Fertilizer terminal celebrates grand opening
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/08/2017 (3193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The ribbon has been cut for a $31-million fertilizer terminal in Brandon’s east end, with dignitaries marking its grand opening on Wednesday.
The 68,000-square-foot facility has been operating since April; an investment that joins another facility in Hanley, Sask., in creating a duo of centralized fertilizer hubs for the two province’s various Co-op organizations to draw product from.
The centralized model is projected to keep costs down, Federated Co-operatives Limited CEO Scott Banda said.
Prior to opening these centralized terminals, Co-ops purchased fertilizer on their own, which Banda said was a time-consuming process they’ve been able to push onto a team of experts in Winnipeg, freeing up resources elsewhere.
This Winnipeg-based team watches the markets full time, arranging to stock up the two fertilizer terminals with various standard and specialty products whenever it’s fiscally prudent to do so.
Banda said that they’ll continue pricing their products competitively, with the members-owned organization passing their net earnings on to members through their annual equity payments.
“Co-op has always been about serving members,” Banda said, adding that their investment into these two facilities is another means of helping the communities they serve.
The Brandon fertilizer terminal is an expansive space capable of storing 27,500 metric tonnes of fertilizer, which they blend and distribute on site.
Walking through the facility on Wednesday, regulatory and safety manager Mark Coppicus pointed to a system of conveyor belts that move product from railcars and trucks into piles within the main building’s storage area.
These piles are collected by a front-end loader and dumped into a hole, where it’s picked up by another conveyor belt to be blended and dropped into trucks for shipment.
It’s a simple system, albeit large in scope, employing four people full time.
Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler attended Wednesday’s grand opening, at which he commended Federated Co-operatives Limited with their contributions to the area’s agriculture-driven business landscape.
He said that part of his mandate has been to promote the introduction of more value-added initiatives, with this investment offering a good example of what can be done.
» tclarke@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB