i'm not sure if nutrien has officially announced their global plans yet, but yesterday marked the last day of work for employees at my local nutrien facility. they were given just a week's notice—quite the christmas gift.
the facility has rail service and has seen significant investment over the past few years, including a new dry fertilizer blender and upgraded liquid fertilizer storage. there's no clear plan yet for what will happen with the site. maybe a group of local farmers or even a single farmer could buy or lease it as a turn-key operation. leasing might be the better option, considering the site could be classified as a hazardous waste area.
the only remaining nutrien employee locally is my neighbor, the facility manager, who now works from home as a salesperson. he's been tasked with convincing customers that nutrien can still meet their needs from a facility 35 miles—or 45 minutes—away. time will tell how that pans out. for me, this likely means upgrading from my 10-ton tender truck and wagon to a 25-ton semi-trailer tender to make the longer trips to competitor facilities more efficient. but will that actually make me more efficient?