Struggling to reduce costs, the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool announced plans to cut 250 jobs and close another 55 elevators Thursday.

The company, Canada's largest publicly traded farm co-operative, lost close to $90 million in its last fiscal year which ended July 31.

In March, the Pool said it was cutting 275 positions, and speeding up a plan to shut down older elevators.

"We are demonstrating our ability to lead the agri-commodity business in a deregulated marketplace by taking excess capacity out of our system and driving down operating and administrative costs," Chief executive officer Mayo Schmidt said in a news release Thursday.

He predicted it will take at least 12 more months before the company starts making a profit again.

Twenty years ago, there were as many a 2,000 grain elevators scattered across Saskatchewan. After the latest demolitions are completed, there will be fewer than 300 standing and that means farmers have to drive farther to deliver their grain.

The Pool has opened almost two dozen, much larger elevators in recent years. The new facilities can handle 10 times as much grain as the the old elevators and can accommodate larger trains to get the product to market faster.

Schmidt estimated that streamlining the network of elevators will save the company at least $20 million a year by 2002.

The Pool's shares sold for $12 when they were first traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1996. They've fallen drastically in recent years, and are now selling for about $3.