AMERICAN PACIFIC BORATES Ltd (ABR) has provided an update on construction at its Fort Cady borate mine in California, US. Construction activities for the mine are ongoing, a second round of boron enriched sulfate of potash (SOP+B) crop trials is underway, and a new Plant Superintendent has been appointed. Construction activities for the mine are ongoing, with concrete poured last week for a materials warehouse measuring 90 m in length. Additionally, ABR and the University of Connecticut are working toward a second round of crop trials of ABR’s SOP+B specialty fertilizer. This round will target greenhouse crops that require SOP for growth. The second round will incorporate data obtained from the initial crop trial, and aims to expand on the positive results achieved. The company expects to be in a position to confirm the crops and trial parameters shortly.
PHOS-AGRO and EXACT FARMING have unveiled a digital system for monitoring the effectiveness and controlling the application of mineral fertilizers. The companies estimate that the new digital field monitoring system could have an impact of up to RUB 500 million per harvest per 100 000 ha. of farmed land. The system uses digital satellite monitoring, making it possible to see fields in their entirety from the ground. The automated system can monitor the condition of crops, allowing for the adjustment of mineral nutrition based on remote sensor data, an analysis of vegetation spectral indices, meteorological data and information from farms. Information on the nutrient contents of different fertilizer grades is input into the system using NFC tags on PhosAgro’s fertilizer packaging. The tags can be read by a mobile app, which transmits the data to the Exact Farming satellite agronomic monitoring system and links a particular fertilizer to specific geo-coordinates. Analysis of data on the results of the use of mineral fertilizers in dozens of Russian regions will make it possible to automate the selection of mineral crop nutrients for various combinations of crops and agro-meteorological conditions.
KOCH FERTILIZER, one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of fertilizers, anticipates investing nearly US$140 million at its Fort Dodge plant in Iowa, US, to revamp existing production processes, which is expected to increase ammonia production capacity by 85 000 tpy. The investment also will further improve reliability as well as environmental and safety performance. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2021 and the revamped processes are expected to be fully operational by Autumn 2022. The project builds on previous projects that increased ammonia storage and improved loading at the plant. Koch Fertilizer recently spent around US$20 million to increase ammonia storage at the site by replacing and upsizing one of the site’s cryogenic storage tanks. Additionally, the company completed improvements to the ammonia loading process, doubling ammonia loading capacity at the site. The improvements included new loading racks and pumps, and improved heating capacity for the loading racks, allowing trucks to fill faster and greatly reducing customer wait times during peak seasons.
