Ballance Agri-Nutrients is seriously looking at options for a complete redevelopment of the country's only ammonia-urea manufacturing plant at Kapuni.
Two of the country's largest farmer-shareholder co-operatives are on expansion paths far removed from their origins as basic procurers and suppliers of phosphate-based fertiliser.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients and Ravensdown have embraced technology and both now provide a wide range of science-based services to their members.
Both have tried various ways to increase their service levels and product ranges over the 38 years they have been rivals in business, and both have had hard years that pushed them into the red financially.
Since the global financial crisis kicked in in 2008, during which many farmers simply stopped buying fertiliser in order to cut overheads, the two companies have re-invented their business models.
Ballance set out on the acquisition trail, taking over small companies to expand its customers' access to complete nutrient advice and products across farm systems.
The Tauranga-based cooperative is now distributing $30million to its 19,253 farmer-shareholders - 87per cent of its 2015/16 gross trading result. Ravensdown has announced a profit before tax and rebate of $62m in the year ended May 31, 2016, paying out a total annual rebate of about $44m to its shareholders.
Ballance chairman David Peacocke says the core value of the co-operative has not changed in its 60 years. What has changed, he says, is that farmers are busier, operating over larger properties and working within increasingly tight environmental demands.
"So along with a secure supply of the right nutrients, we continually broaden our scope to tailor our products, our technology offerings and our advice to today's farming needs."
Ballance has expanded its offering steadily since buying out the 60per cent of Summit-Quinphos it did not already own in 2008. It absorbed that business into its own operations over time, at one stage renaming it Altum.
In 2011 it strengthened its presence in the animal nutrition field by acquiring SealesWinslow, making it the market leader in branded calf feed, and first and second top supplier in supplement blocks.
In 2014 it took over Ag Hub to augment its mapping, nutrient management, and online ordering capabilities.
For the past 20 years it has kept one of Rob Muldoon's Think Big projects alive and viable at Kapuni, the country's only ammonia-urea manufacturing plant, and is seriously looking at options for a complete redevelopment of the plant.
The hi-tech plant converts atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia and then to urea. The natural gas used to power this plant is sourced from the nearby Maui gas field.
In addition, an extremely high-purity urea solution is used to produce GoClear, an exhaust system additive and scrubbing agent that reduces toxic nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from diesel engines, breaking the NOx down into harmless water vapour and nitrogen gas.
Supported by the Ministry for Primary Industries Primary Growth Partnership (PGP), Ballance has recently developed three new tools: Spreadsmart, which combines GPS guidance and tracking systems with computerised farm mapping to automate the opening and closing of an aircraft's fertiliser hopper to meet the precise requirements; N-Guru, a model that more accurately predicts pasture responses to nitrogen, and MitAgator, a tool designed to identify and quantify the areas on farm that are at risk of losing phosphorus, sediment, nitrogen, and microbial contaminants.
Ballance science strategy manager Warwick Catto said once farmers adopted these new tools, the benefits would alter the way they think about the relationship between fertiliser and the land.
Gareth Richards, group communications manager at Ravensdown, says there are differences between the two big co-operatives in terms of product lines they sell.
The range now includes agri-chemicals, seeds and animal health products, in addition to fertiliser and lime.
Under its now-retired chief executive, Ravensdown set up a fertiliser supply business in Western Australia and in Queensland. It also joined Solid Energy (now in receivership) in a costly feasibility study to determine if urea could be made using locally sourced lignite coal.
At that time it led the market in nitrification inhibitor technology with EcoN, until residues were detected in stock and the product was voluntarily withdrawn from market, as was Ballance's alternative product DcN.
"Since 2012 it been about going back to our core business and coming up with solutions to customers' needs," says Mr Richards.
The co-operative has just completed its third year of its long-term strategy of concentrating on essential farm inputs and value-adding advice for the New Zealand agri-sector.
Ravensdown's "field rep" advisers use dedicated laboratories, award-winning mapping technology, laser-tracking measurement of grass growth, nutrient modelling software, GPS-controlled application and algorithms to help calculate soil nutrient status from the air.
Having purchased the aerial top-dressing operation Wanganui Aerowork in 2005, Ravensdown can lay claim to being the largest spreading company in New Zealand, with 20 aircraft backed by a fleet of 67 ground-spreaders.
It went a step further by purchasing the C-DAX spraying, spreading and pasture meter manufacturer in 2011.
The refocus under new CEO Greg Campbell in 2012 also included a harsh look at the balance sheet, resulting in Ravensdown delivering a record rebate in 2015 while repaying over a third of a billion dollars in debt in the past three years. It has 608 permanent employees and about 90 stores.
As a company, it conducts 68,000 soil tests a year in its own independently accredited laboratory ARL. In total, it produces about 30,000 proof-of-placement maps each year - clearly demonstrating exactly what fertiliser has gone where.
Testing is under way on new load doors on its fixed-wing aircraft that can be adjusted by computer to match the exact requirements of the placement map. And its truck spreaders are working towards computer placement of fertiliser to within 20cm accuracy.
"It's about putting the right amount in the right place," says Mr Richards.
"That's something a co-operative can do - it's our role. Farmers know we can provide advice and know-how they can trust - there is no hidden agenda."
He says such proof of placement is going to become of great importance as regional councils continue to tighten their regulations relating to nitrate run-off and leaching.
"A co-operative like Ravensdown should never be trying to sell more fertiliser to farmers than what is needed by the farmers," he says.
The technology side of Ravendown's solutions strategy will increase value in the years ahead, says Mr Campbell.
"This includes developments like soil sensing from the sky, predictive feed wedge tools, whole-farm soil testing, custom-blended formulations and improved mapping capabilities. We also expect to see further growth in our environmental consultancy as more and more farmers seek our help on environmental mitigations, consenting and compliance issues."