WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Canada -- Marketwire reports that Richardson International Limited has completed the acquisition of Total Ag Ltd.'s crop input facility at Falher in Alberta. Richardson is a world-wide handler and merchandiser of all major Canadian-grown grains and oilseeds. The company employs over 1,600 people and sells crop inputs and services to producers across Western Canada. With a canola processing plant in Lethbridge, Alberta, and a
second plant soon to be opened in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Richardson is one of North America's largest suppliers of canola oil and meal. The Falher facility will further expand the Richardson Pioneer network of Ag Business Centres in Western Canada.

"The Falher facility is an excellent complement to Richardson's growing crop inputs network," says Darwin Sobkow, Richardson's Vice-President, Agribusiness Operations. "By serving as an extension of the products and services we currently provide through our Dunvegan Ag Business Centre in Rycroft, Alberta, the new facility enhances our ability to do business with producers in this highly productive agriculture region."

Kimber Mader, the previous owner-operator at the facility, will continue to manage operations at Richardson's Falher crop service centre. To ensure consistency of service and the continuation of locally-maintained customer relationships, the company is committed to employing current staff.

"Area customers can be assured that they will continue to receive the same quality of service and products that they have grown to expect from the people that they know and trust," says Sobkow. "At the same time, our interest and involvement in the Falher facility ensures their access to all the benefits and opportunities of working with a company that is investing locally."