US (TX): Village Farms to repair and raise height of hail-damaged facility

Village Farms International, announced that it has approved plans to repair 20 acres of its remaining 40-acre hail damaged greenhouse facility in Marfa, Texas. The plan calls for the repair to start immediately and includes multiple technology enhancements, such as raising the height of the facility, which will modernize the structure, extend its useful life and increase its productivity.

The overall project cost, including new system replacements to the overall site, will be slightly less than $9.0 million. The project is scheduled for completion in April 2014. The initial production from this 20-acre facility will commence in late June or early July 2014 with continuous harvesting throughout the year. The entire project will be funded from the Company's cash balance, no financing is necessary.

Michael DeGiglio, President and Chief Executive Officer for Village Farms, "We are very excited to be back in growth mode after completing our insurance settlement last month. This next repair phase, will bring a cumulative total of sixty of the eighty damaged acres back to operational status. It is the best return on investment for the company today, as historically it has been one of our most productive assets. In addition, it returns a significant amount of lost supply to our core markets which we continue to under supply from previous levels of capacity. With the improvements we are making to the structure and underlying systems, it will essentially be a new and modern greenhouse when it is complete with a prolonged service life."