The largest privately owned agribusiness in Canada has invested more than half a billion dollars in western Canadian agriculture over the last three years and plans to continue the spending spree.”We’re putting a huge amount of capital back into the markets in which we do business, specifically in Western Canada,” said Curt Vossen, president of Richardson International Limited.”We haven’t gone overseas. We’ve stayed here. We have focused on this market. We think it needs better service.”Vossen made the comments during the grand opening of Richardson’s $170 million canola crushing facility in Yorkton, Sask., the largest single project in the family-owned company’s 153-year history.He talked about the recent expansion and refurbishment of Richardson’s grain elevator network and plans for future projects, such as updating its Lethbridge crushing plant and its terminal in Vancouver.Richardson’s expansion began in 2007 when the company agreed to abandon its pursuit of Agricore United in exchange for the right to buy 15 elevators and nine supply centres from Saskatchewan Wheat Pool for about $315 million.”We participated in that little donnybrook and came away from it with some very valuable and valued assets,” he said.Vossen approached Richardson’s board of directors with a request for capital to upgrade the company’s existing and newly acquired western Canadian assets. He was given $70 million to spend over the next three years.The company has spent more than $60 million of that upgrading its assets.It has doubled the rail car spotting ability at about a dozen elevators so that 31 of its 36 high throughput facilities are now 100-car loaders.”That’s about as good a proportion as anybody has got in Western Canada,” said Vossen.It has added 10,000 to 16,000 tonnes of storage space at a number of its facilities to better accommodate the expanded car loading capabilities.And it has invested in more fertilizer blending and storage capacity so that a truck can drop off grain and get loaded with granular fertilizer in less than an hour.The projects are designed to shorten the amount of time farmers wait to unload their grain and pick up fertilizer.”Time is of the essence. These guys are covering a lot of acres with big equipment. They’ve got big investments,” he said.Vossen will be going back to the board of directors once the $70 million runs out because further investment is required.One of the items at the top of the agenda is updating the Lethbridge canola crushing facility, which is one of the oldest in the country. It has half the operating capacity of the new Yorkton plant.”We think we can get more oomph out of that plant. We think there is more capacity that can be driven through that plant,” he said.The oil refining process would have to be increased to match the increased crush capacity. Improvements will also be made to the Lethbridge canola packaging plant.Vossen also plans to refurbish the company’s Vancouver terminal.”We have significant origination beyond the capacity of our plant in Vancouver. I think we have to take a look at that,” he said.The terminal has an operating capacity that in practical terms amounts to 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes of grain. The company handles three million tonnes annually through that terminal, which means it is being filled with product and emptied 43 or 44 times a year. Vossen said hat is not efficient. The Vancouver project could involve increasing space, speed or car spotting.It will be a long-term venture because any change to the harbour front involves the input of several parties but Vossen said it’s time to get the ball rolling.
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