Crop Fertility Specialists’ Rossville, Indiana, Location Completes Year Three Indiana 4R Certification

ROSSVILLE, IND. - The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program has announced that Crop Fertility Specialists’ facility in Rossville, Indiana, has achieved Year Three certification. 4R is a voluntary certification program that looks at the commitment of businesses to achieving a rigorous set of standards for nutrient management practices, which benefit the environment and their customers’ crop production and business goals. 

“We continued our participation in the 4R Certification program because not only is it the right thing to do for today, but it is also the right thing to do for tomorrow,” said Rod Miller, location leader at Crop Fertility Specialists. “The 4R program is an essential part of ensuring that we as agriculturists make decisions for the long term; our families and fellow community members look to us for advice and trust that we will provide recommendations that are both economical and environmentally sound. Using the Right Source, with the Right Rate, at the Right Time and at the Right Place ensures that the decisions we make today are the right decisions for generations to follow.”

The program certifies that nutrient service providers and agricultural retailers in Indiana - who apply or make recommendations on how nutrients should be applied to crops - are doing so in accordance with 4R Nutrient Stewardship principles: using the Right Source of Nutrients at the Right Rate and Right Time in the Right Place. Program participants must go through an annual, independent, third-party audit and demonstrate that they not only understand 4R principles, but also follow them.

“The 4R Certification program was identified in 2011 as a key strategy by members of Indiana Agriculture Nutrient Alliance, a membership that includes ACI, IN- NRCS, commodity organizations, Indiana Farm Bureau, Purdue University, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), to encourage and highlight proactive efforts agribusiness partners utilize to optimize nutrient inputs,” said said Mike Dunn, director of freshwater conservation programs for TNC and chair of the Indiana Nutrient Stewardship Council. “I am excited to see the program’s continued success and growth, congratulations to CFS in Rossville for their continued commitment to the 4Rs and becoming Year Three certified.” 

“The 4R Nutrient Stewardship program leans on scientific and proven practices that benefit the farmer and our society,” said ACI President & CEO Bruce Kettler. “Agribusiness Council of Indiana members are an integral part of helping their farmer customers set and obtain their production goals. These businesses bring value to their communities by making sharing the latest environmental stewardship practices such as 4R.”  

The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program is governed and guided by the Nutrient Stewardship Council, a diverse set of stakeholders from business, government, university and non-governmental sectors with a common goal of maintaining agricultural productivity while also improving soil health and water quality. The program is administered by the Agribusiness Council of Indiana. For more information, visit https://www.inagribiz.org/indiana4rcertification.