Greensburg, Kan.-Southern Plains Co-op, which was destroyed by this town’s devastating tornado (GM May 14, p. 1) surprisingly is back to 80 percent of full operation and is looking to be close to 100 percent in a short time. Manager Danny McLarty, who is operating out of temporary offices in a trailer, estimates that it will cost more $3 million or more to replace all the facilities that were lost when the May 4 storm left only the two elevator structures standing. ”We were back in operation about 10 days after the storm,” he said. ”We started loading out liquid fertilizer at that time, and we haven’t slowed down since.” With a lot of help from the Southern Plains main office in Lewis about 25 miles away, Greensburg has its liquid fertilizer operation up to full speed and is relying on the main plant for the dry side, which was wiped out. That’s no problem, McLarty said, because liquid and ammonia are the big items for now, and he expects to be fully ready when fall harvest arrives. He explained that up until a few days ago the plant had to operate on generators, which hampered the recovery effort. “But the city worked diligently to get the electricity restored so we could take care of all the farmers in the area,” he said. McLarty said a structural engineer checked out the two silos, which were the only tall structures left standing in Greensburg, and found them in good shape even though windows and doors had to be replaced. One odd happening was that the chemical storage warehouse was carried three blocks away and scattered among other debris, while the chemicals themselves remained inside their containment. All 15 full-time employees, plus four new part-timers, are on the job, even though four who either lost their homes or had severe damage have returned after taking time off to relocate their families.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain