(Submitted photo/Government of Saskatchewan)

By Ben Tompkins

Special Visit

Premier Moe checks on construction progress of new Tisdale dry milling plant

Aug 20, 2022 | 8:00 AM

The Town and RM of Tisdale recently had a special visitor come up to witness the construction being done on the new C-Merak Dry Milling Plant.

Premier Scott Moe was around, along with local representatives, to discuss the progress and impacts of the new facilities.

Tisdale Mayor Al Jellicoe told northeastNOW the plant is already providing local job opportunities, despite it not yet being open.

“There’s gonna be lots of jobs, you know, this first step/step one is probably 20 jobs. If that all goes ahead, they’ll build a second plant that will be even bigger. Hopefully, everything goes well.”

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C-Merak’s dry milling process will be used to create protein concentrates, flours and other food ingredients from locally sourced faba beans and oats.

The plant is planned to open this fall, with production set to begin on Oct. 1, along with a grand opening on Oct. 4.

“Our family has been farming around Tisdale for four generations. We know the quality of crops that are grown by farms in the area. We want to start processing those crops into higher value ingredients right next to where they are harvested,” said Brett Casavant, CEO of C-Merak, in a press release.

“This investment demonstrates our confidence in the region. Our team is excited to develop new market opportunities for local producers and to showcase ingredients made in northeast Saskatchewan. We thank the Town and Rural Municipality (RM) for their ongoing support and look forward to working together to attract more agriculture projects into the area.”

The plant is located 3 km outside of Tisdale in the RM Agriculture Industrial Park.

Not only does the town see the potential that accompanies C-Merak’s investment, but the RM does as well.

“This project will have long-lasting and positive local economic impacts starting with new jobs to support the facility’s construction and permanent employment once the plant is running,” added Brendan Samida, chair of the Invest Tisdale Economic Board.

The Invest Tisdale Board, a joint collaboration between the town and RM, is working to grow the agriculture business in the area.

This includes land use planning for new projects and expanding local providers of goods and services to supply agriculture operations in northeast Saskatchewan.

Jellicoe explained that local goods were yet another benefit to the creation of this plant.

“All the product will be produced locally, within 30 or 40 miles of Tisdale, so that’ll all come to town. Step one is to get this small plant operating and hopefully, there’s a good harvest. They’re gonna start with fractionating oats, so it’s all coming together.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8