Three-quarters of the company's sales are of nitrogen fertilizers, and it has a big position in domestic production, with two of the three largest nitrogen fertilizer plants in North America.
Energy accounts for about three-quarters of the cost of producing nitrogen fertilisers, so cheaper gas and proximity to America's many farmers make Terra an attractive buy.
The engine would use at least 25% less fuel and, he claims, its emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide would be cut by three-quarters because of its unique ignition properties.
All organic crop rotations contain three to four years of no ploughing because grass leys use the sun's energy to fix nitrogen for subsequent crops in place of oil-based artificial fertiliser.
More stringent engine standards were already set to take effect three years hence, and the EPA was now requiring at least a 90% reduction in the amount of nitrogen oxides and soot emanating from diesel engines.