AGT Announces Plans for New Oat Milling Facility

Saskatchewan-based pulse processor and supplier AGT Food and Ingredients has announced plans to build a new oat mill in in the province.

Unveiled on Thursday, the project will see the addition of state-of-the-art food technologies to augment the production capacity at an already existing AGT facility in Aberdeen. The plant will produce of a variety of products, including oat groats, flours and other milled oat products, for plant-based human food, specialty ingredient and animal feed products.

“We are very excited about this new venture for AGT,” company president and CEO Murad Al-Katib said in a release. “Oats are very complementary to pulses in their amino acid profile, which increases their digestibility and gives them highly desirable characteristics for extruded products like snacks and pasta, bakery applications and the beverage industry.”

Construction will commence on the expansion of the Aberdeen facility immediately, with the oat milling portion expected to be fully operational for production and distribution of products by the end of 2022. There was no estimate on the value of the project.

Oats are a major cereal crop for Saskatchewan with significant production levels, and AGT is already exporting thousands of tonnes of oats each year.

“Combined with our expertise in value-added milling and the production of high-quality plant-based ingredient products, we have a real advantage in creating value for our producers in this new product area,” Al-Katib added.

Aberdeen is located 40 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan’s most productive oat growing region, where approximately 30% of Canada’s oats are produced. The location has road and rail service that features access to CN Rail and AGT’s private fleet of railcars for delivery to customers throughout the Americas.