Planting season will begin up to four weeks earlier this spring for five corn producers named winners of the Intellicoat^® Early Plant^® Corn Sweepstakes program from Fielder's Choice Direct^®, Monticello, Indiana.

Joel Smith, Oconee, Illinois, is the grand-prize winner and receives 100 free bags Intellicoat Early Plant seed from Fielder's Choice for planting this spring.

The four runners-up — each receiving 25 free bags of Fielder's Choice seed treated with Intellicoat Early Plant — are June Talkington, Matfield Green, Kansas; James Leigh, Gloucester, Virginia; Wayne Klosterboer, Montevideo, Minnesota and Jeffrey Raatz, Wautoma, Wisconsin.

Thousands of growers from 37 states entered the 2003 Intellicoat Early Plant sweepstakes program.

"Intellicoat Early Plant technology allows farmers to plant corn from a few days up to four weeks earlier than normal without risk of chilling injury to the seed," says Dennis Schlott, vice president sales and product management for Fielder's Choice Direct. "Being able to plant corn earlier means producers can avoid yield loss associated with late planting, reduce drydown costs and spread out their workload for more timely planting of other spring crops such as soybeans."

"Research has shown that the earliest planted corn is usually the highest yielding," Schlott adds. "When comparing early planting with Intellicoat versus early planting with non-coated seeds, we've seen Intellicoat deliver a much better stand even in cold soils. This stand improvement directly adds to yield and the bottom line. Some of our customers have estimated benefits from using the technology valued at $20 to $80 per acre in yield improvement and savings in drying costs."

Based in Monticello, Indiana, Fielder's Choice Direct is the leading direct marketer of seed corn and other crop inputs to American farmers. Fielder's Choice Direct and Intellicoat are members of the Landec Ag group of companies, subsidiaries of Landec Corporation, which is traded on NASDAQ as LNDC.

Fielder's Choice Direct, Intellicoat and Early Plant are registered trademarks of Landec Corporation.