finding a healthy balance with customers

Achieving a balance between financial and environmental well-being is an ongoing process at Agrium. We feel we can deliver both to our customers. By adding value throughout the agricultural nutrients value chain, we are better able to assist retail and farm customers in their effort to maximize economic, safety and environmental performance.

our commitment to customers

Agrium is committed to empowering customers with information, products and technology that enhance returns while protecting the environment and the safety of their operations.

Agrium supports the implementation of an industry-wide nutrient stewardship system.

opportunities and challenges

• Stakeholder engagement with customers is critical to our success and leads to service improvements.
• Nutrient stewardship can be very complex given the wide variety of climatic, soil, cropping and management practices present across North and South America.
• Once product leaves our gates, we rely on third-party transportation providers. Working with these and other stakeholders to ensure our products are transported, stored and used safely, and for their intended purposes through their life cycle requires attention to education and stewardship programming.

actions

Customer Interaction
We have established a number of mechanisms to identify customer concerns and provide opportunities for feedback. This includes one-on-one contact, meetings, annual or bi-annual surveys, our website and toll free numbers. As a direct result of customer feedback, we have implemented a number of new initiatives such as customer loyalty programs, and increased training for sales and customer service staff. Our Customer Relationship Management information system allows us to target programs to match customer needs.

From 2004 to 2005, we expanded our retail business by 30 farm centers. This increases our ability to connect with growers to support their sustainability efforts. Agrium’s contribution to these efforts includes the provision of products, services, information and industry stewardship programming. We have expanded our product line through the addition of seed and specialty products like ESN. We continue to support growers through the development of BMPs and the nutrient stewardship system.

Nutrient Stewardship
In 2005, Agrium worked extensively with the Canadian Fertilizer Institute (CFI), The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), government, retailers and growers to formally adopt and begin the process of implementing an industry-wide nutrient stewardship system. This system provides a comprehensive approach for managing nutrients to deliver economic, environmental and social sustainability. The system is based on BMPs, which reduce nutrient losses to the environment by applying nutrients at the right rate, time and place.

With low world commodity prices, some best practices are not economically sustainable for our customers. As a result, these practices may not be adopted to the extent required to make meaningful improvements on environmental performance. We are working with researchers, government and farm groups to improve the economic sustainability of BMPs by refining the technology and promoting government policies that favor their adoption.

Product Safety and Security
We are working with industry, customers and regulators to promote the safe and secure manufacturing, handling, storage, transportation and application of commercial fertilizer products. This helps minimize the risk of injury due to accidental release or intentional misuse of fertilizer products.

Agrium has been involved in the CFI’s “Fertilizer Safety and Security Council” (FSSC) since its inception in 2003. This multi-stakeholder group is finalizing industry-wide codes of practice to provide a credible, effective, nationally consistent framework for the safe handling of ammonia and ammonium nitrate. We also worked with the FSSC to develop a comprehensive communications and training program for the emergency response community regarding the safe transportation of anhydrous ammonia.

Another way we are helping customers better understand the appropriate use of our products is by posting Material Safety Data Sheets, easy-to-use product fact sheets and specification sheets on our website.

Targeting the Illegal Use of Our Products
One common “recipe” to produce the illegal and highly addictive drug methamphetamine, uses anhydrous ammonia as a precursor ingredient. The Fertilizer Industry Methamphetamine Task Force, comprising members of TFI, including Agrium, the Agricultural Retailers Association and state fertilizer retailer organizations, is adopting a multi-pronged strategy to keep anhydrous ammonia out of the hands of criminals. The strategy focuses on increasing industry awareness of tactics for theft prevention and outreach to law enforcement officials.

Ammonium nitrate is safe when properly handled by suppliers and farmers, but is one of many products that can be used as an ingredient for making explosives. To address this issue, TFI partnered with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Association of American Plant Food Control Officials to create “America’s Security Begins with You” — a campaign aimed at securing ammonium nitrate against criminal misuse. On the Canadian side, Agrium supports this effort with the equivalent “On Guard for Canada” program, which encourages those handling ammonium nitrate to implement security plans, maintain records of all sales of ammonium nitrate and alert law enforcement officials of suspicious activity.