AgStar Introduces Technology that Increases Crop Yield Reduces Soil Erosion



AgStar LLC - a soil conditioning and cropping systems development company - has developed technologies that offer agribusiness and farmers a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution that, in extensive research, has proven to significantly increase crop yield. Additionally the product is an effective erosion control tool. The technology also has worldwide applications including for farmers in developing countries where agricultural equipment is scarce.

According to one of AgStar's managing members, Stephen Carr, AgStar is the "reconciling link between competing economic and environmental interests worldwide." Carr, who co-developed a reservoir tillage technology in the United Kingdom prior to co-founding AgStar LLC, noted that in addition to significantly impacting the way farmers manage their fields and crops, the company's technologies also address the global issues of food production and depleting natural resources.

AgStar's proprietary technologies - AgStar Soil Conditioning Device, the Aqua System and the DrillCycle - are designed to increase crop yields and enhance plant quality; reduce labor, chemical and water use; reduce soil erosion and water and chemical run-off; and improve soil quality by sequestering water in the soil.

Extensive laboratory and field testing show AgStar equipment can increase yields by between 15% and 30% depending on the existing soil condition, region and type of plant. At the same time, independent research shows that input costs can be reduced by up to 20% due to less need for fertilizing, supplemental watering and equipment field usage requirements.

Dr. Roy Stephen, President of Arise Research & Discovery, Inc. states, "There is no other product we know of in this classification of agricultural equipment that can achieve the results the AgStar has achieved to date."

Dr. Stephen also notes that "Year to year the amount of rainfall in a given region remains fairly constant. Our challenge typically is the distribution of the rain or specifically how much we retain in our soil versus how much runs off into streams and rivers." "We tend to receive rain in volume and the AgStar system is effective at retaining a significantly higher percentage of this rain in the fields where crops benefit from the moisture for a much longer period."

The company's primary technology, the AgStar Soil Conditioning Device, is a soil modification system that is attached to existing farm implements. The AgStar consolidates the soil without causing it to compact and creates reservoirs or weir structures of geometrically ordered roughness. As a result, it leaves an imprint in the soil that reduces surface 'ponding' on the fields and water run-off, allowing water to better penetrate the soil.

"Each reservoir created by AgStar will capture two-thirds of a pound of sediment per inch of rainfall," according to Dr. Darrell Norton, senior USDA scientist and AgStar LLC board member. "When this is converted to a per acre basis, the AgStar system has the potential to trap 30 tons of soil per acre per inch of rainfall."

AgStar management team:

- Stephen Carr - has 10 years of development, commercialization and agriculture industry experience. His experiences include raising capital, business development and public relations.

- Darrell Norton - is the senior soil specialist at the USDA's National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory on the campus of Purdue University in Indiana.

- Thomas Page - is the executive vice president of Pony Express Bank in Liberty, Mo.

- Tony Hartlage - is co-owner and plant manager for Hartlage Plastics Manufacturing in Bucknel, KY. As one of the initial investors, Hartlage has assisted AgStar in selecting compounding materials for its products.

- J. Gregg Whittaker - is an associate professor in the Department of Business Administration at William Jewel College, Liberty, and a former Managing Director at Chase Securities in New York. He also is majority owner and managing member of The Whittaker Group LLC, a business consulting firm specializing in capital raising, business development, and value creation.

AgStar LLC is committed to developing innovative soil conditioning and cropping systems to meet a variety of diverse needs and to be the reconciling link between competing economic and environmental interests. For more information, visit



AgStar Introduces Technology that Increases Crop Yield Reduces Soil Erosion