Emerald Coast has a New Facility

Jennifer Zurko

Emerald Coast Growers has constructed a new, 6,000 sq. ft. consolidated soil mixing facility, increasing efficiency and allowing easier custom blending by crop. The new facility—located at the company’s Milton, Florida, operation—utilizes two soil lines equipped with Kase soil feeders with agitators mounted on soil handling conveyors. They were designed with Kase fertilizer and Gladiator feeders for easy customization of both fertilizer and Perlite rates to specific crops’ needs. The two soil lines feed into Kase B-Line flat fillers.

An electric-controlled 19-ft. long by 13-ft. high overhead hoist system paired with a medium-duty trolley lets Emerald Coast Growers use 60 cu. ft. loose fill bags to load the 4-yd. soil feeder. With it, they’re streamlining labor and consolidating their tray filling operations.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve our media handling facilities,” said Josiah Raymer, head grower for Emerald Coast Growers. “We decided on consolidating our soil facilities from three locations to one, which will allow us to increase the efficiency, consistency and flexibility of our mix production. This facility will allow us to keep a tighter control on media consistency and allow us to custom blend mixes for specific crops.” GT