Osceola, Ark.-A $2.4 million floating dock system in Osceola, Ark., is expected to be operational within a month, and will save time and freight costs for fertilizer users in northeastern Arkansas, according to Poinsett Rice and Grain, the company completing the project. Poinsett Operations Manager Scott Foushee told local reporters that the floating dock system was developed because the company’s own grain docks on the Mississippi River were constantly being used, with Poinsett fielding multiple inquiries to offload other products from barges. “We just couldn’t stop loading the grain to start working with anybody else,” Foushee said. Partial funding for the project came from the Delta Regional Authority and the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Poinsett said it also plans to install truck parking and roads for access to the dock’s loading bin area. “You’ll see a freight savings on a fertilizer standpoint,” Foushee told the local press. “They won’t have to send their trucks to Memphis, they will be able to come here. Save just a little bit of freight.” Poinsett operates a total of six Arkansas facilities, located at Osceola, Cherry Valley, Diaz, Corning, and Waldenburg. Osceola Mayor Dickie Kennemore said the floating dock would add 30 jobs to the area. “Our number one job in this county is to create jobs,” Kennemore told reporters. “It will create some jobs here at the port. It will create some jobs with some of the agricultural supply companies in the area.”
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain