AGT Soileos held their grand opening in Rosetown on Wednesday, October 11.
Read more through the AGT Food's official release, as the new operation is a result of the partnership between AGT Foods and and Lucent Bio. The two companies put their expertise together to manufacture the flagship product "Soileos" that works to deliver sustainable, efficient, and eco-friendly micronutrient fertilizer solutions.
GM of AGT Soileos Jason McNamee, and Founder and CEO of Lucent Bio Michael Riedijk were just two of Wednesday's speakers. Other guests taking the stage included Minister of Energy and Resources, Rosetown-Elrose MLA Jim Reiter, and Rosetown mayor Trevor Hay.
AGT Foods President and CEO Murad Al Katib was also in attendance. Inside the AGT release, Katib shared, "Rosetown has been a key part of AGT's facility operations with a dedicated local team, and great community support from the producers in the region."
AGT's President and CEO was present for the event in Rosetown on Tuesday Wednesday's event was just the beginning of what could be a giant step for AGT Soileos. They are invested in attempting new ways to usher in an era of continued sustainable practices for producers around the world.
"Sustainability is really important on the farm in terms of soil health, and carbon intensity. That's what the consumer is demanding." said the AGT President during an on-site interview. "One of the challenges always is that the farmer is being asked to do this, but there is no return for the farmer to do it right now."
Katib said this project provides a natural product that will boost yields immediately, while still working to do things like sequester carbon and return carbon to the soil.
"While they are improving their smart fertilization, they get an immediate cash return. That's what I think will be important to enacting this stuff at the farm level, there has to be a return to the farmer for embracing the innovation and technology."
Katib shared that this facility will sequester the equivalent of 20,000 tons of carbon. Creating a negative-carbon-facility was a main goal for everyone involved.
"Overall, agriculture has a major carbon footprint today. About 40% of the carbon and greenhouse gas created by agriculture comes from nitrogen fertilizer. The efficient use of micronutrients will ultimately reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizer over a cycle. This will help to reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of agriculture."
The Soileos team is embracing the shift in thinking , and Katib is happy to bring AGT along for the ride.
"I think it's exciting for the farmers, and I think that there will be a tangible benefit to doing this stuff.
Soileos product samples were made available along with tours of the facilityExcitement also stems from the fact that AGT was able to revitalize their current location north of Rosetown. Not only did the pre-existing building save them a lot of money, but another massive carbon footprint as well.
Katib clearly values Rosetown as part of the AGT operations, and shared some brief history behind the re-purposed building.
"This was AGT's very first facility outside of Regina. Twenty years ago we bought this, and it was a lentil and canary seed processing facility." recalled Katib as they removed the grain handling infrastructure and set up a state-of-the-art operation." We were able to take a facility, brown-field convert it, invest $10 million of new equipment and technology and create something that will give jobs and opportunities for the next 20 years around Rosetown."
The new location is located one mile north of Rosetown on Highway #4. According to AGT Soileos, Wednesday's grand opening was a day to unite innovation, sustainability, and investment prowess to 'redefine the future of agriculture.'
Thu, Apr 25, 9:30 AM
