Despite a poor weather forecast, a warm & sunny day prevailed for the Grand Opening of our Fertilizer Facility at the Oakwood Ag Centre on Saturday, April 1st. Customers began arriving around 8:30am and continued all morning long. We estimate that as many as 400 patrons attended the event. 

A pancake breakfast was served, including homemade maple syrup supplied by several of our very own Co-op employees. Jim Richards and Vanessa Murphy from Bounce FM promoted and covered the event. The following government dignitaries were in attendance and spoke during the ceremonies: 

• Jamie Schmale (MP) 
• Laurie Scott (MPP)
• Dan Joyce (City Councilor)
• Andrew Veale (Former City Councilor) 

Other VIP's in attendance included Brad Schatz of Advance Millwrights, who built the facility, sales representatives from Mosaic and Timac and the Sunderland Co-op Board of Directors. 

General Manager, Peter Stanbury spoke about the project, the benefits the new facility offers, and thanked all who came out to support the Grand Opening. A ceremonial ribbon-cutting and photo opportunity rounded out the event. Tours of the facility took place after the event, with a coffee and social time for all. 

The new Fertilizer Facility is an automated 21,000sq-ft facility with bulk storage capacity of 6500MT of fertilizer, in-floor heating, toting/bagging area, a new Sackett-Waconia tower with 230MT of overhead storage and a high-speed blender, a three-station liquid impregnation system and inventory management system. 

Read more about our Fertilizer Facility here.