WINNIPEG (Staff) – Western Co-operative Fertilizers Ltd. began construction last week on a new 36,000-tonne refrigerated liquid ammonia fertilizer storage facility in Brandon, Man.
The company wants to be able to ship ammonia to Brandon in the off-season so it can better serve farmers in Manitoba and eastern Sask-atchewan in the busy spring and fall periods.
Gene Rurak, Westco’s vice-president for marketing, said farmers who buy ammonia from Manitoba Pool Elevators or a co-op will not notice much change.
No more shortages
“They certainly won’t notice us running out of product,” Rurak said, explaining the company has occasionally run out of ammonia in the eastern Prairie market for short periods of time.
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Rurak said Manitoba farmers use about 190,000 tonnes of ammonia each year.
Westco has had a distribution terminal in Brandon for many years, said John Gallagher, another Westco vice-president.
But the company has always had to rely on rail cars to haul ammonia from Medicine Hat, Alta. to the eastern prairies.
The company plans to upgrade the existing terminal and build the new storage tank for $23 million.
“It will really mean that we have the product in place when farmers, our customers, need it,” Gallagher said.
Westco, which is owned by the three prairie wheat pools, plans to start using the facility next fall.
