Sunrise Cooperative, Fremont, Ohio, is partnering with agriculture giant CHS Inc. to construct a $15 million fertilizer hub at Crestline, Ohio. According to Sunrise officials, this continues the expansion of CHS unit train capabilities in the eastern Cornbelt. The project, they report, has impressive benefits for both sides.
“This is part of our ongoing effort to expand our ability to serve Eastern Corn Belt customers by establishing facilities where we can bring crop nutrients in via unit train,” said a CHS spokesperson. “This is an excellent distribution point for reaching many of our customers and offers opportunities for efficiencies and good economics. We’ll have 50,000-ton capacity for dry and liquid, with a full range of N, P, and K.”
The facility’s ability to be serviced by unit trains further improves CHS’s ability to position and efficiently distribute large volumes in narrow timeframes.
“Our partner in this, Sunrise Cooperative, will also be positioned to better serve its customers from the Crestline facility with not only crop nutrients, but bulk seed treatment, bulk herbicides and liquid storage, a custom application operations base and office,” said CHS.
There will be a new bulk herbicide facility with liquid storage, office, and shop. A high-demand bulk seed treatment facility is included for 60,000 units.
The new facility will allow consolidation of three Sunrise retail locations, at North Robinson, Gardner, and Ridgeton.
Jerry Miller, Sunrise vice president of agronomy, told Green Markets the project was made possible with the acquisition of 60 acres adjacent to Sunrise property from CSX Railway. He said this will make possible an increase in the existing 90-car track. “CHS had a smaller fertilizer facility down the road and needed the additional train capacity,” Miller explained. “Now they will be able to operate out of a 40,000 st (Marcus dry) building that will include a high-speed Waconia blending system that can blend all types of fertilizer.”
CHS said its nearby smaller fertilizer location will close.
Miller said the facility will also include 15,000 st of UAN storage being built by Skinner Tank Co. In addition, it will have 240 st of anhydrous ammonia storage.
He said pouring of floors and footers has been completed, and Miller expects to open the center Oct. 1. Construction is also underway on the chemical and seed warehouse building, and the new office building along with installation of anhydrous ammonia tanks is ongoing. “We could potentially serve customers in a 50-mile radius on the rail side and operate quite a bit further than that on the wholesale side,” said Miller.