Expansion Will Create More Than 700,000 Bushels of Grain Storage for Thamesville Area Producers

THAMESVILLE, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 12, 2013) - Investment in grain marketing and positioning for future expansion by AGRIS Co-operative in Thamesville, with the construction of four new steel grain bins was formally announced today by AGRIS Co-operative Ltd. board president, Jim Maw.

The more than $2.15 million investment by AGRIS Co-operative will significantly improve storage capacity and traffic flow by removing some existing storage and adding additional storage. The new layout improves flow and allows future storage expansion and intake capacity as market conditions dictates.

"This investment by AGRIS Co-operative will upgrade our Thamesville elevator storage capacity and help strengthen our farmer-owners' ability to take better advantage of marketing opportunities through our grain company, Great Lakes Grain," says AGRIS Co-operative board president, Jim Maw.

This represents a significant investment in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent by locally owned AGRIS Co-operative and Lambton Conveyor Ltd. from Wallaceburg. Lambton Conveyor will not only manage construction of the project, but also is the manufacturer of all equipment being installed. Completion is expected in September 2014 and in time for fall harvest.

When completed there will be more than 700,000 bushels of grain storage for the co-operatives member-owners and customers in the Thamesville area. "These improvements will allow us to utilize the Thamesville elevator to its capacity, giving us added volume for wet grain," says Don Kabbes, market development manager for Great Lakes Grain. "This will enable us to receive greater volumes throughout the harvest period, allowing our member-owners to move the crop more efficiently," Kabbes added.

AGRIS Co-operative Ltd. is a one-hundred per cent farmer-owned grain marketing and farm-input supply company that serves 1,200 farmer owners in 14 locations in Essex, Kent, Elgin, Middlesex and Lambton Counties. It is a leader in providing producers with "The Whole Farm Plan" - seed genetics, plant nutrition, crop protection, energy products and services, crop protection, crop marketing and input financing. The co-operative is a partner of Great Lakes Grain, a grain merchandising company. AGRIS Co-operative is a member-owner of GROWMARK, Inc. and markets products and services under the FS banner.

Great Lakes Grain is a grain marketing partnership between GROWMARK, Inc. and AGRIS Co-operative Ltd. Great Lakes Grain is one of the largest operators of Ontario country elevators. It represents close to 440,000 MT (17 million bushels) of storage capacity with total marketing of more than of 46 million bushels. We serve farmers at more than 24 AGRIS Co-operative and FS PARTNERS branded locations from Windsor through to Toronto and north to Georgian Bay.