Agrifood firm Cargill expects to provide more marketing opportunities for western Manitoba growers — particularly of soybeans — with a major elevator expansion.
The U.S. company’s Winnipeg-based Canadian arm on Thursday announced it will put up $15 million to add 9,000 tonnes of storage capacity to its 13,500-tonne capacity elevator at Oakner, Man., about 70 km northwest of Brandon.
Renovations at the facility are also to include “faster” grain receiving and shipping capabilities and an upgraded 100-plus railcar track system, which connects to the Canadian National Railway (CN) mainline.
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Dave Baudler, grain managing director for Cargill in North America, said in a release that the upgrades at Oakner “will have a positive impact on both long and local supply chains.”
Construction work is expected to be complete late this year and will interrupt grain deliveries in Oakner for “a short period of time,” the company said.
During that time, the company said, it will work with affected customers to find “other options” for delivering grain.
The company’s other elevators in western Manitoba include sites at Nesbitt, about 30 km south of Brandon; at Elva, about 80 km south of Virden; and at Dauphin. It also has elevators at Yorkton and Balcarres in southeastern Saskatchewan.
“More grain storage space and rail capacity provides more opportunities for farmers in the area to sell and move their grain,” the company said. “In particular, this expansion provides more options for soybean growers.”
Cargill’s Oakner site, south of the intersection of Highways 21 and 24, handles wheat, oats, soybeans and canola and includes a recently-expanded crop input retail store. — AGCanada.com Network
