Worthington, Minn.-New Vision Cooperative, which operates dry fertilizer facilities at Jeffers, Hills, and Beaver Creek and a liquid terminal at Heron Lake, Minn., has disclosed plans for its biggest installation yet – upgrading its Brewster plant with a 45,000 st blending and combination herbicide/seed storage facility capable of unloading 1,200 st an hour off rail cars and dispatching 450 to 500 st per hour out of wholesale and blending towers. New Vision General Manager Frank McDowell and Agronomy Division Manager Dennis Weber discussed their plans with Nobles County officials earlier this month. Weber told Green Markets that before New Vision goes ahead with the $10 million project it needs to get Minnesota’s Department of Transportation to agree to upgrade a half-mile gravel access road to handle heavy truck traffic during the busy spring and fall seasons. He said a decision could come at a meeting with state officials this week, and with approval on the upgrade, work would begin in April and be completed by early 2009. County officials were advised that the new facility would generate 13 new full-time and nine seasonal positions, with an additional payoff of $1 million in three years. The new terminal would be built on land to the south of the New Vision elevator in Brewster, and will be accessible both from the south and from the north via the elevator access. Fertilizer would arrive at the plant via train, and would be shipped out on trucks. Weber said traffic would increase by 75 to 100 trucks per day during the four-week window in the spring and the six-week window in the fall. Three members of the county board were selected to work with New Vision and city officials on the plans. One member commented to the local press that “it’s a worthwhile project and in the interest of the county and city of Brewster.”
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain