Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives, Cargill and DuPont have signed a letter of intent to create Rooster.com, a comprehensive Web-based marketplace to include local farm retailers, cooperatives and manufacturers. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Rooster.com is designed to make it easier for farmers to do business on the Internet. It will be a two-way virtual electronic mall for the agricultural industry with three initial anchor tenants and scores of other retailers that will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Here, farmers will be able to market their crops and buy fertilizer, crop protection products, other farm supplies and equipment - all through the same businesses they work with now. The site is scheduled to be
launched by May 1. A management team is being formed and will be announced soon.

"Doing business over the Internet has not always been practical, in part because farmers haven't had the option of working through their local retailer or cooperative," said Joe Stone, Rooster.com spokesperson. "Rooster.com will be a convenient place for farmers to shop online, with connections to local businesses that provide the services and facilities farmers rely on. We anticipate that farmers will eventually be able to use the site as a connection to state and federal
agencies, commodity organizations and other critical farm links."

Product information, prices and delivery options from participating suppliers, as well as cash grain bids from competing buyers will be organized into a secure, user-friendly system. Farmers also will find news and weather, discussion forums and services in Rooster.com.

"The number of farmers using the Internet is growing rapidly," said Robert Lumpkins, vice chairman, Cargill. "Rooster.com will help agriculture take a significant step forward in the new digital economy by providing a full range of products and services offered by many different vendors. Farmers will have more options for making their purchases and marketing their crops, and local dealers and other agricultural businesses will have a powerful new venue for offering their
wares."

Rooster.com will be operated as an independent business. Cenex Harvest States, Cargill and DuPont are initial investors, with equal shares. However, Stone said he expects additional investors to sign on, including competing farm suppliers.

"The Rooster.com concept has many benefits for our member cooperatives and other retail operations," said Mark Palmquist, senior vice president, Cenex Harvest States. "It will help them compete for new customers and allow them to focus more resources on the value-added services and infrastructure that only local retailers and cooperatives can provide."

"We have committed to invest in this company to provide the technology and systems needed to give farmers, retailers and other purchasers additional choices, flexibility and convenience," said William F. Kirk, group vice president, DuPont. "We are particularly excited about helping farmers use the breadth and scope of the World Wide Web to market their crops."

Rooster.com is currently headquartered in Bloomington, Minn., and may be contacted toll free at 1.877.865.2531. The Web site has been established at www.rooster.com and is still under construction.

Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives, headquartered in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., is a producer-to-consumer cooperative system owned by farmers, ranchers and their local cooperatives from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest and from the Canadian border to Texas. Nearly 6,000 Cenex Harvest States employees serve 325,000 producers through
more than 1,000 locally owned cooperatives.

Cargill, headquartered in Minneapolis, is an international marketer, processor and distributor of agricultural, food, financial and industrial products and services with some 82,000 employees in 59 countries.

DuPont, headquartered in Wilmington, Del., is a science company, delivering science-based solutions that make a difference in people's lives in food and nutrition; health care; apparel; home and construction; electronics; and transportation. Founded in 1802, the company operates in 65 countries and has 97,000 employees.

Company news release
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