SideRoads, Fall 2019

a COLLABORATION that delivers A TEAM APPROACH brings Nutrien Ag Solutions North Saskatchewan division its ideal trailer W hen Lindsay Gampe was looking for a new trailer for delivering fertilizer to his customers in Canadas northern prairies he knew where to turn As general manager of the Northwest Saskatchewan division of agricultural inputs retailer Nutrien Ag Solutions Gampe oversees product procurement and distribution for 18 Nutrien Ag Solutions branches about two hours north of Saskatoon This includes arranging deliveries of blended fertilizer to sites around the region Transfers are often made to storage bins but customers may also request direct delivery to their trucks The trailer Gampe chose would have to be fl exible enough to meet both those needs as well as height variances among bins He had experience with an older Walinga trailer at the divisions North Battleford branch and was impressed with how the unit had stood up over the years So he reached out to Walinga Technical representative Lyle VanVeen and other members of the Walinga team visited Gampes offi ce in Unity Saskatchewan to learn what he needed It was really cool dealing with them because they came out and we built it when we were sitting here across the desk basically says Gampe Theyd ask 6 Fall 2019 www walinga com the questions and wed say what we were looking for Then theyd go through the options This collaborative approach gave Gampe and his colleagues the chance to fi ne tune the trailer to the needs of their business For example it came up during the design consultation that the Northwest Saskatchewan Nutrien Ag Solutions team wanted more space on the top of the trailer for loading so Walinga built it wider than usual At the end of the meeting Gampes division had the exact specs for the trailer of their dreams So it was really a nice process he says A History of Innovation Gampes Northwest Saskatchewan division is part of Nutrien Ag Solutions a preeminent crop inputs business whose lineage goes back nearly two centuries It grew out of Crop Production Services a U S retailer of custom fertilizer pest control agents seed and precision farming services In 1995 international agricultural products company Agrium acquired Crop Production Services and it continued to grow over the next decade to 300 branches in 24 states By 2009 Crop Production Services had brought three other agricultural companies under its umbrella Western Farm Service with 80 plus facilities in fi ve U S states Royster Clark a leading provider of fertilizer seed and farm chemicals since 1855 with 300 retail locations in the eastern U S and United Agri Products an independent supplier of crop supplies distribution and storage with 370 locations in the U S and Canada