 |
Press Release
December 24, 2003
| |
Related Contact:
Bruce Lewis
NTech Industries, Inc.
1-707-964-3844
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) Purchases Greenseeker
Collingwood Grain Unit To Use New Technology For Winter Wheat
Kansas City, Kan. - ADM-Collingwood Grain has purchased a GreenSeeker on-the-go variable rate application system to fertilize up to 10,000 acres of Kansas winter wheat.
ADM's Collingwood Division operates 50 grain and farm supply locations in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado purchasing grain, providing crop consulting, fertilizers, ag chemicals, seed and custom application. It is the largest agricultural retailer in Kansas.
GreenSeeker fertilizer systems utilize an on-the-go optical sensor that emits and captures infrared and near infrared beams of light that measure the color and health of the crop, then deliver, in a fraction of a second, the precise amount of fertilizer needed for maximum yield. The system works equally well day or night when reduced wind drift minimizes over spray.
ADM-Collingwood will mount forty-five GreenSeeker optical sensors on an AGCO RoGator with a 90-foot boom. ADM operators will use GreenSeeker to spray ultra precise amounts of nitrogren fertilizer on wheat fields, starting in Sublette, Kansas and moving north this coming February and March.
After the harvest, the GreenSeeker technology will be used to spray fallow fields for weeds. Because the sensor can recognize a living plant, it only sprays the weed and not bare ground or stubble, reducing chemical use by as much as 85 per cent. The WeedSeeker function of the optical sensor technology is used worldwide in agricultural, as well roadside, irrigation districts, railroad rights-of-way, military and civilian airport runways, and golf courses.
USDA Award
In 2002, USDA Secretary Ann M. Veneman hailed GreenSeeker "the most revolutionary method for fertilizing crops in a century" and presented her Secretary's Award to the GreenSeeker development team at Oklahoma State University (OSU). The device is manufactured by NTech Industries in Ukiah, California.
"GreenSeeker has been tested in farmer winter wheat fields with nitrogen use efficiencies improved by more than 20‰ and farmer revenue increased by $10-$18 per acre," says Bill Raun, Ph.D., an OSU agronomist who helped develop the GreenSeeker. "In addition to the savings in fertilizer, GreenSeeker, which recognizes and treats each two-foot-square area in farmer fields based on a predicted yield potential, can actually increase cereal grain yields using less nitrogen."
The current methods of applying fertilizers in farmer fields is to apply a flat or uniform rate to the entire field based on a yield goal or the amount of crop you hope to grow, according to Raun.
About ADM
ADM is a world leader in agricultural processing and one of the world's largest processors of soybeans, corn, wheat and cocoa with 26,000 employees, more than 270 processing plants and net sales for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003 of $30.7 billion.
About NTech
NTech Industries, headquartered in Ukiah, California, is the world leader in optical sensors for agricultural research, precision fertilizer applications, and weed and pest control for farm, military and civilian uses. NTech products represent break-through technology with important revenue generation and environmental benefits.
Information on the company and its products are available on the Internet at www.ntechindustries.com.
In the News (Media Index)
|
|
|
|
|
