Producers around Strathclair will be losing one of their elevators at the end of the month.
Canadian-owned grain buyer Parrish & Heimbecker Limited has said it’s closing its Glossop location, set between Strathclair and Newdale on the Yellowhead Highway, as of Jan. 31. P&H’s crop input operations on the site, however, will continue unchanged, the company said.
“Our crop inputs business, which includes seed, fertilizer, and crop protection product sales and support, will continue to operate out of our Glossop site,” a company spokesperson told the Co-operator by email. “There are no immediate plans for the buildings on-site.”
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Why it matters: Other options exist, but producers needing to make room quickly at harvest might feel the pinch.
In an email to producers, P&H pointed growers to the company’s other elevators in western Manitoba. Those include Virden and Gladstone, both about 100 kilometres away, and Gilbert Plains, just under 165 kilometres away, through Riding Mountain National Park.
Those locations will “handle all grain contracts and deliveries, providing you with uninterrupted service and support,” the email said.
The elevator is not the only grain marketing option in the area, but its closure does remove P&H from the immediate local competition. There are two other elevators within a half-hour drive on the same highway: one in Shoal Lake, a little over 20 kilometres to the northwest, and one in Minnedosa, 35 kilomtres to the southeast. Both are owned by Richardson Pioneer.
Further out, but still within an hour’s radius of Glossop, producers could opt for the elevator at Kemnay west of Brandon, also owned by Richardson Pioneer. Others include Forrest, located north of Brandon, Souris or Binscarth, all owned by Viterra, or Cargill’s location in Oakner, south of Hamiota.
Andrew Dalgarno, who farms near Newdale, noted the previous loss of his community’s elevator. Newdale had been a location for Delmar Commodities, which was acquired by Ceres Global in 2019. Today, the nearest elevator operated by that company is in Gladstone.
“There are still some options,” Dalgarno said.
The biggest impact from the Glossop closure, he said, would be for producers needing quick grain movement at harvest.
“The biggest thing for guys right around here is off the field at harvest time,” he said. “There’s one less option for guys that are tight on space. Glossop has a grain dryer, so for guys that want to sell a certain amount just in case they have tough grain, and then they’ve got a place to move it to, things like that.”
The timing, with producers told of the closure only weeks before the shutdown, may also be raising concern among those with open contracts, Dalgarno said.
In the same emailed message to growers, P&H said those with outstanding contracts would be hearing from the company “to discuss the transition and address any concerns you may have.”
As for crop inputs, Dalgarno suggested that the company might need to be especially aggressive on pricing.
“I’ve heard a lot of guys say, ‘if they’re not going to buy my grain, why would I go there for my crop inputs?’”
The steel elevator on site was constructed in 1994 and was Pioneer’s first high-throughput facility, according to the company history on the James Richardson and Sons Limited website.
P&H acquired the site from James Richardson International in 2007.
