MELFORT — G3 is celebrating the grand opening of its newest high efficiency grain elevator in Saskatchewan, located near Melfort.
Community members and VIP guests gathered Thursday, Aug. 10 for tours, lunch, speeches, and a ribbon cutting at the brand-new facility in the Rural Municipality of Flett’s Springs.
G3 Melfort is part of the network of high-efficiency G3 grain handling facilities that is moving grain to market with greater speed and efficiency than ever before and giving farmers more options for marketing and delivering their grain.
Peter Chura, G3 Media Relations, said the elevator has a staff of around a dozen.
Chura said several local suppliers were involved in the construction of the facility which resulted in an economic benefit to the community. Going forward, the addition of a new high-throughput elevator will give agricultural producers in the area more options to market and deliver their grain in a way that they find most advantageous. G3 is already making its presence felt in the community through sponsorship of local facilities and events, including the Melfort curling rink.
"Farmers in other communities where we have facilities have cited fast and efficient service, friendly and helpful staff, and clean, modern facilities as reasons for doing business with G3," said the company. "G3 Melfort is part of our network of Western Canada loop track facilities that is moving grain to market faster than ever, which creates more marketing and delivery opportunities for farmers and saves them time and money."
The elevator near Melfort has a capacity of 42,000 MT and can unload a Super-B truck in less than five minutes, giving farmers the opportunity to deliver more loads in a day or save time for other tasks. On the rail side, the loop track allows a full unit train of 150 hopper cars plus locomotives to remain intact, under power, and load in continuous motion, which keeps grain moving from Prairie to port.
Most of the grain from facilities like G3 Melfort is hauled to G3 Terminal Vancouver, a state-of-the-art grain export terminal on the West Coast which opened in 2020 and has set new standards for rapidly receiving grain from trains and quickly loading it onto vessels for export to more than 40 countries around the world. This system is speeding up Canada’s grain supply chain which ultimately benefits Canadian farmers who grow most of their crops for export markets.
“We’re excited to show farmers in the Melfort area how we can save them time and money with our state-of-the-art systems and commitment to customer service,” says G3 Vice President of Operations Don MacDonald.
FWS Group began construction of G3 Melfort in late 2021 and the project has proceeded safely and as planned. The facility has already received its first loads of grain from area producers and loaded its first train.
G3 Melfort is located on the CN Rail network.
