Grain farmers in Eastern Ontario will soon have more access to drying facilities at one of the region’s ports on the St. Lawrence Seaway.
On August 18, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell Member of Parliament Francis Drouin, who is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced an investment of up to $2 million for the Port of Johnstown under the Adoption Stream of the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) Program.
The Port of Johnstown is located on the St. Lawrence Seaway near the Prescott-Ogdensburg International Bridge.
The funding will support the Port of Johnstown in purchasing and installing a new grain dryer with heat capture and air recycling features that will minimize fuel consumption by roughly 20 to 40 per cent, or more than an estimated 344 metric tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide), annually. This project will expand the ability for local producers to dry grain more efficiently, move grain to market sooner and reduce the risk of grain spoilage experienced in previous seasons due to limited drying capacity.
Across Ontario, the ACT Program has supported 113 projects to date, including 40 grain dryer projects, representing a total of $46.5 million.
