Brandon Tuinema, agriculture manager for Co-opérative Régionale de Nipissing Sudbury, told Northern Ontario Business that the investment is the biggest one-time spend on agriculture for the cooperative.

As part of the investment, the cooperative plans to build a 160-foot grain tower. The cooperative will double its receiving capacity by installing the 10,000-bushel-per-hour elevator leg. Additionally, the improvements are expected to increase storage capacity to 170,000 bushels with four wet bins at 60,000 bushels and one dry bin at 110,000 bushels.

“Our members had spoken,” Tuinema told Northern Ontario Business. “They wanted faster unloading capabilities and needed more storage for grain so they could capture more market gains in the winter, instead of selling it all at harvest when supply and demand work against you.”

In addition to Thornloe, Co-opérative Régionale de Nipissing Sudbury has agriculture sites in Verner, east of Sudbury, in the Algoma district at Echo Bay, east of Sault Ste. Marie.