As the company grew it was apparent that more space for manufacturing would be necessary. Lancaster County Pennsylvania had a growing demand for Mr. Johnson fertilizer blends. For this reason, The Organic Development Company relocated to its current location in Bainbridge, PA. in 1961. The Lancaster County sales were greatly influenced by the sales of Rufus Miller, a local to Bainbridge, PA. Also, in 1961, when the company moved to its current location, was the beginning of liquid fertilizer blending. Liquid fertilizers at the time were primarily a blend of liquid fish emulsions.

In 1973, ownership changed and along with this change, the name of the company changed to The Natural Development Company. The new owner Rufus Miller changed the name again in 1975 to The Fertrell Company. Fertrell is a combination of other words pertaining to good soil health and fertility – Fertilizer –FER, Trace minerals – TR, and Elements – ELL, to form Fertrell.

In 1974, Fertrell’s customers encouraged Mr. Miller to develop vitamin & mineral supplements for their livestock. This was the beginning of the Fertrell Nutri-Balancer line of livestock supplements. The addition of livestock supplements became more apparent due to revealed shortages of minerals in the soil test of the farmlands. Fertrell was one of the first to use probiotics, dried seaweed meal, and chelated trace minerals for livestock and poultry supplements. In 1974, this was cutting-edge technology to the animal nutrition world.

Rufus Miller continued as owner of The Fertrell Company from 1973 to 1991. In 1991, three employees, David Mattocks, Dennis Nygard, and Reuben Gantz, joined to purchase Fertrell from Mr. Miller. This partnership lasted until 1996 when Mr. Nygard re-tired. The other two partners remained until 2000 when Mr. Gantz also retired. David Mattocks continued as sole owner until 2003. In 2003, David Mattocks entered Fertrell into an ESOP – employee stock ownership program. An ESOP was the best option for ensuring Fertrell products and services for the next generations of farmers, gardeners, and all the Fertrell community.

The Fertrell Company has been blessed for over 77 years with the best customers, great employees, and visionary leaders. It has seen many pivotal milestones along the way. From the beginning with one man’s passion, to a handful of inspired entrepreneurs, to now over 25 employees that all have a level of ownership in one of the greatest organic fertilizer companies ever. With the help of great mentors like Jack Robinette for assisting with the formulation of Poultry Nutri-Bal-ancer, the insight of Dr. Robert Patton for the development of Rumi Cult 40 — now RC Gold 4X. The partnership with world-renowned spokesperson Joel Salatin who has been using Poultry Nutri-Balancer since the spring 1997.

Fertrell began its journey in a man's garage in Maryland. From there, it evolved into a small facility for mixing, blending, and bagging in Lancaster County, PA. Today, Fertrell has grown into a thriving, employee-owned company with over 25 dedicated staff members.

Fertrell now sells and distributes through dealers and directly to all the U.S. states, Canada, and abroad.

Fertrell’s mission has always been — “Healing the Earth and Feeding the world Better Naturally!”