By Tom Collins
JOHNSTOWN — Eastern Ontario’s largest grain storage facility operators were just as surprised with 2016 yields as area farmers. The Port of Johnstown moved five times its grain capacity.
The port set a record last year for total tonnage moved at 786,082 metric tonnes. The previous record was 731,000 metric tonnes in 2015.
That 2016 tonnage moved includes a record 393,428 tonnes of soybeans, 268,297 tonnes of corn, 112,953 tonnes of wheat and 11,402 tonnes of other (such as oats and barley).
“We expected (the tonnage) to be down,” said operations manager Kevin Saunders. “It was a little bit of a surprise to us but a very pleasant surprise. We thought the soybeans wouldn’t be quite that high based on the dry summer we had but apparently the beans weathered the heat better than anybody had anticipated.”
The port has a storage capacity of 150,000 metric tonnes. Saunders said the port didn’t have to stop or slow down the receiving process as vessels were on time.
Port of Johnstown, formerly known as Port of Prescott, is owned by the Township of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal (population 7,000).
