MELFORT — G3’s network of high-efficiency grain handling facilities is expanding again this summer with the opening of two elevators.
G3 Rycroft, Alta. and Melfort, Sask. have received their first loads of grain and loaded their first trains.
G3 Rycroft and G3 Melfort can unload a Super-B truck in less than five minutes.
“Speed and efficiency — that’s what we’re hearing producers say they’re really looking forward to,” says G3 Rycroft General Manager Quinton Bulford.
The elevators have a 42,000-tonne capacity, but grain doesn’t stay in the silos and bins for long. The facility’s loop track can load a 150-car train in continuous motion in a matter of hours, keeping a steady flow of grain moving to G3’s export facility on the West Coast, G3 Terminal Vancouver.
“We have had lots of interest in the loop track loading system as it’ll be the first in Northeast Saskatchewan,” says G3 Melfort General Manager Greg Claypool.
“Having a rail loop is going to be huge,” says Melfort-area farmer Dean Hurd. “It’s more consistent money. I can contract grain and have a good idea it’s going to move in that delivery period,” he says.
Staff at the new facilities have been in place for months, making connections with the community including several donations and sponsorships.
A grand opening of the Melfort facility is planned for Aug. 10.
