Huron County agricultural manufacturer spreading 'nutrients' across North America

In a small non-descript welding shop in the Huron County village of Walton, Gary Sutcliffe and his employees are building some of the most precise manure management machines in the world.

“Ninety, ninety-five percent of what we build goes to the U.S. - so, unless you happen to drive by when we’re loading a tank, you’d have no idea what we do here. There’s people who live a mile away that don’t know half of what we do,” said Sutcliffe, president of Walton Equipment Rentals and Manufacturing.

What started as a business renting out farm equipment, has morphed into an innovative farm implement manufacturer. Specifically, making equipment designed to precisely spread manure on farmer’s fields. A smelly proposition for neighbours, but an essential part of any farming operation.

“It’s all about limiting chemical fertilizers, being more environmentally friendly. Basically, the best use of nutrients which has led to some of the products that we build. The new one [is], the Dribble Boom,” said Sutcliffe.

WER Manufacturing President, Gary Sutcliffe, and Huron County farmer, Peter Heinrich inspect the first Dribble Boom, currently being used on Heinrich’s farm near Blyth, on July 8, 2024 (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

Sutcliffe said WER Manufacturing’s Dribble Boom is about precision. Attached to the back of a liquid manure tank, the Dribble Boom is a zero pressure, zero mist way to apply nutrients to farmer’s fields. Blyth area farmer Peter Heinrich helped Sutcliffe develop the prototype, and has been happily using it for the last two years.

“We can be confident, that with this, we spread the same amount of nutrients all across the field. We don’t have spots where we are too heavy or too light, we are even across the field,” said Heinrich.

Which matters to Heinrich and all farmers, who are no longer in the business of throwing some seeds and fertilizer in the ground, and seeing what happens.

“With some of the world shortages that there’s been in the past couple of years in the chemical fertilizers, farmers need to get the best use from what they already have. They’ve got to spread it anyway, why not spread it accurately,” said Sutcliffe.

Dribble Boom demand is keeping Sutcliffe and his workers very busy, with five orders in the past six months alone.

Welder at WER Manufacturing builds parts for a Dribble Boom, in March 2024 (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

“We’ve got more people on payroll than we’ve ever had. We’re just trying to keep up with demand,” said Sutcliffe.

Sutcliffe said there are several, largely unknown, but bursting at the seams manufacturers like him all across Huron County. That proximity matters to Heinrich, who is used to shipping in equipment and parts from Europe and the United States.

“It’s one of the reasons we decided to work with Gary. Cause his shop is 15 minutes away from our farm. You can’t get much better than that,” said Heinrich.

Sutcliffe expects continued growth in the years to come for WER Manufacturing, and their Dribble Boom, as farming continues to evolve with its attention towards protecting the environment, while getting the most out of each acre of farmland.