Highway 3 food corridor grows wider by the day

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Highway 3 is currently under construction between Taber and Burdett to turn it into a rural version of a superhighway. Two lanes will become a divided four-lane highway extending east to west, and the route will be completed in phases during the coming years. It has already been dubbed a major ‘food corridor’ because of its significance to the agriculture industry.

 Taber, Coaldale and Lethbridge are members of Canada’s Premier Food Corridor (CPFC), “a consortium of economic development professionals working to advance the agri-food sector in southern Alberta, through investment attraction and advocacy for the agri-food industry,” according to the Town of Taber.

 The region is recognized for its agri-power and is a hub for food processing. Numerous global food companies are already located in the CPFC region. The Hwy 3 expansion will add accessibility to the pre-existing logistics and supply chains, and should attract even more investors and innovators to southern Alberta.

 Bill Chapman, a Coaldale councillor and member of the Highway 3 Twinning Development Association, said last year that the return on investment ratio is expected to be three to one.

 At the groundbreaking ceremony when the work began, Grant Hunter, MLA for Taber-Warner, called the expansion a great “value proposition. We all recognized that if we build it, they will come.”

In the last two years, McCain implemented their largest global expansion in the world – a $600 million initiative. In addition, NewCold added a new $220 million food logistics centre in Coaldale.

 Food processors along the corridor include Cavendish Farms, McCain, PepsiCo, Lantic Inc, Lamb Weston, Rowland Farms, Gouw Quality Onions, Richardson Oilseed, Sunrise Poultry, Maple Leaf Products, Whole Leaf Foods, Epic (egg processing), Broxburn Vegetables, and Agropur Cheese.

 Supply chain and infrastructure centres include Viterra, Columbia Seeds, H&R Transport, Cargill, Bayer Crop Science, Masterfeeds, Lethbridge BioLabs, and Federated Coop Ltd.

 The research partners in education include University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge College, Lethbridge Research Development Center, Animal Diseases Research Institute, Farmers Edge and Farming Smarter.

 Returning to MLA Hunter’s “if you build it, they will come” analogy from Field of Dreams…well, it’s already here – the raw materials of water, soil, seed, and wide open land. The province and the region are betting on the Hwy 3 expansion to open up new economic possibilities in this land of plenty.