聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Precision Ag in Carlyle is very excited about the new addition to their facility just south of Carlyle along Hwy 9. The state of the art fertilizer blending plant which has been built has received a lot of attention from the farming community because of its capabilities.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Dan Reaves, Sales Manager with Precision Ag, explained, 鈥淭his is a long term investment for Precision Ag has ever made and we are passionate about it because our customers are extremely excited about it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he old plant took time to blend and load. In a season farmers have about 20 days to seed and they don鈥檛 want to waste those days. This system is unbelievably fast. On the old system, depending on the mix, 30 metric tonnes took about half an hour to load. The other day on our new system we did that in seven minutes.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e鈥檙e so excited because in the past it took days for someone to get all their fertilizer home and now they can be done in a day.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The fertilizer plant 鈥� a 6,000 metric tonne shed 鈥� was built with eight bulk separations along with a micro nutrient hopper and impregnation ability for micronutrients and urease inhibitors.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e presently handle over 12 different bulk fertilizers,鈥� Reaves explained.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The facility is built entirely of concrete, wood, and stainless steel.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭his fertilizer plant was built to last. It will be here for 80 years, I鈥檒l be long gone and it will still be running,鈥� Reaves smiled. 鈥淎 bin fertilizer system usually only lasts about 12 years.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The importance of the fertilizer plant was realized as Precision Ag鈥檚 number one concern is their customers.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淏y using the right components and blending them quickly, we鈥檙e selling them time and that鈥檚 exciting,鈥� Reaves says. 鈥淲e invested in this asset as our customers invest with us when they support Precision Ag Services.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚鈥檓 excited about this facility, but I鈥檓 even more excited that our customers are excited.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Reaves says that he has been in the agriculture industry for the past 26 years and it has only been in the past five or six years that he鈥檚 seen advancements in fertilizer innovations.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here have been exciting new products coming out that will allow us to provide a better blend for our customers,鈥� Reaves explained. 鈥淲e take the lab recommendations of soil samples and look at pH, organic matter, mineralization of the soil, cation exchange capacity, and base saturations to understand the medium [soil] we鈥檙e in, so the purchase our customer is making is positively impacting the soil.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot more to fertilizer than just reading the lab recommendations.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淒ifferent crops have different use rates of nutrients and when looking at the soil tests we can decide on the right blend and the right products to make that blend most effective. Fertilizer represents over 65 percent of a farmers yield response 鈥� so it is a huge decision and we recognized that. Quality people and quality fertilizer assets that can deliver speed, time release technology, balance nutrition, and proper recommendations will deliver more confidence for the farmer in the biggest input decision on his farm.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here are seven billion people in the world right now and we鈥檙e not making more cropland, so we need to learn how to grow more on what we have. We keep taking nutrients out of the ground every time we farm it, so people are beginning to use more fertilizer.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This includes varying fertilizer applications as well, with floating fertilizer becoming more popular as advancements were made in urease inhibitors for nitrogen preventing it from ammonia volatilization 鈥� the process of the dissolved sample vaporizing 鈥� and denitrification 鈥� the process of nitrogen converting to its gaseous form escaping into the atmosphere. Urease inhibitors prevent this from happening and has made floating fertilizer a viable means of application to cropland in Saskatchewan.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Additionally, advances have been made in dry and liquid fertilizers. This includes such innovations as time release technology where the fertilizer pearl either bleeds slowly into the ground or layers off like an onion. This provides continued nutrients for the plant as it grows instead of a concentrated amount at once during the plants initial growth. Reaves explained that the advances in fertilizers have made it integral in ensuring a healthy, high yielding crop.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥ne of the biggest overlooked fertilizer decisions I see is the focus on commodity fertilizer instead of utilizing the latest and best technology that is available. We have tested and shown a 3-5 bushel increase by using the newest bulk fertilizer versus regular commodity Nitrogen and Phosphate fertilizers.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭o properly recommend the right fertilizer blend then you need knowledge,鈥� Reaves stated. 鈥淭o do that we have 11 years of Agriculture secondary school in this office, one degree 鈥� Bachelor Science of Agriculture, three diplomas in Ag, one Professional Agrologist certification, and one CCA (Certified Crop Advisor).鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Thus, Reaves is confident in the abilities of those at Precision Ag in assisting their customers.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The large fertilizer plant was an investment made to ensure farmers have access to high quality and quickly loaded fertilizer.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淓ach load is calculated and controlled by a computer, which weighs and distributes the correct mix,鈥� Reaves said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 then blended and loaded.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he R.M. was awesome to work with. We currently only have one out load, which I think will be enough for now because it goes so quickly, but if we need to,聽 the R.M. has said that we have the option of putting a second out load on the building, so expansion is possible.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In addition to the benefits to customers that the new plant provides to those in the area, Reaves is excited that the new facility has also opened up a new full- time position in Carlyle.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲hat we try to do here at Precision Ag is work with the customer,鈥� Reaves explained. 鈥淪o, we look at soil reports and use that to create balanced nutrition, using the best products, which leads to increased yields.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淔or a farmer the biggest component of increased yields is fertilizer. Good seed and crop protection are important, but fertilizer is extremely important.鈥�
