More challenges for farmers as Unity Grain elevator halts production

Farmers near Unity might have to take their grain elsewhere this harvest season.

On Wednesday, the North West Terminal Ltd. (NWT) announced it will be putting a pause on the company’s grain elevator located near Unity.

NWT has suspended all purchases of grain from producers and letting its Primary Elevator License expire.

This comes after three years of financial troubles for the grain division of the elevator — it also runs a distillery.

Jason Skinner, CEO of NWT, said this will impact farmers in the area.

“I think it’s going to make things a bit more challenging for farmers,” he said. “We buy a lot of grain in the area. So we’re an outlet for those farmers.”

He said there’s a lot of competition in the area, so farmers won’t be left completely stranded. But he said the decision to idle operations was not preferable.

“We’ve got to keep our costs down until the industry is more profitable,” Skinner said.

There’s been a lot of support from community members after the announcement, but Skinner said there are concerns as well.

“We’ve been here for a long time and we’ve been buying their grain and they’re concerned that maybe that won’t be the case in the future,” he said.

There’s no plan to meet with farmers in the area but NWT has been in contact with customers and shareholders.

NWT, with the help of FTI Capital Advisors Canada, an accounting, tax and business consulting firm, began a review process last summer to evaluate potential alternative plans.

“We’re doing a strategic process where we’re looking to find a joint venture partner on the grain elevator, or maybe even sell the grain elevator to someone that’s interest in operating it and going forward on that basis,” Skinner said.

The business has been recording losses for the last three years.

“We’ve known we’ve have a problem,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is come up with a solution to that problem.”

In the meantime, the elevator will continue to operate as a distillery.