What They Needed

Burke Admire, Branch Manager

Efficiency and member value were the driving forces Premier Ag’s new state-of-the-art agronomy facility in Shelbyville, IN. The central Indiana cooperative closed two aging locations in favor of the larger, centrally located site.

Premier Ag realized that the benefits of automation - improved speed, accuracy, and accounting – outweighed trying to maintain the old locations.

“We used to do everything manually. That meant that we would start filling a truck, go home for lunch, come back and it would still be filling.  Now we can fill it accurately in less than 15 minutes!” explained branch manager Burke Admire.

Going from manual operation to full automation, the learning curve was a big concern.

“We were apprehensive at first, but the ICS ControlPro software is very intuitive. It just makes sense. And, I know that if there is a problem, I still can operate things manually. ”

What We Designed

The 18,000 square foot facility features 2 loadout bays – one top load, one bottom load, a mini-bulk filling station, 35,000 gallons of bulk herbicide storage, approximately 10,000 gallon of mini-bulk herbicides, and 600 ton of liquid fertilizer storage.

Additional storage will be added as member demand is assessed.

The ICS ControlPro software automatically imports tickets from the agronomy software, blends the batches at the direction of a few mouse clicks, and then sends the data back to the home office for inventory and billing.

Benefits Received

Member feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Loads are completed accurately and on time. The driving time between the old locations and new has completely been made up for in productivity and speed.

“One of the first loads we did on the new system was for an influential member who is also quite particular. We were nervous,” said Admire. “But the system just did it. Not only was it fast, it was completely accurate! The member was very pleased.”

FACILITY PHOTO GALLERY

exterior

The new facility features both internal and external storage tanks with room for expansion.

aerial

Premier Ag’s new liquid fertilizer and crop chemical building is part of a larger 10 acre location in Shelbyville, IN.

ICS ControlPro

ICS ControlPro software manages the facility with an intuitive user-friendly interface. The same software imports and exports tickets to/from the home office for accurate accounting and billing.

Loadout Bays

With the facility’s top and bottom loading bays, vehicles and containers of various sizes can be filled quickly and precisely.

Overhead Loadout

The overhead loadout bay includes an expanding gangway and multi-point swivel arm for safe filling.

Premix

Small batches are accurately metered/weighed with the same ICS ControlPro software as the larger bulk deliveries.

Meters

Highly accurate TCS meters precisely measure both micronutrients and crop chemicals.

Control Box

Manual controls are clearly labeled and easily accessible. If the computer has an issue, the facility is still fully operational.

Mass Flow Meter

Large actuated control valves and a mass flow meter quickly and accurately move product indoors from the 600 ton fertilizer storage tanks.

Tanks

35,000 gallons of herbicides are stored inside in a series of stainless steel tanks.

Plumbings

Murray Equipment not only supplied the ICS ControlPro software and equipment, they engineered the entire system to meet Premier Ag’s Members’ needs.