tube working well, Schreiner felt there had to be a way to make a more efficient aeration system.  While researching grain dryers, he found that air moved through grain easier horizontally, so he developed louvered wall columns that were pressurized with a common aeration fan.  The air would leave the wall columns and travel horizontally to the central GrainAir tube and be released out through the bin lid quickly and easily.  This CrossFlow system is far more efficient than traditional air systems, as the air travels less distance and moisture and heat is removed from the bin much faster. 
 
“Gary came up with these unique solutions to help make farming easier,” says Bret Watson, Gatco division manager, who’s worked for the company since 2013.

 Bret Watson (Gatco Division Manager & Flaman Operations Manager)
 
A Natural Partnership in Swift Current
It was that line of innovative, farmer-proven products that made Gatco a natural fit to join the Flaman team, says Watson, who is also the operations manager for Flaman’s Swift Current location. Gatco was purchased by Flaman Sales in 2018, when Schreiner decided he wanted to devote more time to his farming operation. “The companies are both family-owned and started on the farm,” says Watson. “We were selling to the same customers and trying to provide that same level of service. It was a nice, natural fit.” 



With that purchase, Flaman Sales started their 7th store in Saskatchewan. The Swift Current location began as one-person business with Watson, but since February 2020 has added 5 more staff in sales, administration and yard staff, along with acquiring a second, 4-acre yard to expand on-hand inventory and provide better sales and service.


Mellissa Paxman (Administration), Bruce Deg (Ag Sales), Brittany Fiddler (Logistics Coordinator), and Rick Spanier (Yard & Support)

The Swift Current store is a full-service Flaman Agriculture equipment dealership, offering a wide range of in-stock grain-handling equipment such as augers, conveyors, post pounders, grain vacs, grain carts, grain bins, grain dryers, grain monitoring, and water and fertilizer tanks. Customers can also order products from the Flaman catalogue like discs, mowers, chem handlers, pumps, and more.

Bob Schafer (Ag Sales)

“We’re proud to offer equipment options to the local community,” says Watson. “Farmers don’t have to drive to Saskatoon or Southey anymore. This location allows Flaman to serve customers all over southwest Saskatchewan.”

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To contact our Swift Current location, please click here.
To view some of the products in inventory, click here.