Standing above the surrounding fields in southern Alberta, a new Co-op Fertilizer Terminal provides key infrastructure to support the needs of Western-Canadian farmers. Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) invested $42.8 million in a new state-of-the-art terminal near Grassy Lake, Alta. The terminal warehouses, blends and distributes a full suite of crop nutrition products including liquid micronutrients and nitrogen stabilizers.
“We made this investment understanding the important role the fertilizer terminal will play in serving local co-ops and helping them meet the needs of their members and customers,” said Ron Healey, FCL’s Vice-President of Ag and Consumer Business.
“Having a fertilizer terminal in Alberta improves Co-op’s ability to efficiently and effectively deliver crop nutrition products to local farmers in a timely matter, which is critical during the growing season.”
The Co-operative Retailing System, which includes FCL and more than 160 independent local co-operatives across Western Canada, is unique in its ability to provide producers with everything they need – including fuel, animal feed, crop inputs, grain handling equipment and more — in a single stop.
The new fertilizer terminal in Grassy Lake has a storage capacity of 34,400 metric tonnes. The three Co-op Fertilizer Terminals – facilities in Hanley, Sask., and Brandon, Man., were opened in 2017 – have a combined storage capacity of 106,900 metric tonnes.
While all three terminals have rail access, the Grassy Lake location was built with a loop track that can accommodate up to 110 railcars. This is an essential feature that allows Co-op to receive product from domestic and international suppliers, which is particularly important as domestic production of phosphate ended last year.
