Hutchinson, Minn.-Hutchinson Co-op officials term their property deal with the city a win-win arrangement in which the city gains “a very marketable tract of land and we get out from under a potential liability.” The local Cenex affiliate will be getting $300,000 and additional property for its 40-year old fertilizer plant downtown on the shores of the Crow River. The co-op will demolish the buildings and clean up the site by the end of the year and move to the southeast part of town, where it already owns 10 acres and operates bulk fuels, herbicide, and anhydrous ammonia facilities. The original fertilizer site gives the city a prime parcel of land near the river and parks for redevelopment that is already attracting interest, according to economic development officials. “I like the plan,” one councilman told the local press. “It is prime property for redevelopment. That is something that is really going to be an asset to that downtown area and the river area itself.” Co-op General Manager Mike Conner likes the idea also. He told Green Markets it’s time to move, partly because of the changes brought on by ethanol growth and “grain no longer moving to ports.” He said the new location won’t be a mega plant – approximately 6,000 tons and costing $1.5 million – but “it will allow us to consolidate our staff and there should be other efficiency gains.” Conner expects the deal to be closed with the city and building permits obtained fairly soon so ground breaking can take place at the new site the first week in September. Hutchinson is 60 miles west of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Twin Cities.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain