Fertilizer plant opens in Marston

Eric Chapman, operations supervisor, and Jon Berg, operations manager, check seed quality as it comes through the final product screener at Agrium Advanced Technologies' new plant in Marston. The company produces coated fertilizer known as Environmentally Smart Nitrogen.
(Michelle Felter, Staff)

Agrium Advance Technologies began production of its coated, time-release fertilizer in early February, said Jon Berg, operations manager.

The product is dubbed ESN -- Environmentally Smart Nitrogen, explained Berg.

"The coating allows it to release its nitrogen into the ground at different times and at a controlled amount," he said. "It's environmentally smart because it doesn't dissolve into the groundwater if there's a heavy rainstorm after it's applied."

The fertilizer works on all major nitrogen loss mechanisms, including ammonia volatilization, nitrate leaching and denitrification. Moisture moves through the coating into the granule and dissolves the urea inside. The urea solution then moves out through the coating into the soil where it becomes available to the crop.

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