Operations at LDM Foods in Yorkton, Sask., have temporarily stopped after an explosion and fire at the canola crushing plant destroyed part of the meal storage area Oct. 24.
Just how that will affect growers and customers will depend on how long the plant remains out of commission, said Louis Dreyfus Commodities Canada Ltd. president Brant Randles.
“I think the most significant thing is we only had one minor injury, so we’re relieved,” he said Oct. 27.
“Then, it’s just a matter of time and money, but that’s really secondary to the safety of everybody on the site and the town knowing that everything is fine.”
Read Also
Farming Smarter receives financial boost from Alberta government for potato research
Farming Smarter near Lethbridge got a boost to its research equipment, thanks to the Alberta government’s increase in funding for research associations.
Witnesses several kilometres away reported hearing the explosion around 8:30 a.m., followed by seeing a tall plume of smoke.
Yorkton mayor Bob Maloney has suggested grain dust ignited.
Randles said the Yorkton fire department is still investigating, and the plant will remain closed until the cause is determined and the length of shut down assessed. The load-out area was also affected.
“There will be impacts in terms of deliveries,” he said. “We’re working with our farmers to reschedule, and every circumstance is different.”
SaskCanola chair Franck Groeneweg said he expected most of the impact would be limited to individual farmers or contracts, and the inability to deliver will affect cash flow.
He said the fact the problem occurred in a storage area suggests it could probably be fixed sooner and easier than if it had been in the crush area.
“I think we have a smaller crop up there in general compared to last year,” he said.
“And our rail problems, I wouldn’t say exactly they have got fixed, but they are not what they were last year. It all depends how long it will be shut down.”
Randles said most of the plant’s meal customers are large feed distributors, while the list of oil customers is extensive, including almost every U.S. state.
A damage estimate is not yet available, nor could Randles say how much product was in the storage area and subsequently lost to the fire.
LDM opened five years ago with capacity to crush 850,000 tonnes of canola.
Richardson International opened its similarly sized plant in the same city about six months later. A $30 million expansion that boosted capacity by 25 percent opened earlier this year.
