St. Paul, Minn.-CHS Inc. and West Central Ag Services recently signed an operating agreement to launch a grain-handling joint venture. The new business, operating under the name Central Plains Grain LLC out of Hannaford, N.D., will include a shuttle grain elevator on the BNSF rail line. The companies plan to break ground for the new shuttle facility in early 2011 and complete construction by the end of that year. “This initiative aligns well with our core commitment to expand competitive market access for producers while building value for our member-owners,” said John McEnroe, senior vice president, Country Operations division of CHS. “It is a strategic move for both companies.” “This is an excellent opportunity to provide producers in the Hannaford area with a variety of services in grain marketing and handling, in addition to those already provided by Central Plains Agronomy LLC,” explained Jesse McCollum, general manager, West Central Ag Services. “Having a strong partner in CHS with similar goals and values makes this a solid business for the agriculture communities in central North Dakota.” West Central Ag Services is a diversified ag supply cooperative with Minnesota locations in Ulen, Felton, Ada, Glyndon, and Fertile.

Palo Alto, Calif.-GaiaRecycle LLC, an industry-leading global provider of organic waste recycling systems, announced on Dec. 1 the results of a pilot project conducted at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. After an analysis by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services Agronomic Division, the data indicated that the by-product material discharged from the GaiaRecycle system contained a significant amount of valuable nutrients that can be utilized in order to prevent all of the university’s leftover food from being discarded into landfills. Additionally, the GaiaRecycle by-product material was easily incorporated into the campus compost pile. Conclusions of the study indicate that after composting is completed to decompose and normalize the mixed food waste by-product, the material would be suitable for use as a fertilizer substitute, allowing the campus to use this cheaper alternative rather than buying fertilizer.

Indianapolis-There’s nothing the state can do under current regulations to stop the trucking of manure into eastern Indiana in an effort to save Ohio’s algae-plagued Grand Lake St. Marys from more pollution. The clean-up currently underway at the popular lake has angered some Indiana residents, who fear the federally backed effort is only moving the problem to their region and will harm nearby rivers and streams just like what’s happing to the lake. One resident claims it’s worsening the air quality around his farm, which he says is already thick with ammonia and dust from a nearby dairy. But Indiana state officials responded that there’s nothing presently on the books that will stop the problem. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) acknowledged the complaints, which first came from residents in the area of the staging sites, and indicated there may be some relief in the future. “We’ve received several complaints over the past several months about the staging of chicken manure in Indiana fields, the odor from it, and their concern about potential run-off,” reported IDEM spokesman Barry Sneed. “(But) as long as the manure does not cause a water quality violation, Indiana regulations would not provide us with authority to address it. To date, we have not observed a water quality violation related to the staging of the manure.” Sneed added that the State Chemist’s office is working on a rule that will regulate the land application of manure regardless of the source. Irritated residents in the area claim the manure traffic began growing in July after Ohio offered livestock farmers a new incentive under a U.S. Department of Agriculture subsidy program that partially covers the cost of shipping manure out of the Grand Lake St. Marys watershed. Officials took the action after manure runoff from fields was largely blamed for causing the shallow, 13,000-acre lake to become tainted with toxic blue-green algae, making it virtually off-limits to recreation last summer.

Calgary-Agrium Inc. said Dec. 3 that it has successfully completed its acquisition of AWB Ltd. at a price of A$1.50 per share in cash (purchase price of A$1.236 billion), including the A$0.15 per share franked dividend paid on Nov. 30, 2010. “We are excited about the opportunity to merge AWB’s strong market presence and extensive experience with Agrium’s international crop input sourcing capabilities, with a view to further enhancing product and service offerings to Australian and New Zealand customers,” said Mike Wilson, Agrium CEO and president. “I would like to thank the management team of AWB for all their efforts to make this a seamless process and to extend a warm welcome to all AWB employees.” The Landmark business is a leading agricultural retailer in Australia, with over 200 company-operated retail locations, more than 140 additional retail franchise and wholesale customer locations in Australia, and investments in various related joint venture companies. With regard to the commodity management operations, Agrium has not had direct participation in the grain handling and trading business to date. It said it will continue to evaluate its options with respect to this business and expects to provide clarity on this in the near future. Agrium expects the acquisition of AWB to be accretive in 2011.

