The owner of Artel Farms presented a conceptual design for a loop track and grain handling facility in Niverville at the Grain World Convention in Winnipeg last week.

Grant Dyck says the site that he has singled out for this potential project is just north of their farmyard within town limits and is one of the last potential loop track sites along the CP Rail line that is flood-proofed.

"So we have had some interest of potential line companies and there is a bit of discussion now that we have hit three million acres of soybeans between Manitoba and Saskatchewan that eventually that could facilitate a Soybean crush plant which would be a major investment into the province. We have a site that is ideal for either trans-loading or a line company or a crush plant."

Dyck says the presentation of some possible plans was an effort to get the discussion going and show the project’s viability. He notes the Town of Niverville has been very progressive about increasing commercial business and this would certainly do that. He says if a crush plant is eventually built, it would be the only one in Manitoba and would most likely be a $250M project.

Dyck says a loop track connected to the CP Rail in Niverville would be very beneficial to farmers on the east side of the Red River.

"The Southeast doesn’t have any grain handling facilities left, I own the last of the old Agricore elevators in Niverville and I use that for personal use our farm. When you look at the access to grain handling, it is all west of the river, except for feed mills. The amount of grain that gets produced in the southeast that has to get around the city or across the river, this would be a really good fit."

With very few facilities on the CP Line that runs through Niverville, Dyck says the line is a perfect fit for a loop track in Niverville and the accompanying trans-loading or crush plant facilities.

"One thing that is unique is that the CP Line is actually quite underutilized right now. If you compare it to the CN Line on the west side of the river, the CN Line has fairly high capacity requirement with all of the line companies that have already established themselves there so to increase competition in the grain handling sector, an underutilized track would be ideal to offset some of the pressure on the west side of the river."

He notes two interested parties have already reached out them and CP Rail has also shown interest.