Agrium Advanced Technologies announced the launch of the Square Foot Advantage calculator, an easy-to-use mobile-ready application designed to compare real-world data and the total cost-in-use of controlled-release fertilizers Driven By Duration vs. ordinary or conventional fertilizers.
Housed at www.drivenbyduration.com, AAT’s Square Foot Advantage calculator compares variables including square footage, the number of times an area is fertilized each year, and the overhead cost (including product and labor rates) to determine the total cost-in-use of fertilization, both by square foot and by total area fertilized.
The calculator then goes a step further, comparing the same data with the cost and spread frequency of the same area using Spread it & Forget it, or Duration CR controlled-release fertilizers.
“The Square Foot Advantage calculator has been designed to educate customers who may not be familiar with the true value of a technologically-advanced controlled-release fertilizer like Spread it & Forget it,” said Ken Klopp, product marketing specialist for AAT. “There are so many purchasing influencers when it comes to fertilizer – bag price, cultural practices, regional conservations – that we wanted to cut through the noise and compare dollars to dollars, square feet to square feet, the overall value Spread it & Forget it and Duration CR can offer lawn care operators and other turf professionals.”
As an incentive to learn more about the true cost of fertilizing, AAT is offering a chance to win a Turfco T3000i Spreader/Sprayer to everyone who uses the Square Foot Advantage calculator between now and January 31, 2013.
“The reality is that over the course of a season, the cost of using a single-application, controlled-release fertilizer can actually be much lower than spreading a conventional fertilizer four, five or six times,” said Klopp. “When you take into account the ancillary and environmental benefits of a controlled-release fertilizer like Spread it & Forget it or Duration CR, your fertilizer can save you even more money. The Square Foot Advantage calculator will help you see that using Spread it & Forget it is a better way to fertilize.”
Compared to traditional fertilizers, controlled-release products can allow the typical turf professional to make fewer applications in a season, leaving crews more time to complete other tasks. Additionally, the same crews can perform more services for more customers on more properties, making them more productive, and more profitable.
Beyond simple labor economics, a controlled-release fertilizer like Spread it & Forget it or Duration CR offers turf many benefits traditional or ordinary fertilizers cannot. The technologically advanced polymer coating on each granule of Spread it & Forget it protects the nutrients inside, ensuring their release is activated by moisture and regulated by soil temperature, allowing a consistent feeding in coordination with the plant’s growth demands. In similar circumstances, traditional fertilizers release their nutrients through moisture contact, which can result in surge growth, and the loss of valuable nutrients to the groundwater, which is bad for the environment.
“The reality is a controlled-release fertilizer like Spread it & Forget it offers environmental, economic and efficiency advantages every turf professional needs to know about,” said Klopp. “We’re encouraging every single person who manages turf, big or small, to check out the Square Foot Advantage calculator to learn how much money a fertilizer Driven By Duration can save them.”