Some grain is stored in Nova Scotia due to PEI’s capacity issues
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Farmers in Prince Edward Island may soon have more room to store their grain locally, rather than having it shipped to another province.
The P.E.I. Grain Elevators Corporation operates elevators in Kensington, Roseneath and Elmsdale. Collectively, the elevators can hold about 32,000 metric tonnes (mt) of grain, but the Crown corporation wants more storage capacity at its Kensington elevator. Currently, this elevator holds about 13,000 mt of grain.
A proposed renovation would double the storage space to roughly 26,000 mt.
The corporation pays hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to ship grain to elevators in Nova Scotia. Investing into a local elevator expansion is a better way to spend those dollars, according to Neil Campbell, general manager of the P.E.I. Grain Elevators Corporation.
“Money can be better spent by putting that storage on Prince Edward Island and keeping that money here,” he told CBC yesterday.
Though the province is known for its potato production, growers have increased their soybean acreage.
Between 2006 and 2016, seeded soybean acreage jumped from 11,362 acres to 52,858 acres. Producers planted nearly 65,000 acres of the crop in 2014, the province’s agriculture ministry said.
The potential of an expanded elevator is great news for the industry, said Robert Godfrey, executive director of the Prince Edward Island Federation of Agriculture.
“It’s positive news that the corporation and the government see the opportunity to invest in grain farmers here,” he told Farms.com today. “We’ve seen a steady rise in grain and oilseed acres, and we’ve seen the local elevators bring in vessels capable of carrying large amounts of grain. This initiative shows that this kind of growth can continue in P.E.I.”
Farms.com has reached out to the P.E.I. Grain Elevators Corporation for more information on the proposed expansion.
The corporation is hosting a public meeting Wednesday as part of its environmental assessment for the project.
Elevator in Kensintgon, P.E.I/Steve Boyko photo