SHELBY, MONTANA, US — Montana Governor Greg Gianforte recently visited the Ardent Mills rail-truck transfer station at the Port of Northern Montana in Shelby, where the port authority recently completed a major upgrade to expand rail access for the state's agricultural producers.

The Port of Northern Montana is the northernmost inland port authority, serving the United States, Canada and Mexico. Ardent Mills’ rail-truck transfer station at the port is one of over 40 locations the company operates across North America that specialize in the milling, storing, or loading of flour, oats and pulses.

“We are the largest flour miller in North America, using the wheat that is grown right here in Montana and across America,” said Kyle Robson, senior director at Ardent Mills. “We produce a thousand truckloads of flour every single day, and this facility right here in Shelby gives a local grower easy access to the market.”

In Shelby, the Ardent Mills facility annually purchases about 9 million pounds of oats, wheat and pulses from Montana producers and transloads the product to mills across the United States and Canada. Denver, Colorado, US-based Ardent Mills is owned by Conagra Brands and Cargill, which each have a 44% stake in the company, and CHS, Inc., which holds 12%,

“One of our greatest sources of pride in Montana is our world-class products that we grow here – whether it’s Montana beef or barley, our farmers and ranchers produce the best,” said Gianforte, whose visit was part of his annual 56-county tour of the state. “We’ll continue to support increasing our producers’ access to global markets as they work tirelessly to feed the world.”

During the visit, the group dedicated the Port of Northern Montana operating and storage track project. The $3.6 million investment will expand the port’s gateway to the BNSF Railway mainline and increase the facility’s ability to purchase and transload more products.