Cargill announced on Aug. 30 a $3.5 million expansion of its canola research facility in Aberdeen, Sask.

Cargill said the facility improvements included a 14,000-square-foot expansion, expanded pathology lab, new quality assurance lab, ventilated seed prep room and high efficiency LED lighting throughout the facility, with UV repelling windows.

“The new facility will also allow Cargill to showcase the research and innovations within our specialty canola business,” said Mark Christiansen, managing director, Cargill Global Edible Oil Solutions. “Innovations such as a new low saturated high oleic canola oil are driven by our Victory yield platform, which is currently best-of-class for Roundup Ready hybrids, in addition to best-of-class Blackleg resistance.”

Saskatchewan continues to be an important province for Cargill to invest in, the company said. Cargill has 26% of its Canadian investment in the province, and over the past five years has continued to increase its footprint with more than $300 million in capital investments. Cargill employs more than 450 employees in the province of Saskatchewan, with six businesses across 20 locations.

This is the latest in a series of expansions and facility openings for Cargill. In May, Cargill officially opened an $8.5 million animal nutrition plant in Nam Cam Industrial Zone, Dong Nam Economic Zone, Nghe An, Vietnam. The new facility provides animal feed for livestock and has a total capacity of 66,000 tonnes per year. In April, the company announced it would streamline its animal nutrition business production capabilities in Spain by extending its facility in Mequinenza (Zaragoza) with a new production line. The extended facility is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2017.

In January, Cargill opened two new facilities. A wet corn milling plant in Davangere, Karnataka, India, that included a $100 million investment that was spread over 44.5 acres of land that has a capacity to mill 800 tonnes of corn daily. The company also established a new Technology Application Center (TAC) in Yakap?nar, Izmir, Turkey, to help dairy and poultry customers in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa leverage and apply the best possible feed technologies to grow their businesses.

In November 2015, Cargill opened its largest feed mill. The facility located in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, is a 2,610-square-meter facility that produces poultry, ruminant, swine and pet food products for animal producers marketed under the Purina & Nutrena brands, with a capacity of 870,000 tonnes.