On July 25, agricultural representatives gathered with area farmers to celebrate the grand opening of Terraco’s newest supply warehouse located on Highway 210 near Île-des-Chênes.
Retail manager of the IDC location, Marc Davy, addressed the crowd alongside Cory Trumbla, co-owner of Terraco. Ritchot mayor Chris Ewen helped with the official ribbon-cutting. The event continued with a customer appreciation dinner.
Davy has managed Terraco IDC for the past three years and says his branch of the agriculture supply company has been growing steadily ever since. The opening of the new onsite climate-controlled warehouse is something he’s been eager to incorporate.
“What we’ve done for multiple years here is transport the crop protection chemicals from other locations,” Davy says. “We were putting it on our water trucks, our custom application trucks, and on our delivery one-tons and hauling them down the road and bringing them to farmers’ locations. But now they can safely come down here and pick it up.”
The large new warehouse is equipped with in-floor heating to keep temperature-sensitive ag chemicals stabilized during the colder months.
In past years, Davy says major shortages in many of the crop protection products has made it difficult to service farmers adequately.
“This has [encouraged] us to add storage facilities to Terraco so we can have good inventory supplies when products become short,” he says. “First and foremost, securing the product and having it in our facilities is the number one goal.”
If a supply company like Terraco can accept and store product during the off-season, he adds, supply is much easier, giving these companies a competitive edge during the spring and summer when demand is high for quick supply.
Being competitive is important in Manitoba, he says, when your competitors include Patterson Grain, Shur-Gro, and other well-known ag suppliers.
What makes Terraco stand out, Davy says, is their service model.
“We’re one of the few companies that work seven days a week. The seasons are short and fast, with long hours. We don’t work around the clock, but sometimes it comes very close.”
Davy believes that some of the success of the Terraco IDC location comes from the expertise he is able to bring to the table. With a background in agronomy, he’s been in the business for 38 years. Seventeen of those years were spent working for some of the biggest ag product companies in the world, like Monsanto, Dupont, and Koch Fertilizer.
“As my career rolled out, I found that one of the weakest links in agriculture was the retail sector giving poor advice to farmers,” Davy says. “Part of the problem is that nobody wants to work in this sector because of the long, crazy hours. So it’s hard to get really dedicated, certified, trained people.”
But client consultation is something Davy is passionate about. He’ll make personal visits to the farmer’s field to assess the situation before recommending any product. From there, the farmer is welcome to apply it or let Terraco staff do it for them.
Terraco IDC has the equipment and crew to offer full-service options. They store and apply anhydrous ammonia in the spring and fall and can dribble-band fertilizer in windy conditions.
Aside from crop protection products, they also carry a broad range of branded seed, including InVigor and Dekalb. For soybean alone, Terraco carries 19 different options.
To improve efficiency in product delivery, Terraco uses a centralized inventory system that keeps track of product availability at each of their five locations. When one branch is short on product, it can be mobilized out of another branch quickly.
Terraco is an independently owned local retailer that’s been serving Manitoba farmers for the past 80 years.
