New 'green' ammonia fertilizer being tested in Central Iowa
A new type of fertilizer aimed at improving accessibility and cost for farmers is being field tested in Boone.
Landus Cooperative and TalusAg are working on what they are calling "green" ammonia.
Anhydrous ammonia is a common fertilizer made from nitrogen. It often has to be produced elsewhere and shipped to farmers.
Officials say green ammonia is chemically the same, but made with solar power. They say making it here in the Hawkeye State ensures farmers have more control over costs.
"You look at the infrastructure and, you know, today to get anhydrous ammonia to a farm, you're limited by where the supply chain is, on pipelines, where the tanks are, things like that. If you're able to actually access ammonia, that's locally manufactured, that can bring it to the farm, you can supply the ammonia a lot more readily when the actual growers need it," said Scott Ahrenholtz, technical agronomist for Landus.
The test plot is on six acres in Boone County. There is also a larger facility being built in Eagle Grove.
Green ammonia is not currently for sale.
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