Mike Davey stands in one of the buildings which will soon be demolished.
Mike Davey stands in one of the buildings which will soon be demolished.
By the end of this year, staff at Ravensdown New Plymouth will have moved into their new $30 million premises, leaving behind the old Waiwhakaiho site for good.
It will be the end of an era for all, but perhaps especially so for Mike Davey, the farmer-owned co-operative's regional manager.
Mike's father Jack Davey worked for New Zealand Farmer's Fertiliser Company Ltd, which was bought by Ravensdown in 1997, as an accountant, first in Auckland, and later on in New Plymouth at the site which still stands today.
In total, Jack worked for 50 years for the two companies, an impressive feat which has since been topped by Mike, who is in his 51st year of work for the same two companies.
As Mike walks around the Waiwhakaiho site, which remains operational until the new site is ready, he explains every nook and cranny of the historic place.
"Before it was purchased by New Zealand Farmer's Fertiliser Company Ltd, this site was owned by the Taranaki Farmers Meat Co-op, and some of the original buildings still stand."
In fact the old killing chamber now houses some of the bulk produce such as potash and urea before it is loaded onto trucks and distributed.
Mike points out areas where he remembers playing as a kid here when he used to come to Dad's work, as well as the sites of buildings already demolished before the final move later this year.
"We have had a few photographic groups come through and take pictures of the old buildings, as they certainly have some historic relevance, and this time next year, they won't be here any more."
Plenty of older farmers will remember driving to the site to purchase their fertiliser, says Mike.
"Back then, a big order would have been about five tonnes, now it would be 40 tonnes."
In Mike's office, his shelves and drawers are full of memories as well. Old price lists, photographs, order books, receipts.
There are numerous items which combine to give a nostalgic peek into times gone by.
"I wonder if any older farmers remember a time where they paid six pounds, seven shillings and six pence for a tonne of superphosphate," says Mike, looking at a price list dated January 21, 1926. The current price for a similar product is $319 plus GST.
It's not just the pricing which has changed over the years, says Mike.
"Back then, there were no bulk sales, it was all bagged up. Things like millet manure were sold. That's no longer something we sell."
Another change is in the number of people working at the site. There was a time the New Plymouth plant supplied all of Taranaki and King Country.
An old photo of the site.
"At its height, there would have been up to 120 people working here. But then it was a manufacturing site as well. Now it is just a dispatch site with six people working here."
Through the years, there have been many changes in farming and fertiliser, says Mike.
"Farming has certainly progressed in a way, mechanisation has changed the way things are done. In the late 1940s aerial top dressing came in, and that certainly accelerated sales, as farmers needed to purchase larger volumes for that." Farms have got bigger as well.
"There were a lot of small farms before, with an average herd being perhaps 25 or 30 cows, now the average would be 300 or so".
While it is certainly going to be emotional closing the door on the site for the final time later this year, Mike says he and the team are very excited about their new site.
"It's a massive development, which will hold 55,000 tonnes of fertiliser."
A new blending tower, one of only two in the Southern Hemisphere to use a particular type of new technology from the USA, will be able to process and dispatch up to 250 tonnes of precision, made-to-order fertiliser blends in one hour, says Mike.
This compares with a current rate of 80 tonnes an hour.
While Mike won't be drawn on who has purchased the old site, he does say all the buildings will be demolished.
"Some are gone already and the rest will be going. While it is shame to see them go, it is good for New Plymouth, which gains a brand new fertiliser plant with the latest technology in our new site, and this place will have a new life as something else."
