Sioux City, Iowa—The Woodbury County board has given the go-ahead to the expansion of a small operation that expects to be a major player in the fertilizer business. Prairie Farm Systems Owner Mark Pottorff, who started in the business 25 years ago “for something to do,” now has the approval of the board to take over a parcel of land in unincorporated Luton that once housed a school, which was torn down earlier this year. Board members indicated they support rezoning and cleaning up the plot for a business use. “I have outgrown where I am now. In Woodbury County it is hard to find suitable property. The additional space will let me increase where I sell fertilizer, which is now limited to within about 40 miles of Luton,” Pottorff explained. “What I am going to build is a storage facility and then I want to build a dry fertilizer plant.” He told Green Markets that he’s started to dabble in pelletized lime, ammonium sulfate, urea, and possibly a dry phosphate blend. “I am at the point in my business life where I either have to expand my business or just do the status quo. I have gone from absolutely nothing and, like my accountant said, I’m no longer just a business – I’m a company.” Pottorff wouldn’t say how much Prairie Farm Systems is worth, but did offer that he expects to increase the business up to 50 percent in the next four to five years.
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