FedNor awarded Brielmann Agriculture Ltd. a $500,000 repayable investment to expand a grain elevator in Rainy River, Ontario, increasing storage and handling capacity to help local farmers access new markets across Canada and internationally.
- FedNor provided $500,000 in repayable funding through the Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program
- The expansion increases grain storage and handling capacity in the Rainy River region
- Project enables local farmers to access new markets in Canada and abroad
- Part of $3.82 million in total funding for eight agri-food projects across Northern Ontario
- Two additional grain handling projects also funded: Bauman Agri Services ($500,000) and HCF North ($370,350)
Brielmann Agriculture Ltd. is receiving a $500,000 repayable investment from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor) to expand a grain elevator in northwestern Ontario's Rainy River region.
FedNor announced the funding Thursday in Thunder Bay, Ontario, as part of $3.82 million in Canadian dollars for eight agri-food projects across Northern Ontario. Patty Hajdu, minister of jobs and families and minister responsible for FedNor, made the announcement. The Brielmann money comes through FedNor's Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program.
According to the agency's project list, the expansion will increase grain storage and handling capacity in the Rainy River region, allowing local farmers to increase access to existing markets and enter new markets in Canada and abroad. FedNor did not say how much capacity the project adds.
Storage and handling capacity at a country elevator sets how much grain farmers can deliver at harvest and how long the elevator can hold it before shipping. More of both gives the elevator, and its farmer customers, more room to choose when and where grain is sold.
Brielmann was one of three grain handling projects in the package. Bauman Agri Services received a $500,000 repayable investment to build a grain elevator with a weigh scale, grain dryer, warehouse and storage bins to serve farmers in the Algoma region. FedNor said the project fills a gap in the region's agricultural infrastructure and gives Algoma farmers greater access to provincial and international grain markets.
HCF North is receiving a $370,350 repayable investment to expand its grain conditioning and storage infrastructure. FedNor said the added capacity will help farmers in the Claybelt region reduce transportation costs and increase crop production.
"When local producers have the support, they need to grow, the whole community benefits," Hajdu said.
The rest of the package includes $500,000 for Double Ridge Farms to build a dairy barn with two robotic milking systems, $520,804 for Hubbert's Maple Inc. to expand syrup production and $833,726 for the Northern Ontario Agri-Food Pavilion at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, which runs Nov. 6-15 in Toronto.
The grain investments follow $198,419 FedNor announced in May for two Rainy River Grain Co. projects in Pinewood, Ontario, including $48,419 for a full-length scale meant to cut weighing time and truck idling at harvest.
FedNor did not give a timeline for completing the Brielmann expansion.
