YORKTON - There is no doubt the future of farming in Saskatchewan will be closely tied to the future of canola – now clearly the province’s number one crop in many ways.
And that Yorkton will play a very important role in that future.
As a long-time journalist in the city – some 35 years on the beat as they say – I would suggest outside the two flood disasters which impacted so many here so directly, the day the announcement of two canola crushing facilities coming to the city was the biggest local news story of all those years.
Chatter in the newspaper office at the time was that either Richardson or Louis Dreyfus – the two making their plant announcements mere hours apart – would flinch, deciding to move their planned plant somewhere else.
But, as it happened more than a few times through the years, the speculation of the office behind the keyboards writing stories was wrong.
The tangible assets of Yorkton -- a web of highways in every direction, both rail lines passing through, water, and a city with the people assets to serve a significant workforce, when combined with the ability of regional farmers to grow canola – won out and both plants were constructed.
That dual construction re-established the significant economic impact of agriculture to the city.
As implement manufacturing at Morris Industries and Leon-Ram began to downsize and ultimately close, processing plants like the two for canola took over.
In the case of canola it has been an overwhelming success tied to a commodity which has continued to carve out ever larger markets – resulting in continued processing expansion.
That has been huge for both Saskatchewan, and in particular Yorkton.
Richardson International has more than doubled the capacity of its plant in Yorkton. It is now the largest construction project the company has ever undertaken, and the recent operational expansion makes the plant the world’s largest canola crusher, with an annual capacity of 2.5 million tonnes of seed.
Not to be over-shadowed locally Louis Dreyfus Company announced in April 2023 it was expanding its canola processing facility in Yorkton. The project will double the company’s annual crush capacity to over two million tonnes upon completion.
Coupled with a more recently announced pea processing facility in the city, Yorkton has become the largest single site investment location for LDC – a company with interests worldwide.
The plants very much ensure the local economy and farm-gate production will remain connected for years to come – perhaps not surprising as Yorkton began as a hub to farmers arriving from Europe.
Certainly as goes canola, so will go Yorkton, the province and Saskatchewan farmers – at least for the foreseeable future.
