Paterson Grain wowed the farming community with its new terminal in Bowden on Wednesday.
Customers, officials, staff and the public were invited to the grand opening of Foothills terminal located off of Hwy 587, about 1.5 km west of Hwy 2.
Construction of the $25-million facility started in May 2017, and it’s Paterson Grain’s fourth inland export terminal in Alberta.
“Buzz from the farming community today was just how massive it was and how excited they are about having such a great facility locally,” said Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood who attended the opening.
“This is the only inland terminal that we have. There are not that many of them across the prairies so we’re fortunate.”
Wood said in addition to the service it will provide farmers, grain terminals are also an economic driver for a community.
The high efficiency facility includes a 150-car loop track capable of loading a full unit train in eight hours. It can also store about 2.2 million bushels of grain, ship 75,000 bushels per hour, clean 8,800 bushels per hour, and receive 32 Super B trucks per hour.
With two independent receiving lanes, the terminal will be able to receive different commodities from each driveway without interrupting shipping operations. A fully automated truck loop design will allow for fast turn-around for delivering trucks.
Grain from the Bowden facility will be exported through Paterson’s Alliance Grain Terminal in the Port of Vancouver, B.C. to destinations worldwide.
Shane Paterson, director of trading and transportation with the Winnipeg-based Paterson Grain, said the Bowden terminal will be fully operational in the fall.
“It’s capable of receiving grain today. There’s just some work on the railroad track, and the road coming into the facility, yet to be done,” Paterson said.
He said Central Alberta is a great production area with very capable farmers, and highway infrastructure is second to none in the area.
“Where highways meet rail meet agricultural production is the perfect recipe for a grain elevator.”
There will be jobs for 12 to 18 people at the terminal, depending on how busy it gets. Paterson will also hire locally as much as possible, he said.
Wood said speaking with farmers on Wednesday, they are pleasantly surprised with their yields despite drier than normal growing season.
He anticipates normal to above normal yields.
“I think it depends on the kind of grain. Wheat will withstand more of a drought than barley. What was really hurt this year was the hay crops and pastures. They require more of a steady rain.”
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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