Agribusiness firm acquires grain-handling facility

Winnipeg, Man. – Canada’s largest agribusiness firm has acquired Great Northern Grain’s grain handling and crop input retail facility in Nampa, Alta.

Richardson International Limited says the sale is expected to close by Feb. 9, 2012. All current employees will be offered the opportunity to stay on with Richardson.

The Nampa grain facility currently has 17,300 metric tonnes of storage capacity, a full cleaning line for wheat and canola and a 52-car spot on the CN rail line.

The facility also has an 8,400-sq.-ft. crop protection and seed warehouse for retailing crop input products.

Expansion plans

Richardson says this spring it will add an additional 14,000 tonnes of grain storage and increase the facility’s rail car spot to handle 104-car unit trains.

The company will also add fertilizer storage and a 200-tonne per hour blending system.

These improvements, which will increase grain handling efficiencies and offer retail fertilizer services, are expected to be complete by the fall.

This latest acquisition is Richardson’s fourth in the Peace River region in the last two years. Its previous acquisitions include the purchase of crop input centres in Falher, Fairview and Manning in 2010.

Richardson is also close to completing a 20,000-tonne fertilizer storage shed with rail receiving at its Bunvegan facility in Rycroft, Alta. With a 200-tonne per hour blending capability and 300-tonne per hour distribution rate, this new fertilizer shed will be a distribution centre for Richardson’s other Peace River sites.