New facility cleans fusarium-damaged wheat to export standards

August 13, 2002

Morris, MB - Cargill AgHorizons, along with the Town of Morris, is pleased to announce the construction of a new grain elevator facility.

The 12,000 metric tonne concrete elevator will have the capacity to load 50 rail cars at a time and will include a specialized processing system capable of cleaning fusarium-damaged wheat to export standards. Fusarium is a disease that commonly affects wheat crops in the region.

"On behalf of the people of Morris, we would like to thank Cargill AgHorizons for their continued support. By building this new facility, we are reinforcing Morris as a hub for grain shipping in the Red River Valley," said Mayor Dale Hoffman.

"Without the strong support of the town, we would not be making this announcement today," said Rob Rannie, Facility Manager, Cargill AgHorizons in Morris.

He adds it was a combination of local support and listening to farmers that led to the decision to build. "We have been working closely with customers in the Red River Valley area over the past few years to improve the profitability of their business. This new facility is the next step in assisting our farm customers access high value markets for their grain." This specialized cleaning system will allow Cargill customers to participate in high value markets including the milling oat and milling wheat markets.

This facility has been designed with the producer in mind. "With a 30,000 bushel per hour shipping and receiving capability, this new elevator allows us to provide our farmer customers in the immediate and surrounding area with more room to store their grain and a more efficient way to ship it through the system," said Rannie, adding three new full-time positions will be created once the grain elevator opens in August 2003.

The facility is being designed and built by FWS Construction Ltd., known for their design and construction of inland grain terminals across western Canada and the northern United States. Construction is set to begin in the next few weeks. The project will take about one year to complete, with an average construction work force of approximately 20 people, rising to about 60 people during peak phases.

Cargill AgHorizons operates grain handling and crop inputs facilities across the Prairies and works in partnership with producers to develop grain-marketing solutions.

Rob Rannie
Facility Manager
Telephone: (204) 746-6771

Dale Hoffman
Mayor, Town of Morris
Telephone: (204) 746-2531