Agrium Advanced Technologies Supports Earth Day Programs in Northern Colorado

Agrium Advanced Technologies, a leading manufacturer of enhanced-efficiency plant growth technologies, has partnered with three Colorado-based organizations on Earth Day 2010 programs that will help improve green spaces and bolster environmental stewardship and sustainability in northern Colorado.

Agrium Advanced Technologies, which relocated its headquarters to Loveland in summer 2009, donated more than 500 pounds of earth-friendly fertilizers to two Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) Day of Service projects in the region it now calls home. Agrium Advanced Technologies also will provide 30 volunteers to help the High Plains Environmental Center (HPEC) restore natural areas in northern Colorado with native plants.

“It is important for our company and our employees to support actively environmental initiatives that safeguard our watersheds and protect the environment in our own backyard,” said Andrew Mittag, president, Agrium Advanced Technologies. “Agrium is focused on sound practices that sustain the environment. Agrium Advanced Technologies, a division of Agrium, develops the most technologically advanced environmentally sound products.”

The 30 volunteers from Agrium Advanced Technologies will join HPEC on Earth Day, April 22, 2010, to transplant 10,000 native plant seedlings into four-inch pots at the Center’s native plants nursery. In August, these seedlings will be transplanted to the Center’s 275 acres of open space.

“Their support of our Earth Day program speaks to the synergies between HPEC and Agrium Advanced Technologies,” said Jim Tolstrup, executive director, High Plains Environmental Center. “Both organizations are committed to protecting our wetlands and watersheds. We look forward to working with our new neighbor to further HPEC’s efforts in restoring nature where we live, work and play.”

Agrium Advanced Technologies also donated its DURATION CR® Spread it & Forget it products to Colorado-based organizations conducting PLANET Day of Service projects. Agrium Advanced Technologies is a lead sponsor of the second annual nationwide PLANET Day of Service on Earth Day, April 22, 2010. PLANET Day of Service is a grassroots event that allows lawn and landscape professionals to organize volunteer projects to beautify green spaces in their own communities where the need is greatest and that at the same time are part of a nationwide movement to educate the public about the importance of caring for green spaces.

The Colorado Association of Lawn Care Professionals (CALCP) received 400 pounds of Spread it & Forget it to use in a landscape restoration project at Riverside Cemetery in Denver. CALCP will refurbish the landscape with native grasses suitable to the dry Colorado climate, since the cemetery has had no supplemental water since 2003. Agrium Advanced Technologies also donated 100 pounds of Spread it & Forget it to the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Colorado State University for its PLANET Day of Service project in Ft. Collins.

“Supporting other local organizations that share our environmental vision and our commitment to public service, like HPEC and other PLANET members, is just one way that Agrium Advanced Technologies gives back to the northern Colorado community,” added Mittag.

Spread it & Forget it is a controlled-release fertilizer that feeds lawns and professional turf for six months or more with just one application. Spread it & Forget it releases nutrients steadily over time as plants need them, which minimizes potential nutrient losses to the environment, atmosphere and groundwater.

Agrium Advanced Technologies’ enhanced-efficiency, plant growth technologies are developed and manufactured to be environmentally sound and high performance.

For more information, call 888.757.0072 or visit www.agriumat.com.

About Agrium Advanced Technologies

Agrium Advanced Technologies is a strategic business unit of Agrium Inc., a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in both North and South America and a leading global producer and marketer of agricultural nutrients and industrial products. Agrium Advanced Technologies is the leading manufacturer and marketer of slow- and controlled-release fertilizers and micronutrients in the Agriculture, professional Turf and Ornamental, consumer lawn and garden, and specialty agriculture markets. Agrium Advanced Technologies’ brands include: ESN®, POLYON®, XCU®, NITROFORM®, NUTRALENE® and DURATION CR® slow- and controlled-release fertilizers, ULTRA YIELD® Micronutrients, AMP® and PRECISE® controlled-release plant protection. These products utilize proprietary advanced generation technologies to control nutrient release for improved plant growth and environmental performance.

About High Plains Environmental Center

High Plains Environmental Center (HPEC) is a non-profit (501c3) that engages developers, builders, businesses and residents in making their community a “living laboratory” that provides integrated, leading edge examples of community design, land stewardship, eco-literacy and sustainable living that are grounded in reality and replicable. For more information, visit http://suburbitat.org/.

About PLANET

PLANET is the association of members who create and maintain the QUALITY OF LIFE in communities across America. With more than 3,500 member companies and affiliates, these firms and their employees represent more than 100,000 green industry professionals. Some of these professionals have taken the extra step of becoming certified through PLANET and bear the distinction of being known as Landscape Industry Certified. For more information, visit LandcareNetwork.org.