Beaufort, Mo. — Meramec Township farmer Jerry Eckstein thinks that the best place for producing fertilizer is on his 188-acre farm, where there’s plenty of room, with the entire acreage zoned for agriculture and mostly used for pasture. But that means Eckstein needs the okay from the planning board to move the fertilizer operation that he operates about five miles away in the middle of town. Eckstein told Green Markets that he is currently in the process of dividing about 6 to 7 acres of the farmland to store and produce a fertilizer product consisting of urea, DAP, and 62 percent potash. “I’ve been operating a fertilizer plant in Beaufort for the last three years,” Eckstein told the planning board at a recent hearing on a conditional use permit (CUP). “I’m trying to see if it’s possible to move it to my farm. I could build a bigger building and better serve my customers. It would help me, too.” He sells the majority of his product to local farmers and farm stores. He also hired a local trucking firm to transport fertilizer in 50-pound bags to local stores. “Right now I can only store 100 to 150 tons of fertilizer. Last year I moved about 800 tons of it to my customers,” said Eckstein. The Missouri farmer has been operating a fertilizer plant in Beaufort since his senior year in high school. Eckstein said the area residents wouldn’t have to worry about ammonium nitrate or anhydrous ammonia, which he won’t be handling, and that he doesn’t want to inconvenience anyone with his plan. His goal is to have everything on the same property. Although there are currently no issues surrounding the move, Eckstein said he wouldn’t know whether or not the planning and zoning committee will approve the conditional use permit until the end of April. Scottie Eagan, Franklin County’s senior planner, said that a review committee will look at the proposed site and then come up with a recommendation shortly.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain