New Minnesota Ag Cooperative Offers High-Speed, High-Quality Fertilizer Blends
This tripper conveyor is part of the Echo facility’s receiving system, used to discharge raw materials into the operation’s storage bins.
Meadowland Farmers Coop has opened a new site in Echo, MN, to provide its farmer customers with high-quality, dry fertilizer products using advanced blending technology.
The new operation is one of 15 Meadowland facilities in Minnesota, serving farmers in the southwest part of the state. It is equipped with state-of-the-art dry fertilizer production equipment from GSI, including:
A 250 tons-per-hour receiving system that can quickly unload trucks or train cars supplying raw materials used in the production process. A 20-ton truck can be unloaded in under five minutes.
A blending tower with an 8-ton twin shaft horizontal mixer that can mix and discharge a batch in under 30 seconds. The tower enables the loading of over one hundred 20-ton trucks per day.
Storage of 300 tons of raw materials in bins on top of the tower, allowing the facility to continuously refill bins as blending occurs.
The high-speed blending tower at the new Meadowland Farmers Coop in Echo, MN, can mix and discharge a fertilizer batch in under 30 seconds, allowing loading of over one hundred 20-ton trucks per day.
James Krist, GSI project engineer, said the production system also delivers consistent, high-quality products. “It has leading technology in creating a homogenous blend of fertilizer to guarantee even spreading in the field,” he said. “In under 30 seconds, the mixer can produce an even blend of up to 16,000 pounds of ingredients.”
The new facility also serves other Meadowland sites. “We have built one large location in Echo to serve some of our other sites that had older, obsolete blend systems,” said Ralph Price, Meadowland Farmers Coop agronomy manager. “This location allows us to run one blending location instead of the three previously operated in the northern part of our trade area. Nearly all of the product that goes through this new system is blended and applied to customers’ fields.”
Price said faster and thorough blending are major benefits of the operation. “It has huge capacities and does a good job really fast,” he remarked. “Everything is seamless, and the stainless steel construction provides for easy maintenance.”
Reliability is another important factor. “We are in the northern Corn Belt,” Price said. “The crop goes in fast, and we need a reliable system to meet fertilizer demand within a short time window. Customer feedback has been positive. Farmers want to do business with a supplier that offers cutting-edge technology and timely service.”
In addition to fertilizer, the Echo facility provides agronomic services, premium energy products, feed production, and bin and grain handling equipment.
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