Lethbridge Hay Plant

The Lethbridge Hay Plant is located 4.5 kilometers south of Lethbridge, Alberta. While Alberta may be known for it's oil and gas resources, the area around Lethbridge is home to some of the finest Timothy Hay in the world.

This Wilbur-Ellis facility specializes in the compression of Canadian timothy hay. The double compressed product came online in 1991, as customers looked for longer fibers in their forage material. Wilbur-Ellis wished to meet the changing requirements and so developed the El Centro and Lethbridge facilities, along with a quality control process that ensures a superior forage product makes it all the way to our far eastern customer's barn.

We purchase hay directly from area farmers and export compressed timothy and alfalfa to the USA and Asia, primarily Japan, Korea and Taiwan. By using compression we minimize freight costs and are able to supply high quality forage at a competitive price to customers around the world.

Since Lethbridge's inception, we've been an active and growing presence in the compressed forage business. We're proud to be a founding member of the Canadian Hay Association.

As you will find in any number of Wilbur-Ellis operations, many of the same key people have remained involved with the company since the construction of our plant. This depth of experience and commitment to the industry probably explains why our customers and suppliers stick around, too.

Canadian Quality

Stack Specific Inventory methods are followed in Lethbridge, ensuring customers receive the exact forage product they chose standing in the field or received a sample of. Customer tours are always welcomed.

Our end users know that Wilbur-Ellis takes pride in the quality of the product. This focus begins with the fieldmen who assist the producers in achieving the highest grade possible, and is continued by the whole forage team through the process of storage, compression and packaging.

No matter which Wilbur-Ellis facility you deal with, either as a customer or as a supplier, you benefit from our worldwide market intelligence, economic stability and fair practices. With 14 offices representing Wilbur-Ellis throughout the Pacific Rim, we've been trading with the far eastern market since 1921.

Lethbridge Facility description

Our compress is located in a 20,000 square foot steel building on 11.5 acres in the county of Lethbridge. In addition to housing the compressor, approx. 10,000 square feet is used to stage hay to supply the "Hunterwood" press. In addition to the compress building, we have 2 storage barns that allow us to store approx. 4,000 MT on site, which supports our estimated annual production of 35,000 MT.

COMPRESSING CAPACITY & PROCESS

The Lethbridge facility is equipped with one Canadian-built Hunterwood compressor. This compressor is built to handle two twine bales with dimensions of:

a. 16" by 18" by 40"
b. 14" by 18" by 40"

This provides a finished bale dimension of 15 1/2" by 15 1/2" by 18" with a weight of approximately 31 kilograms per bale. A standard 40' container will hold 750 compressed bales, 30 rows long by 25 bales per row. Maximum weight for the container loads will be based on the highway regulations the container is expected to travel on.

Notes for Hay Delivery Drivers

Bill of lading must include:

• Contract # and number of bales
• Farmer's name
• Farmer loaded or driver loaded
• Indicate if tarped (custom tarping can be arranged)
• Hand stacked. (To receive payment for hand stacking, stacking must be done machine style)
• Double check stack identification.

Contact

Lethbridge Hay Division
Wilbur-Ellis Co. of Canada Ltd.
R.R. 8-2-9
Lethbridge, Alberta
Canada T1J 4P4
Telephone: (403) 328-3311
Fax: (403) 328-3365

Contacts

Darren Guidinger - email - Sales Manager
Cell: (403) 308-0751

James Nikkel - - Fieldman
Cell: (403) 715-9094

LETHBRIDGE

Contact us today for more information on buying or selling timothy or alfalfa!