Lafayette, Minn.-United Farmers Cooperative, headquartered in Lafayette, Minn., is building a 40,000 st dry fertilizer facility with rail access near Winthrop, Minn. Construction began Sept. 21, and the storage facility – measuring 120 feet wide, 400 feet long, and 75 feet high – will be up and running in time for the fall 2008 fertilizer season. Agronomy Department Manager Butch Altmann said UFC decided to build the facility “to combat what looks to be ever-increasing fertilizer prices.” In the co-op’s October newsletter, Altmann said UFC wanted to be able to store all the fertilizer supply needed for the fall and spring seasons. “This facility will allow us to do just that, and received volume discounts,” he said. “Bringing our staff and equipment to one location will dramatically increase our efficiency, speed and availability to handle (customers’) fertilizer needs, large or small.” UFC Minnesota locations include agronomy centers in Lafayette, Gibbon, St. Peter, and Gaylord; grain elevators in Lafayette, Winthrop, LeSueur, and New Ulm; and feed supply facilities in Lafayatte, St. Peter, Winthrop, New Ulm, and LeSueur. UFC’s website touts a full line of dry and liquid fertilizers, grid sampling and soil tech services, custom spreading and spraying, and a staff that includes agronomy production specialists and certified crop advisors. UFC currently has 110 full time employees, with annual sales in excess of $50 million. Altmann said UFC had outgrown its current fertilizer storage locations, which were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. “For some time, we have not been able to take full advantage of lower prices on our entire supply – leaving us at the market’s mercy,” he said in the company newsletter. “Once we have the fertilizer hub up and running, we can buy when the market is lowest and pass the savings on.”
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain