Making the Most of Fertilizer Production
AGI’s Fertilizer Handling Technology can Help Retailers Gain Efficiencies Now and in the Long Term
With fertilizer prices remaining high and in short supply, what ag retailer isn’t anxious? Alan Colsden, Commercial Sales Manager for AGI Fertilizer Systems, can empathize with retailers’ concerns about the matter. While Colsden understands the challenges they face, he believes AGI can help retailers through the crisis by using the company’s fertilizer handling technology to help increase their efficiencies now and in the long term. Since 1996, AGI has designed, manufactured, installed, and maintained fertilizer handling equipment that can be scaled to fit most any need and requirement. The company offers solutions in six business components – storage, structures, handling, technology, engineering, and project management – to provide ag retailers with the cost-effective solutions needed to manage every fertilizer aspect of their operations. “Our engineers design our equipment to be extremely efficient, fast, and accurate. Our team members are excellent problem solvers who can provide sound solutions for our customers,” Colsden says.
Automation Equates to Accuracy
Efficiency has everything to do with accuracy, which is where AGI excels in fertilizer handling. “With our weigh hoppers and mixing technology, we do an exceptional job of blending and can qualify accuracy of our declining weight systems to .5%,” Colsden says. He notes that older blending systems, where skid steers or payloaders are used to fill a hopper on a scale, aren’t reliable and can lead to inaccurate blends. “Whereas, if you’re using a fully automated system like our Declining Weight Blend System, which is fast and accurate, you’re getting the exact amount of each product that you want in that blend,” Colsden says. “It’s highly automated and controlled by our software programming.”
The Declining Weight Blend System is one of the fastest and most accurate multi-feed blend systems available. It can be custom tailored to as few or as many products as a user requires, from micronutrients to dry additives. It also has multiple impregnation and blending capabilities. “Having more accurate and consistent fertilizer blends will translate to higher yields in the field and a better return on a farmer’s investment,” Colsden stresses. Accuracy and consistency are results of automation, which AGI has incorporated into its liquid and dry fertilizer systems. Liquid fertilizer systems automatically formulate, blend, and load products. They feature mass flow meters that are accurate to .10%, Colsden says. Dry fertilizer systems feature different blending capabilities, including tapered vertical blenders, rotary drum blenders, and single-unit open top blenders. The systems use load cells to ensure customers are getting exactly the fertilizer they need, Colsden notes.
“All liquid and dry fertilizer blending and handling equipment is very precise and can be controlled to the customer specifications depending on the application and design of the equipment,” he adds. AGI’s automated liquid and dry fertilizer automated systems are also user friendly, Colsden stresses, noting that employees can be easily trained to use the equipment. Also, automation allows users to perform their tasks more accurately with fewer people. “The fertilizer systems are also designed to provide the best impregnation and most accurate blending capabilities that are available,” he adds. Colsden says AGI uses the highest-quality materials available to manufacture its fertilizer handling products. “That translates to high-quality, long-lasting equipment with the service and support after the sale that’s second to none, which will keep downtime to a minimum and equipment lasting longer,” he adds.
“Our engineers design our equipment to be extremely efficient, fast, and accurate. Our team members are excellent problem solvers who can provide sound solutions for our customers.” – Alan Colsden |
Colsden realizes that long-term efficiency is just as important for retailers and farmers, especially if fertilizer prices remain high and in short supply. He says that investing in high-quality fertilizer handling equipment that is built to last is the route retailers should take to gain long-term efficiency, as well as a solid return on investment. Making the Most of Fertilizer Production AGI’s fertilizer handling technology can help retailers gain efficiencies now and in the long term AGI’s Declining Weight Blend System is one of the fastest and most accurate multi-feed blend systems available. Colsden also notes that a good way to reduce fertilizer loss is by designing fertilizer sheds with conditioner equipment that allow poor-quality product to be reconditioned for use, rather than discarded. Another way is to design receiving and loadout systems to minimize fertilizer handling. “The more you handle it, the more dust it creates,” he adds. “The dust from product degradation leads to shrinkage and low inventory in the shed.”
It’s About the Customer
Custom design – and tailoring to the needs of the customer – has perhaps never been more important to ensure efficiency, particularly for those with smaller workspaces, Colsden says. “There are many different sizes of ag retail locations. Some are small and require a 1,200-ton dry fertilizer shed, while the larger wholesale locations may require a 30,000- ton shed,” Colsden says. “We’re able to cater to both sizes of customers because our equipment is so versatile. We build everything to the customer’s specifications. We have many different options for blending and handling of liquid and dry products. These systems are all built to accommodate to customers’ workspace sizes and capacity requirements.” AGI offers a range of blending and mixing equipment, which offers easy scalability. The exact same system in a large dry or liquid fertilizer shed could be used on a smaller scale in a shed that’s 75% smaller, Colsden says.
“All of these modular equipment pieces are able to be easily configured to whatever size the customer wants,” he adds. Colsden also stresses that AGI puts safety first when developing its fertilizer handling equipment. “Safety should be at the top of every workplace’s list,” he adds. “At AGI, we follow strict safety guidelines, and we build specially designed equipment to handle products that can be flammable and dangerous, such as sulfur.” Colsden points out that sulfur is flammable and can cause fires in dry sheds when sulfur particles become airborne. “We’re designing equipment to help reduce that dust and put safeguards in place to keep those fires from happening. We pride ourselves on being one of the only companies in the industry taking this approach,” he adds.