Aerial view of a loop track featuring a train of CPKC’s newer “high-efficiency” grain hopper cars, at a G3 elevator near Moose Jaw, Sask. in December 2018. (CPR.ca)

Richardson elevators expanding to feed ‘high-efficiency’ trains

Eight sites along CPKC lines to get expanded rail car spots

Grain handler Richardson International plans to expand rail car spots at eight Prairie elevators on Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) lines as the railway gears up for longer trains with new higher-volume hopper cars. Winnipeg-based Richardson on Monday announced expanded rail car spots for its elevators at Lacombe, Carseland, Provost and Olds, Alta.; Estevan, Whitewood […] Read more


(Richardson International video screengrab via YouTube)

Richardson crush plant workers to vote on new offer

UFCW team endorses latest offer

Unionized workers at Richardson International’s oilseed crush plant at Lethbridge, Alta. will vote Tuesday and Wednesday on a new offer from the company after rejecting a previous proposal. United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401 announced Tuesday (Jan. 25) its negotiating committee “fully endorses” the new offer after the company’s Richardson Oilseed division “enhanced […] Read more

Data source: Canadian Grain Commission (data assembled by Glenn Cheater)

The Big Surge: Elevator capacity soaring across the Prairies

The growth in the last four years has been phenomenal

Reading Time: 5 minutes The business of building grain elevators is — pardon the pun — on a runaway train. The growth has been, by any measure, phenomenal. In just the last four years, elevator companies have added 1.2 million tonnes of storage — a 16 per cent jump. And that expansion train isn’t slowing down. Late last month, […] Read more


Richardson decision on oats decried

Richardson decision on oats decried

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Prairie Oat Growers Association is upset that Richardson Pioneer plans to only source milling oats that were not treated with a pre-harvest desiccant. The farm group said that “while we understand this is a business decision, POGA is extremely disappointed that customer demand is being driven by information that is not science based.” Glyphosate […] Read more

File photo of a Richardson Pioneer concrete elevator. (Dave Bedard photo)

Richardson to replace northernmost grain elevator

Grain handler Richardson Pioneer plans to replace the northernmost grain elevator in its Prairie network by next fall. The arm of Winnipeg’s Richardson International said Monday it has started construction on a new elevator at High Level in northwestern Alberta, about 200 km south of the province’s border with the Northwest Territories. The new facility, […] Read more


Richardson International, which spent $140 million to expand its port terminal in North Vancouver in 2016, had its registration to ship canola to China cancelled on March 1 — a move that sent shock waves through the entire canola sector.

Growers fear a China crisis over canola

Farmers are worried but quiet diplomacy is the best option, says Alberta Canola official

Reading Time: 3 minutes Wait and hope. And test. That’s about all Alberta canola growers can do as what appears to be political gamesmanship by China plays out. News that Canada’s biggest buyer of the oilseed had cancelled Richardson International’s registration to ship canola prompted worried producers to call the Alberta Canola Producers Commission. “At first it was kind of […] Read more

A rapeseed field in southern China’s Yunnan province. (YuenWu/iStock/Getty Images)

Richardson disputes China claim of ‘hazardous pests’ in canola

Beijing/Chicago | Reuters — Canadian agribusiness Richardson International said on Wednesday that canola it shipped to China met regulatory requirements after a Chinese official charged that “hazardous pests” were found in samples taken recently from Canadian canola imports. Beijing this month cancelled Richardson’s registration to ship Canadian canola to China, the world’s top importer of […] Read more


(Richardson Pioneer via YouTube)

China blocks some Richardson canola shipments

Beijing/Kabul | Reuters — China has canceled Canadian agribusiness Richardson International’s registration to ship canola to China, the company said on Tuesday, the latest sign of tensions between Ottawa and Beijing. It was not immediately clear why exports to China by Richardson, the world’s top importer of canola, had been halted. Canada and China are […] Read more

Richardson International buys Eagle Agro Services

Reading Time: < 1 minute Richardson International has acquired Eagle Agro Services, a full-service, retail crop inputs outlet in Veteran in east-central Alberta. The family-owned business was established in 2002. “We are excited to expand our business into a new geography as Veteran is a new marketplace for us,” said Tom Hamilton, Richardson’s vice-president of agribusiness operations. The company will […] Read more