There comes a time in the life of everything mechanical that it reaches the point of ‘no-return’. Our rice mill in Balang which is being called upon to perform better than ever before finally spit out its last grain of rice. Purchased well used in 2001, it has served us well for 21 years. Finally, with holes worn in many of the screens in the ‘shaker box’, the bucket elevator slats worn paper thin and most of the tubes and elbows ground through with multiple tons of those miniature grindstones called ‘paddy’. We decided it was time to send the old machine to its new life as ‘junk’. We built seven new bucket elevators, had the main grindstones repaired, bought a new stainless steel shaker box, and are re-pouring the floor and tiling it. Other elements include: painting the walls, installing a new ventilation system, rice hull catchment area, and most importantly an ultra-violet, air powered, color-sorter, which will ultimately feed a weighing and bagging machine. When all is done, FCOP will have a 21st century rice mill.