Indianapolis-The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has issued a notice of violation to the owner/operator of a large Winchester concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in connection with a fish kill exceeding 100,000 that state investigators have been looking into for more than four months. The notice of violation was issued Nov. 10 to Aaron Chalfant of Winchester for failing to prevent land-applied animal waste from entering waters, failing to prevent runoff, and for applying on saturated grounds. In addition, Chalfant did not adequately report spill information or notify the nearest downstream user. State officials reported at that time the area affected was a 21-mile stretch of the Mississinewa River. Chalfant’s operation has been described as consisting of 4,000 swine generating over 200,000 cubic feet of manure annually.

Vancouver-Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, which is showing the way to extract phosphorus and ammonia from wastewaters, has been named to the 2010 Global Cleantech 100 by the Cleantech Group, which highlights clean technology companies from around the world that are likely to make a significant market impact in the next decade. “We are very proud to be elected to the prestigious Global Cleantech 100,” said Phillip Abrary, Ostara’s president and CEO. “It is a testament to an amazing team at Ostara that has collectively transformed a promising technology into a viable business. Our technology is not only helping preserve a non-renewable resource by producing a fertilizer from a sustainable source, but is also providing a solution for wastewater treatment plants to recover otherwise polluting nutrients, and turn them into a valuable product, and further protect local waterways.”

Batavia, N.Y.-Graham Corp., a designer and manufacturer of critical equipment for the oil refining, petrochemical, and power industries, said Dec. 1 that it has been awarded three orders totaling approximately $4.8 million for specialized condensers, liquid ring pump packages, and ejector systems to be installed at facilities in North America and Asia. The first order is for a custom-engineered surface condenser and liquid ring pump package, which will be installed at an oil sands processing facility in the province of Alberta, Canada, and will serve as a vapor recovery unit for bitumen storage tanks. The second order is also for a surface condenser and liquid ring pump package, destined for a U.S. refinery revamp intended to reduce the sulfur content in transportation fuel produced at the refinery. The third order is for ejector systems to be installed in India at a new ammonia/urea fertilizer producing facility, which, when completed, will be one of the largest in the world. Production and shipment for the three orders is expected to begin during Graham’s second quarter of fiscal 2012, ending March 31, 2012.

Melbourne-Legend International Holdings Inc. said Dec. 2 that it has Nomura as its financial advisor on potential strategic transactions related to its phosphate mining and refining business in the Georgina Basin in Queensland, Australia. The transaction will involve assessing interested industry partners who wish to form a strategic alliance with Legend and invest in the project. “Nomura has a strong track record of successfully executing cross-border transactions in the APAC region,” said Joseph Gutnick, Legend president and CEO. “We are excited about working with the Nomura team to maximize the value and outlook for our phosphate business. We are confident that the strength of Nomura’s network and unparalleled access to potential investors, particularly in the Asian region, will ensure a successful outcome for Legend and its investors.” Legend’s phosphate and mining business in the Georgina Basin consists of three key phosphate deposits in Mt. Isa. Legend’s current plan is to build a phosphate fertilizer complex that will commence commercial production in 2013 in Mt. Isa near the three deposits. Legend proposes to develop the project in two stages that will occur sequentially: development of the phosphate fertilizer complex, and development of a beneficiation plant that will be used to upgrade phosphate ores mined. Legend believes its phosphate deposits benefit from ideal location, attractive scale, and proximity to well-developed infrastructure. Legend expects that the complex will be able to produce 600,000 mt and 1,200,000 mt of MAP and DAP per annum under the base case and expanded production case, respectively.

Toronto-Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund said Nov. 10 that it does not intend to convert to a corporation when the new Specified Investment Flow-Through (SIFT) rules come into effect in 2011. In October 2007, the Fund announced that retaining its income trust structure was beneficial to its unitholders, as the Funds’ SIFT tax would be less than 10 percent. The Fund now believes it will not be subject to any SIFT tax. It expects that over 50 percent of the Fund’s current annual distributions of $1.20 per unit will qualify as a taxable Canadian dividend, which should be beneficial to Canadian resident tax-paying unitholders.