A Minnesota maltster plans to spend $6 million tripling the on-site malting barley storage at its processing plant in central Alberta.
Rahr Malting announced the move Tuesday at its plant at Alix, about 50 km east of Red Deer, with an appearance by federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, bearing his plans to deregulate Prairie barley marketing.
Rahr operates malthouses at Alix and at its Minneapolis-area hometown of Shakopee, plus an elevator about 60 km north of Fargo, N.D. The company said in a federal government release that its expansion at Alix will boost its storage there to 1.2 million bushels from 400,000.
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The added storage will allow Rahr to buy and store more malting barley, improving efficiency and quality control, the government said, and will translate to reduced risk of crop spoilage and improved cash flow for barley growers.
The Alix malthouse, built in 1993, has a malt processing capacity of about 140,000 tonnes per year.
The government on Tuesday described Rahr’s plans as the company’s "first step towards a future without the monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board."
"As demonstrated by Rahr Malting’s expansion plans, marketing freedom will unlock new value-added investment, creating jobs and more economic growth in Western Canada," Ritz said in the federal release.
Ritz’s Bill C-18 is expected to end the CWB’s single marketing desk next summer, allowing farmers to "choose to sell their wheat and barley directly to a processor, a new pasta manufacturer, a flour mill or a malting facility."
