It opened later than they wanted, but the new Parrish and Heimbecker fertilizer blending facility just outside of Yorkton, north on Highway 9. The shed has the capacity to hold about 6,000 tonnes of fertilizer, with multiple separations to get a wide range of blends for farmers.
Justin Watson, vice president of crop inputs Canada with Parrish and Heimbecker, said that part of the reason why the facility took a while to get together because of an ambitious construction plan across western Canada. There are about 10 similar facilities that have opened across the province.
鈥淚t got pushed back about a year or so because you are coordinating all of these different events at the same time.鈥�
They wanted to be able to offer customers the ability to buy custom fertilizer blends, and the new facility allows that.
One building opened last week, but that鈥檚 far from the end of the plans for the site. Right now it鈥檚 near rail, but it will soon get tied into the rail system, to allow them to expand the number of products they offer and the amount of volume they can handle, Watson said.
The fertilizer shed is also merely the first building. Watson notes that the next phase of the project will see the construction of a new chemical shed. They also want to set up a way for farmers to buy seed at the same site. The second phase is not currently very far along, still in the very early phase of construction, but the plan is to have a one stop shop for farmers as they plan their crop year, Watson explained.
鈥淏asically this is going to be a full crop input campus.鈥澛�
