Koch Fertilizer Canada expands headquarters

May 11, 2022

The $33-million upgrade to the Koch Fertilizer Canada admin building in Brandon, Manitoba brings its operations, logistics, and sales and marketing teams under one roof.

By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Image courtesy of Koch Fertilizer Canada

It took four years from its announcement in 2019 to its completion in 2022, but Koch Fertilizer Canada, ULC, now has a new administrative building at its Brandon, Manitoba facility.

A special ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on May 4, 2022, at the facility, headlined by: the Honourable Heather Stefanson, Premier of Manitoba; Mayor Rick Chrest; and Economic Development Director Sandy Turdel.

The project, one of the largest investments ever made at the site, is one of several significant upgrades designed for expansion, efficiency, and improved environment, health and safety performance. Horizon Builders Ltd., established in Brandon 40 years ago, is the project’s general contractor.

The new $33-million space brings together its operations, logistics, and sales and marketing teams under one roof, and features office space for more than 100 employees.

Back in 2019, the company, Plant Manager Paul Liddle, recognized that the headquarter construction would be more than just about itself: “Not only are we making a significant investment in our business and our community, but our plans are a clear demonstration we are growing in Manitoba and believe we have a strong future in the province.”

The new building features a tree-lined façade, structure upgrades such as energy-efficient windows, doors and insulation, a new control room with state-of-the-art process control instrumentation, a laboratory, and maintenance shop.

Koch has grown from a single ammonia production facility to become a leading fertilizer producer, globally distributing more than 10 million metric tons of product annually, such as ammonia, urea, UAN, phosphate, and ATS.

The company has one production facility in Canada, and four in the US, with parent corporation, Koch Industries, Inc. hosting over 130,000 employees in 60 countries.

For more information on Koch Fertilizer Canada, visit https://kochfertilizer.com.

Video: LALEXPERT: Sclerotinia cycle and prophylactic methods

White rot, also known as sclerotinia, is a common agricultural fungal disease caused by various virulent species of Sclerotinia. It initially affects the root system (mycelium) before spreading to the aerial parts through the dissemination of spores.

Sclerotinia is undoubtedly a disease of major economic importance, and very damaging in the event of a heavy attack.

All these attacks come from the primary inoculum stored in the soil: sclerotia. These forms of resistance can survive in the soil for over 10 years, maintaining constant contamination of susceptible host crops, causing symptoms on the crop and replenishing the soil inoculum with new sclerotia.