Millstreet Development Corporation, more commonly known as Ag Depot, recorded a profit of $219,000 on sales of $27.8 million in 1996, shareholders were told at last month’s annual meeting.
That compares to profits of $345,000 on sales of 11.7 million during nine months ending Nov. 30, 1995. The company was listed on the Alberta Stock Exchange in late 1994.
Lionel Kambeitz, president of the Regina-based company, said the evolution of high technology precision agriculture equipment is pushing sales upward.
He said some “pioneers” used the equipment last year and predicted as many as 500 farmers will use global positioning systems by July.
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“There’s probably 100 now,” he said, noting various manufacturers include this type of equipment as an option on combines and sprayers, which lends validity to the concept of precision farming.
“Precision agriculture equipment was typically not sold by the implement sector,” Kambeitz said. “The other thing is, it used to be you introduced something like this and it was going to the farmgate many many years later. Now the farmgate is there just ready to buy it right away.”
Old and new
He said Millstreet plans to sell equipment designed to fit both older and new farm machinery.
Precision agriculture allows farmers, through a system of satellite feeds and ground relay stations, to map precise details of fields. Once the field mapping is done, farmers can use the data to tailor chemical applications to suit each field’s needs.
In 1996, Millstreet purchased International Fertilizer Systems Ltd. of Calgary, signed an alliance with Rockwell International to sell equipment for the field-mapping GPS on the Prairies and developed two new subsidiaries.
One of those, Precision Signal Corp., will provide a differential corrections signal for precision farming through radio towers, Kambeitz said.
The other subsidiary is Milltech Services LLC, an industrial company, which has contracts with a steel company in Iowa and will develop business in the Mississippi industrial corridor.
Kambeitz said about 7.7 million shares were sold in a share offering completed in March. Net proceeds were about $3.5 million, which will be used to fund acquisitions, he said.
