Saskatchewan Wheat Pool officially opens two elevators this week and started pouring another last week.
The Prairie Rose Marketing Centre will officially open July 17. It is located at the junctions of highways 2 and 13 in Assiniboia, Sask.
The Great Sandhills Terminal five kilometres east of Leader, Sask., on Highway 32 opened July 13.
The Grasslands Marketing Centre at Maple Creek, Sask., began elevator construction on July 6.
The continuous pour for the concrete elevator was expected to take six days. The facility will open March 2000. The elevator will have total storage capacity of 20,000 tonnes and a rail spot for 56 cars.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
The projects are part of the $270 million Project Horizon that will see 22 modern elevators and service centres constructed.
Pioneer builds centre
Saskatoon newsroom
Pioneer Grain is building a farm service centre at Whitewood, Sask.
Site work will begin soon and the fertilizer and crop protection facilities are scheduled to be fully operational in spring of 2000. The grain terminal is expected to be ready by December 2000, with the total cost of this project exceeding $10 million.
Located half a mile south of Whitewood, the 18,000 tonne capacity concrete terminal is being built on the CP Rail mainline and Highway 9.
The crop inputs facilities include a high-speed bulk fertilizer blender, a 3,000 sq. foot crop protection products warehouse and bulk seed facilities.
The elevator has a dual driveway, a full export cleaning system and a 56-car siding, expandable to 112 cars.
Profit for North West
Saskatoon newsroom
North West Terminal Ltd. at Unity, Sask., has posted a six-month profit in difficult conditions.
The farmer-owned terminal has revenue of $1.62 million and earnings before taxes of $244,000 for the period Nov. 1, 1998 to April 30, 1999.
Net income was $193,000 or a little more than $7 per share.
That compares with $198,000, or $7.20 a share during the same period last year.
“It’s good to see such strong farm support for the terminal in a year when there was a smaller crop in the area due to drought as well as reduced Canadian grain exports,” the company said in a news release.
UGG restructures debt
Saskatoon newsroom
United Grain Growers has increased its long-term debt with the Bank of Nova Scotia to $150 million from $100 million.
The additional $50 million long-term debt has a term of seven years and carries an average fixed interest rate to maturity of 7.25 percent.
The proceeds will be used to reduce short-term borrowings.
The company has invested about $225 million over the last five years on its grain handling and crop production services facilities and livestock operations, including more than $75 million during the current fiscal year.
The $50 million increase in long-term debt will result in a more appropriate balance between the company’s short and long-term financing and reduce its exposure to floating interest rates, the company said.
New short-line player
Saskatoon newsroom
A new player has entered the Canadian short-line rail business.
North America RailNet Inc. has taken over an Alberta line from Canadian National.
The Y-shaped line begins 58 kilometres northeast of Jasper at Swan Landing and runs north through Grande Prairie to Hythe and Tangent in Alberta’s Peace River area.
The network handles about 40,000 carloads of freight a year. Cargo includes grain, coal, forest and industrial products.
CN’s local switching and yard responsibilities in Dawson Creek, B.C., will be handled by BC Rail Ltd.
North American RailNet, based in Bedford, Texas, operates five short-line railroads in the United States in 10 states.
Its subsidiary, Alberta RailNet, will run the Grande Prairie line.
Agricore plans elevators
Saskatoon newsroom
Agricore will build two large elevators in Manitoba, one near Winnipeg and the other near Winkler.
The 26,000-tonne concrete facilities will feature two driveways with platform scales.
One will be six kilometres north of Winnipeg on Highway 7 and the other will be immediately southeast of the junction of highways 3 and 14 near Winkler.
Each will be able to load trains up to 112 cars.
Good year for Ag Growth
Saskatoon newsroom
Ag Growth Industries Inc. reports increased revenue and profit for its 1998-99 fiscal year despite the difficult economic climate in agriculture.
The company owns Batco Manufacturing in Swift Current, Sask., and Wheatheart Manufacturing in Saskatoon. It also recently bought the Victory combine pickup line.
Revenue to the end of March was $8.97 million, up $5.4 million or 153 percent over last year.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were $1.56 million, up from $434,000 in 1997-98.
Net earnings were $395,000 or six cents per basic share or 5.6 cents per diluted share.
Last year, net earnings were $253,000 or 8.3 cents a share or 7.6 cents on a fully diluted basis.
“In a year when many short-line manufacturers faced revenue declines of 30 percent or more, Ag Growth’s Batco operation actually increased revenue 17 percent,” said Rob Stenson, Ag Growth president.
“The Wheatheart operation, consistent with our U.S. expansion strategy, doubled its percentage of revenue derived from the U.S. market.”
Ag Growth also announced that it has called off negotiations to buy PEL Industries Ltd. of Swift Current, manufacturer of the REM grain vac and the Delta harrow.
Crop buyer bought
Saskatoon newsroom
Archer Daniels Midland subsidiary Agri-Industries has bought Finora Canada Ltd.
Finora Canada is an originator, processor and exporter of Canadian pulses and special crops. The company has facilities in Winkler, Man., Assiniboia and Wilkie, Sask., and Gibbons, Alta.
Finora will keep its name and work closely with Agri-Sales, ADM’s subsidiary responsible for pulses and special crops.
The deal is not expected to alter Finora’s daily activities or staff, said Dan Burneski of Finora in Vancouver. He said the new ownership should allow the company to expand the facilities and increase volume.
AgPro opens Alta. facility
Saskatoon newsroom
AgPro Grain opened a new elevator and farm supply centre July 15 at Wilson Siding, about 15 kilometres southeast of Lethbridge, Alta.
Wilson Siding, at the junction of highways 4 and 508, is the first of six new elevators and farm supply centres to be opened in Alberta by AgPro, a subsidiary of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool.
AgPro’s Trochu, Alta., facility will officially open Aug. 25.
