Our new state-of-the-art fertiliser blending plant and distribution centre, which officially opens in New Plymouth today, represents one of our largest ever capital projects in New Zealand.

The plant will commence production on March 5.

Situated on a 7.5ha site, the $30m store and blending plant is not only a commitment to Taranaki and surrounding regions, but will change the way some farmers receive and use fertiliser with economic and environmental benefits throughout the supply chain.

"This has been a massive undertaking and a great example of teamwork with the council and contracting partners. In terms of scale, there were 27km of roofing and cladding involved in the construction!", said Greg Campbell Ravensdown’s Chief Executive.

As a co-operative, we invest in plants like this to improve service to our owner-shareholders so they can continue to grow premium quality food,” he said.

The newly installed Precision Blending Plant will see precise blends and coatings of fertiliser made to order and of better quality. Environmental performance has been “designed in” to the facility’s operation.

The new site has enclosed operation for mixing, handling and bagging fertiliser to reduce dust and prevent trucks tracking product out of the store site. In addition, all stormwater on site is collected using a site water capture and bioremediation system to strip nutrients from the water.

“Farmers will be able to order custom blends of fertilisers tailored from their soil test results. Using these precise blends in conjunction with our precision spreading technology and digital mapping system is all about enabling smarter farming.

“Because farmers will be able to spread the exact amount of nutrients required it reduces the environmental impact on farm through applying the right amount of the right fertiliser in the right place,” he said.

The $30m investment is especially good news for Port Taranaki, and the Western and Central North Island.

“We import over 100,000 tonnes of mineral fertilisers through the port each year, supplying 150,000 tonnes to approximately 4300 farms. We also have strong control of our supply chain, from the port through our 17 stores across the Western and Central North Island to the farm gate thus ensuring quality, consistency and competitive pricing,” concluded Greg.

This is only the second Precision Blending Plant in Australasia after Ravensdown opened the first at our Christchurch site in 2016.