Manitoba growers hope an attempt to build a soybean processing facility at Portage la Prairie will anchor expansion of the province’s soybean industry.
The Manitoba government has signed a memorandum of understanding that could result in a new facility to process soy oil and to produce other products used in the food industry. The products would be mainly for export to China.
Through the agreement, the province, the City of Portage la Prairie, the Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie and Linyi Shandong Biological Products Co. Ltd. will share the costs of a study on the proposed plant.
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According to the province, Linyi Shandong Biological Products is a leading manufacturer of soybean-based products in China.
“I think it would be great for the industry,” said Lincoln Wolfe, vice-president of the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association.
“It would stimulate long-term growth in our (soybean) acres.”
The memorandum was signed as part of a trade mission to Asia in November. More than 20 companies, municipalities and educational institutions took part in the 13-day trip, organized by the Manitoba Hong Kong-Canada Business Association and Manitoba Trade and Investment.
In a News release
news, Manitoba agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk noted that trade with China has exploded this year. During the first eight months of 2004, the province exported $383 million in goods to China and Hong Kong, a 191 percent increase over the previous year.
Soybean acres in Manitoba climbed rapidly over the past decade. The crop is grown for a variety of purposes, ranging from livestock feed to identity preserved product for export.
There were only 800 acres of soybeans grown in Manitoba in 1996, according to Manitoba pulse crop specialist Bruce Brolley. Last year, there were 220,000 acres and the number was expected to approach 400,000 acres this year. The expectations for this year were not met because of an unfavourable growing season, which held soybean acres to about 187,000 acres.
Limited seed supplies could restrict expansion over the next couple of years, but Brolley said Manitoba’s soybean industry is making strides toward becoming well established.
While the processing facility proposed for Portage would manufacture products mainly for export, Brolley said there is a need within Canada for those products as well.
“I’m working with a couple of smaller entrepreneurs who need these ingredients, but there are very few places where they can buy them economically.”
There already is some value-added processing of soybeans in Manitoba, but not on a large scale. Part of that processing includes cleaning and bagging identity-preserved soybeans for specialty food markets in Europe and Asia. A company in central Manitoba also crushes the beans to produce livestock meal.
As well, Associated Proteins Inc. announced this fall that soybean crushing could be included in its plans for a revival of a canola crushing plant at Ste. Agathe, Man. The plant, which has a capacity to crush 1,000 tonnes of oilseed per day, was idle for the past few years after its previous owner, Canadian Agra, went into receivership.
