Richardson International Limited, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, announced on Jan. 25 that it has entered into an agreement to purchase Great Northern Grain’s (GNG) grain handling and crop input retail facility in Nampa, Alberta. The sale is expected to close by Feb. 9, and current GNG employees at the Nampa facility will be offered the opportunity to join the Richardson team.
“We are excited to add the Nampa facility to our Richardson Pioneer network,” said Darwin Sobkow, Richardson’s vice president, Agribusiness Operations. “The Nampa facility will now give us a presence in both the eastern and western parts of the region, and we look forward to providing greater service to customers.”
The Nampa grain facility currently has 17,300 mt of storage capacity, a full cleaning line for wheat and canola, and a 52-car spot on the Canadian National rail line. The facility also has an 8,400-square-foot crop protection and seed warehouse for retailing crop input products. GNG recently completed the construction of 2,500 mt of new storage at the Nampa site, including a new cleaners building and new cleaning equipment.
Given current terminal capacity and the size of the existing rail siding, GNG says the Nampa terminal is able to load 50 car units – or 4,000 mt of grain – within a 24-hour period, and is capable of processing up to 200,000 mt on an annual basis.
This spring, Richardson will add an additional 14,000 mt of grain storage and increase the facility’s rail car spot to handle 104-car unit trains. The company will also add 1,200 mt of dry fertilizer storage and a 200-mt-per-hour blending system. These improvements, which will increase grain handling efficiencies and offer retail fertilizer services, are expected to be complete by fall.
The Nampa acquisition is Richardson’s fourth in the Peace River region in the last two years. In 2010, Richardson purchased crop input centers in Falher, Fairview, and Manning, and is also nearing completion of a 20,000 mt fertilizer storage shed with rail receiving at its Dunvegan facility in Rycroft, Alberta. With its 200-mt-per-hour blending capability and 300-mt-per-hour distribution rate, the new Dunvegan shed will be a distribution center for Richardson’s other Peace River sites.
“The Peace River area is a key production area in Western Canada,” Sobkow said. “Since 2007, Richardson has invested over $80 million in the Peace River region and we are committed to continuing to invest in this area to meet the growing needs of producers.”
Richardson is Canada’s largest privately owned agribusiness, and has served farmers across the country for 155 years. The company has more than 1,700 employees and is a worldwide handler and merchandiser of all major Canadian-grown grains and oilseeds. Named one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies, Richardson is recognized as a global leader in agriculture and food processing.
Established in 1986, Great Northern Grain Terminals Ltd. is an independently owned and operated grain company that offers grain handling, drying, cleaning, and merchandising services to producers in Alberta’s Peace River and Killam regions. In addition to the Nampa terminal, Great Northern also operates a 7,920 mt terminal in Killam, Alberta, as well as a producer and dealer car network throughout Western Canada.
