Bin Storage Guidance Resources

Bin Storage Guidance

This guidance was developed through the efforts of Fertilizer Canada and our members, including manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of fertilizers. We recognize the need for consistent industry-wide guidance and best management practices for dry fertilizer bin storage to mitigate safety concerns related to storing dry fertilizer products. The guidance document is intended to provide guidance for facilities that store dry fertilizer products in flat-bottom bins or in hopper-bottom bins. Specifically, this document covers best practices for preventing and managing cliffing in dry fertilizer storage bins.

Following consistent voluntary industry best management practices will help raise the bar on safety for Canada’s fertilizer industry. The goal is to establish a common set of best management practices for dry fertilizer storage, that, upon adoption at the retail and farm level, will decrease the associated risks with cliffing and cliff management of dry fertilizer.

As an industry association that works to advance the safe, secure, and sustainable use of commercial grade fertilizer, Fertilizer Canada’s safety stewardship programming is paramount. The Dry Fertilizer Bin Storage Guidance & Best Management Practices document is part of Fertilizer Canada’s best-in-class safety stewardship program, Fertilize S.A.F.E. The program works to educate, enable, and empower those in the fertilizer supply chain through the use of industry enforced codes of practice, educational resources, and training tools. Fertilize S.A.F.E. helps define safety and security for all industry players.

The guidance in this document applies to bulk dry fertilizers (for example, urea, potash, monoammonium phosphate (MAP), and ammonium sulfate (AMS), among others) that are stored in flat-bottom and hopper-bottom storage bins at distribution and retail facilities. This document also applies to on-farm storage, and Section 3 contains additional recommendations specific to on-farm storage considerations. Any bulk dry fertilizer product can cake, cliff, or bridge if the conditions covered in this document exist. This document does not apply to any form of bagged fertilizer storage.

For storage of bulk ammonium nitrate (AN) and calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), please refer to Fertilizer Canada’s Agricultural Ammonium Nitrate (AN) and Calcium Ammonium Nitrate Code of Practice. This guidance is intended to support fertilizer distributors, retailers, and users by providing best management practices for preventing dry fertilizer from cliffing during storage as well as best management practices for dislodging cliffed/bridged fertilizer in a safe and effective manner.

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