CF Industries Visit

The Minnesota FFA State Officer Team traveled to Rosemount on October 1st to visit CF Industries. Upon arriving we were greeted by Mr. Scott Dohmen manager of Pine Bend Warehouse and Mr. Joel Loberg a supervisor at the facility. Introductions were shared as well as a light breakfast followed by a video on the history of the business. CF Industries is a global leader in fertilizer manufacturing and distribution. The business was formed in 1946 as a fertilizer brokerage operation by a group of cooperatives. In 2005 the company transitioned and established CF Industries Holding, Inc. as a public company. Recently in 2010 CF Industries acquired Terra Industries Inc. and is now the premier nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer manufacturer in North America. Mr. Dohmen and Mr. Loberg informed us that safety is the number one priority of the facility and briefed us on the safety procedures of the plant before we set out to check out their operation.

We fist ascended up into the screening mill. CF Industries takes great pride in ensuring a quality product. All their fertilizer is screened and hammered to break up any clumps so farmers do not have to worry about clogged machinery. The three main products that the flow through the Pine Bend plant is Urea, Monoammonium Phosphate (MAP), and Diammonium Phosphate (DAP). The product is received from barge and train and is then redistributed.

We had the opportunity to head down to the dock and see the equipment used to unload all the barges. At the current time Jacob was performing weekly maintenance on one of the large cranes. The officers had the chance to hop up in the cab of the operating crane and to better understand how it runs. Receiving and distributing fertilizer on rail cars means the company owns a few train engines. The officers had an opportunity to drive the engine as long as we blew the horn before moving. Mr. Ertl gave it a try behind the controls and was by far the best driver!

One of the most amazing things that about our visit was the efficiency of the operation. The scale of CF Industries operation is astounding with up to nearly 400 semi trucks coming a day as well as barge and rail. Even with this size the grounds and buildings are extremely clean. You cannot find spilt fertilizer anywhere on the ground. All the equipment is clean and properly stored. Besides this the employees are required to go through a program in which they learn all the operations of the businesses so they can fill any role if needed. The company is also a great steward of the environment with zero tolerance of spills and participating in river clean ups. The information provided by both Mr. Dohmen and Mr. Loberg help us to better understand and represent the agriculture industry. We would like to thank CF Industries for inviting us to there business and sharing the day with us.

The MN State Officers standing on a pile of urea in one of the numerous storage buildings.

Respectfully submitted by the Rising Son,

Jason Troendle