Farmers in the South Island now have even better access to Ballance’s popular liquid urea product with the availability of specialised tankers from local transport firms.
Hokonui Rural Transport (HRT) has bought a Kenworth tanker to haul n-rich liquid from the Ballance Service Centre in Gore, and Taylor Contractors is using a tanker trailer out of the fertiliser co-operative’s Rolleston Service Centre.
Craig Dickson, part owner and manager at HRT, says he could see a need for such a service as his yard adjoins the Ballance site.
‘I could see so much of it being carted away out of the Ballance yard and we decided to get on board with Ballance to go forward. HRT made the investment in the 15,000-litre Kenworth tanker and we are now looking to buy a trailer unit to go with it because of the future we see in Ballance’s liquid urea.’
It’s a similar story at Rolleston, with Taylor Contractors starting by using a tanker trailer and now looking to acquire a specialised tanker truck to double the capacity. Hilton Haulage also have a bulk tanker available for deliveries out of the Ballance Timaru Service Centre.
Alternatively farmers can pick up bulk supplies themselves in their 1,000-litre IBCs (intermediate bulk containers) and use their own spray boom equipment.
The move into bulk liquid urea in the lower and central South Island is streamlining liquid applications for farmers down south, says South Island Sales Manager Garth Dawson, following the opening of n-rich liquid plants in Gore and Timaru – hot on the heels of its pilot plant at Rolleston.
‘This area is the heart of New Zealand’s irrigated land mass and farmers have been quick to see the benefits of our n-rich liquid,’ says Mr Dawson.
‘The product is suited to application via their centre-pivot irrigation systems, or by spraying trucks. Because it is a precise liquid solution, not a suspension, there is no particulate matter to clog nozzles or sprayers.’
Mr Dawson says the n-rich liquid spraying can be combined with the application of herbicides and fungicides, cutting the cost for farmers, and he encourages farmers to discuss this option with their spraying contractor.
‘We have taken the product out into three Ballance Service Centres in the regions it serves, so farmers don’t have to cart product long distances.’
Plans are underway for a fourth store in Omarama to stock the product this year.
10 February 2011
