A $20 million expansion at the Saskferco plant at Belle Plaine, Sask., will help meet increasing demand for liquid fertilizer.
The company last week announced the construction of a urea ammonium nitrate, or UAN, solution fertilizer facility that will open next spring. It will produce 230,000 tonnes per year.
Ron Cameron, vice-president and chief financial officer, said customer demand led to the expansion. The company just celebrated its 10th anniversary, and markets granular urea and anhydrous ammonia.
But liquid fertilizer offers more flexibility, Cameron said, especially in direct seeding systems that require more nitrogen. About 50 percent of Saskatchewan acreage is now seeded this way.
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Guy Lafond, research scientist at the Agriculture Canada research farm at Indian Head, Sask., says flexibility is key.
UAN is easy to apply – farmers just need to change nozzles on their sprayers. It can be applied when the producer thinks it will most benefit the crop.
“It’s a risk management tool,” he said.
For example, farmers can apply it later in the season to take advantage of protein premiums. UAN is 28-0-0.
Lafond has been looking into the practice of dribbling the liquid fertilizer on the surface. Nitrogen is so mobile, he said, and surface dribbling is a good post-seeding option.
In drought areas, a farmer could apply 30 percent of the nitrogen requirement at seeding, then wait to apply more, he said.
If the drought persists, the farmer won’t have spent time and money to apply fertilizer the crop doesn’t need.
Lafond said fertilizer placement has evolved along with the trend to direct seeding.
Rick Pattison, president of Pattison Liquid Systems at Lemberg, Sask., has been building equipment for liquid fertilizer application since 1982. He said Saskferco’s entry to the business is welcome.
“There will be more liquid available and another company promoting it,” he said.
Pattison also thinks there will be more demand as anhydrous ammonia falls out of favour due to safety concerns.
Saskferco will be the second-largest UAN facility in Canada, behind the Simplot plant at Brandon.
UAN is formed when ammonia is oxidized with air and absorbed in water to form nitric acid. This is combined with ammonia to make ammonium nitrate solution. That, in turn, is added to urea solution to produce UAN solution.
Saskferco is a joint venture of Cargill Ltd. and the Crown Investments Corp. of Saskatchewan.
Cameron said the expansion is being financed internally. The product will be shipped by truck and rail to customers in Canada and the United States.
No new jobs will be created by the addition.
