Waterman agricultural supplier Conserv FS showcases $12M expansion

WATERMAN – On Friday, agricultural product supplier Conserv FS showcased its $12 million expansion project at its Waterman facility.

Conserv FS, a leading supplier of agronomy, energy and turf services, debuted two new buildings during its open house event.

The expansion, located at 450 W. Adams St. in Waterman, included a new 7,500-ton dry fertilizer building equipped with a 24-ton blender. The new building will have the capacity to load eight semi-trucks per hour.

Adam Day, agronomy sales and market manager with Conserv FS, said the new facility will be six times larger and faster than the previous facility.

“It will truly allow us to provide speed and efficiency to take care of the farmer of the future,” Day said. “Our largest bin will have more capacity than a full barge, between 1,750 and 2,000 tons. Our previous capacity was around 1,100 tons max. ... It will take about 6 minutes to load a semi, when it would take 40 to 45 minutes before.”

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Conserve FS employees demonstrate some of the loading technology Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, during an open house in their new buildings at the facility in Waterman. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com)

According to a news release, the facility will offer three load bays with boy top and bottom load options and a 24/7 unattended bay with nitrogen solution available. Each of the bays can fill six semi-loads per hour.

The expansion also included a new chemical storage building that can hold 1.3 million gallons of liquid fertilizer, as well as 72,000 gallons of bulk crop protection storage.

Dave Swigart, Conserv FS general manager, said the expansion will allow the company to better serve its customers locally and nationwide.

“Although the size is a big change, the technology improvement is the real difference,” he said. “The dry fertilizer storage building will feature computerized mixing and blending.”

Swigart said the building has extra safety measures built into its design.

“The liquid storage building is designed to contain leaks,” he said. “The floor is sloped. Also, all of the loading is done indoors and under a roof, so it is all completely contained. The dry fertilizer will not be blown off or washed away.”

Swigart described the expansion as “an investment for the future.”

Brad Hoey, president of the DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau board, toured the new facility during the open house event.

“Projects like this will attract highly skilled workers to DeKalb County,” he said. “DeKalb County is still very agriculture-centric. Technology started with agriculture since the beginning of man. Agriculture and technology are part of our county’s history: barbed wire, hybrid corn and milk pasteurization. I see this project as another example of agricultural innovation in our community.”

For information about Conserv FS in Waterman, call 815-264-7709 or go to www.conservfs.com.