Obion Farmers Cooperative opens new fertilizer-blending facility

After 47 spring seasons in the old fertilizer building, Obion Farmers Cooperative has upgraded to a new-and-improved fertilizer-blending facility. On August 1, more than 150 local farmers, board members, Tennessee Farmers Co-op employees, Greenpoint Ag employees, and others gathered to celebrate the opening of this outstanding new addition. Guests enjoyed a delicious lunch, toured the facility, and spent time in friendly conversation.

John Rimmer, the general manager of Obion Farmers Co-op, played a vital role in researching, planning, and construction to make the new facility a reality.

“The old facility was built in 1978,” John explained as he addressed the large crowd gathered for the celebration. “It has served its purpose well, but it’s reached the end of its lifespan.”

For nearly 20 years, the Obion Farmers Co-op Board of Directors has been discussing building a new facility. Once the board came together and decided it was time to make the change, it took two years of planning and a year of construction to make it happen.

Board member Tim Partin outlined the extensive planning needed to build the facility.

“We did a lot of research, toured other facilities, and discussed what kind of operation we wanted,” Tim explained. “Then, our manager, John, did further research. He spent countless hours doing the digging since it was a busy time of the year for the board members.”

As a long-time member of the board, Tim is excited to see this long-term goal come to fruition. “It’s a fantastic building, and I’m proud of it. I’m glad as a board member that we finally got to this point.”

The Obion Farmers Co-op staff and board members are happy to better serve the farmers in their community with this addition.

“In a business space full of competition, service to the farmers is what we want to be the best at and what we intend to hang our hats on. When you see what we’ve built and the quality fixed assets we’ve invested in here, there’s no doubt we can handle any workload that any farm operation could throw our way,” John added.

With the new facility, Obion Farmers Co-op is capable of blending and receiving 200 tons per hour, comfortably loading and unloading six to seven truckloads per hour on either side of the building. The facility primarily depends on a Ranco blending system.

Builder Chad Owens is no stranger to building fertilizer facilities at Co-op locations. For the past several years, Chad has been building fertilizer sheds at stores such as Weakley Farmers Co-op, Ag1, First Farmers Co-op, and Robertson-Cheatham Farmers Co-op. John credits the work adding “Chad and his team are top notch, very knowledgeable and do the highest quality work.”

When Dalton Cashon, the operations manager at Obion Farmers Co-op, was asked to describe the main difference between the old and new facilities, he said one word: efficiency.

“In the old facility, it seemed like anytime we unloaded a truck, something would break,” he said. “And the heated floor is a big deal. There will be very minimal loss of fertilizer in this building compared to the old one.”

Heated floors in fertilizer storage facilities help maintain fertilizer quality by keeping it at a consistent, moderate temperature. It helps control moisture buildup and controls condensation, keeping it from clumping and caking.

“Things will be working as they should,” Dalton added. “It’s going to be very nice.”

After nearly five decades in the old facility, Obion Farmers Co-op personnel and board members are excited for the opening of their new facility and proud to be able to better serve the farmers in their area.