One of Canada’s largest farming operations has completed a $15 million fundraiser for the coming crop year.
One Earth Farms Corp. recently sold 15 million common shares at $1 per share in a private placement offering.
Steve Yuzpe, chief financial officer of Sprott Resource Corp. and acting chief financial officer of One Earth Farms, said the money would be used to start a trial livestock business, buy supplies for the coming season and act as working capital for the farm.
Sprott Resource Corp. is a Toronto-based investment company that owns 30 million common shares in One Earth Farms and now has 66.67 percent ownership.
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One Earth Farms leases land from First Nations communities across the Prairies.
Yuzpe said the company hopes to increase the area farmed from 13,000 acres in 2009.
Yuzpe said One Earth has signed contracts and letters of intent with First Nation communities mostly in Alberta and Saskatchewan to farm 75,000 to 100,000 acres of land this year and 200,000 next year.
A Dec. 23 news release named three companies as buying shares: Ag Growth International, a Winnipeg manufacturer of grain storage and handling equipment; Alliance Grain Traders of Regina, one of Canada’s largest lentil and pea splitting companies; and Cape Fund, a private investment firm founded by the family of former prime minister Paul Martin.
Yuzpe said there were other investors, but public disclosure was limited to three of them for confidentiality reasons.
Daniel Donner, vice-president of sales and marketing with Ag Growth International, said it bought two million shares , seeing a good opportunity for a strategic partnership.
AGI bought $2 million shares of One Earth Farms and in turn One Earth Farms will buy its grain handling equipment from AGI.
AGI has also started design work on a grain handling system in northern Saskatchewan for One Earth Farms that will act as a showcase for AGI’s equipment. The showcase site will have all of the equipment AGI sells including bins, fans, augers, belt conveyors, bucket elevators, drag conveyors and accessories. AGI’s only other feature showcase grain handling unit is in Russia.
“We lacked one turn key project with all our equipment,” said Donner, who hopes construction of the facility will begin in March.
One Earth Farms plans to use a “hub and spoke” system of grain handling to accommodate grain harvested from the various First Nation farms.
Murad Al-Katib, president and chief executive officer of Alliance Grain Traders, said the investment in One Earth Farms is an important alliance in what will likely become one of the largest producers of pulse crops on the Prairies.
“We have been asked to work with One Earth Farms team on their pulse crop rotation,” Al-Katib said.
“Pulses are going to be an important part of their management plan.”
