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Cargill Crop Nutrition Launches Precision Agriculture Management Tool for Farmers Cargill Crop Nutrition. www.cargillfertilizer.com. Minneapolis, MN (July 15, 2002) Cargill Crop Nutrition™ has developed a patent-pending, proprietary fertilizer management system that provides farmers a more precise and economical method for applying nitrogen fertilizers to their fields. The Insite VRN™ (Variable Rate Nitrogen) system combines remote sensing and advanced computing tools with Global Positioning Satellite mapping technology to prospectively pinpoint a field’s optimum soil nitrogen levels and create an application “prescription” to address site-specific soil nutrient needs. Test studies of this new precision agriculture tool have shown that Insite VRN™ helps to minimize unnecessary fertilizer use and maximize crop profitability. Developed by members of Cargill’s Central Research and Crop Nutrition teams, Insite VRN™ was introduced on a pilot basis in 2001 on nearly 1,000 acres of corn test plots in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Ontario. Insite VRN™ delivered an average $16 per acre savings over conventional, “flat rate” nitrogen fertilizer applications. The economic advantage of Insite VRN™ was enhanced by increases in yield in nearly all of the test locations. An independent study conducted by Montana State researchers in 2001 showed a $25 per acre return for wheat farmers using variable rate nitrogen™ technology compared to flat rate fertilizer application, based on a combination of nitrogen fertilizer savings and improved yields for dryland winter wheat. Insite VRN™ is ideally suited for farmers where substantial soil variability leads to variation in yield potential in their fields. Farmers prospectively review a detailed, map spread-cost analysis of their fields to determine potential profitability before committing to the process. Cargill Crop Nutrition Agronomist Ron Olson explains that Insite VRN™ technology links the latest technology with the best agronomic and environmental practices and has the capacity to improve the uniformity of quality traits for farmers who are producing specialty crops. “This technology is an important component in helping provide farmers an acre-by-acre management strategy that capitalizes on technological and agronomic know-how, while enabling the farmer to practice good environmental stewardship,” Olson said. Cargill expects Insite VRN™ to be utilized on a number of corn and wheat fields in the United States this crop season. Applications of the technology to cotton and other crops are currently under development. For further information, visit www.cargillfertilizer.com. Cargill Incorporated is an international marketer, processor and distributor of agricultural, food, financial and industrial products and services with 90,000 employees in 57 countries. Cargill provides distinctive customer solutions in supply chain management, food applications and health and nutrition. Contact: David Feider, Cargill
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