Cargill greenhouse expansion under way

FORT COLLINS – International food producer Cargill is expanding its operations in Fort Collins, which includes its specialty seeds and oils innovation center.

In July, construction began on a new greenhouse at Cargill’s facility, located at 2540 E. Drake Road. Construction is scheduled to be complete in early October, according to a company spokesperson.

Cargill would not comment further on the expansion, but city documents state that it will house office space, seed storage, and shop and warehouse buildings.

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Plans filed with the city of Fort Collins indicate that a total of six greenhouses eventually could be built on the space adjacent to Cargill’s existing facility, which serves as a research and development center for the company’s Clear Valley canola oils, according to its website.

Cargill had fewer than 50 employees in 2012, but was listed as one of Fort Collins’ top five bioscience employers by the city’s Bioscience Cluster. Internationally, Cargill employs 140,000 people.

One greenhouse is under construction, along with an attached space housing central temperature-control equipment, and a work and storage area.

The plans show an 11,232-square-foot greenhouse and a 4,368-square-foot temperature control and work room under construction along Drake Road east of Timberline Road. Cargill’s existing facility includes three greenhouses, a pavilion and three other buildings, according to the plans.

The Cargill Research Center will be built out over the next three years, according to SeonAh Kendall, business expansion and retention strategist for the city of Fort Collins’ Economic Health Department.

The site is surrounded by residential developments, including Rigden Farm and Johnson Farm. A D.R. Horton community, Bucking Horse, is being developed east of Cargill.

The property also includes fields for agricultural research crops.

The Specialty Canola Innovation Center also was expanded in 2008, with a new greenhouse and technology lab, designed to enable Minnesota-based Cargill to improve yield for its growers and develop new canola oil traits for food customers.

In fiscal 2013, privately-held Cargill reported earnings of $2.31 billion, nearly double that of fiscal 2012, when it earned $1.17 billion. High commodity prices hindered the company’s performance in 2012, according to its financial release.

Cargill’s presence is growing in other parts of Colorado as well. Last month, along with ConAgra Foods and CHS Inc., Cargill announced that Denver would be the headquarters for a joint venture in flour milling.