Tuscola, IL – For decades, the production of agricultural fertilizers used by farmers to enhance the yield of their crops has been largely located overseas. Now, access to freight rail is helping reduce dependence on imported nitrogen products while creating jobs in Illinois.
Cronus Fertilizers will build a $1.5 billion fertilizer plant in 2015 at the Tuscola, Illinois, Industrial Park, a CSX Select Site. Cronus’s new plant will create 175 permanent jobs on top of 2,000 construction jobs, and the Tuscola location was chosen because of its access to freight rail. Certification as a “CSX Select Site” takes into account size, access to rail, proximity to highways, workforce availability and water and environmental standards, among other factors. The Tuscola facility continues to benefit from the significant freight rail investments in Illinois.
“Continued record investment by railroads is good news for us all. Strong freight rail infrastructure attracts companies and creates jobs. Without freight rail access, Tuscola would not have been chosen for the new Cronus Fertilizer plant being built in 2015,” said Brian Moody, Executive Director of Tuscola Chamber and Economic Development, Inc.
Bringing fertilizer production back into the U.S. will create jobs, reduce costs to farmers and make agriculture more efficient. Thanks to freight rail, it looks like Illinois farmers will be feeding even more of the world in years to come.
