Whiskey plant to boost
grain demand
Jan Westcott, president of
Spirits Canada, said grain farmers in Essex County, Kent County, and
Lambton County are well positioned to benefit from increased corn, wheat, and
rye production and profits when Diageo opens its $245-million facility in St.
Clair Township sometime in 2025.
Diageo
announced plans for a 400 acre plant on Moore Line near Highway 40 about 15
months ago with the capacity to produce 10.5 million gallons annually for its
Crown Royal Canadian Whisky brand.
Westcott said with all of that whisky on the horizon, local grain
farmers will need to up their game to keep quenching the public’s thirst.
“We’re very proud of the fact that 100 per cent of the grain that
we use to make whisky and our other spirits is grown by Ontario farmers. We’re
lucky that we get the quality of grain that we need in the three counties,”
said Westcott.
Westcott said the spirits industry in Ontario buys anywhere from
225,000 and 250,000 metric tonnes of grain a year.
The Diageo plant is the first commercial distillery built in
Canada in more than 50 years.
Westcott said Crown has been distilled in Manitoba for the past
30-plus years after a plant in Waterloo burned down. That Manitoba demand will
be returning to Ontario.
“That
will drive up our grain purchases in Chatham-Kent and in Essex and hopefully
will inspire more farmers to put corn and wheat and rye in the ground for us,”
Westcott said.
“The Grain Farmers of Ontario tells us that
we’re already the fourth largest buyer of corn and I suspect that once the new
Diageo distillery gets up and running we’ll be the third largest. We’re never
going to be as big as the ethanol guys (Greenfield) or the feed lot guys.”
Westcott said he thinks the local grain farmers are up to the
challenge.
