Aggressive growth continues at FBN, evolving to meet members’ needs
The premise of FBN (Farmers Business Network) was a good one, so it’s no wonder the company’s membership continues to balloon at the same time it expands the services and products it offers to members.
Since the US-based company emerged a decade ago, it’s received a lot of press, but let’s do a quick refresher. FBN began in 2014 as an online site where, with a free membership, farmers could sign in and compare prices of seed varieties to find the best deals. Later, FBN added pricing comparison tools for other inputs, and then, got into sales. Beginning with seed and crop protection products, FBN now offers feed and other livestock farming inputs, crop and personal health insurance, and more. Along the way, FBN also began to create many valuable farm data analysis tools.
By mid-2021, FBN had a membership of 25,000 farmers operating 70 million acres across the US, Australia and Canada. In early 2022, membership had risen to 43,000 farmers operating on 98 million acres. FBN now has a North American focus, with over 87,000 members across over 137 million acres in the US and Canada. “Hundreds of farms join FBN every week, and that number can easily be in the thousands on busy weeks,” reports co-founder Charles Baron.
He also notes that earlier this year, “we surpassed more than $2 billion in financing provided through the FBN Finance platform. This includes offerings to secure land loans, operating lines, equipment loans, farmland capital and input financing. Our Instant Approval on land loans and equipment financing ensures qualified growers can get approved within minutes.”
Experiencing ‘growing pains’
With impressive growth such as this, any company like FBN is likely to experience ‘growing pains’ in scaling its platform in areas such as customer service and logistics, but FBN declined to comment on this.
Similarly, there could be challenges this year for FBN’s customer base in 2025, which could affect FBN. That is, farm income may drop significantly due to lower commodity and rising input costs with less financial flexibility to invest in new technologies or additional services. FBN also declined to comment on these challenges, and on potential (IPO) Initial Public Offerings plans.
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Sharing data
Any FBN member can access basic cost-comparison reports, purchase inputs and also participate in the firm’s ‘On-Farm R&D Trial Program.’
However, if members share their farm data (anonymously) – which most do – they can access much more. (And note, regarding data security and handling, several years ago FBN sought certification from the well-established third-party audit company ‘Ag Data Transparency’ and is still certified.)
From the start, members who provide their farm data to FBN’s anonymous aggregated pool could access soil and terrain maps, weather data and satellite imagery (crop health monitoring) for their specific geographical areas. Nowadays, they can also access yield benchmarking and analysis, yield predictions, automated pest alerts, land value assessments, a comprehensive grain marketing system (real-time bids and tracking for merchandising records), brokerage and advisory services, a community forum with buy-and-sell section, and more.
Seed Finder system
Baron also reports that FBN’s unique Seed Finder system is the largest and only seed performance library on the planet, providing crop farmers with not just up-to-date prices but also data on yield, growing environment and genetics for thousands of varieties. In addition, Baron shares that “our Norm AI Ag Advisor is similarly the first purpose-built AI system for farmers, and is specifically trained [to provide guidance] on thousands of chemicals and livestock products.”
In terms of how much market share FBN has gained in farming product sales, Baron says FBN’s input business has “grown dramatically.” The firm has 24 distribution centers in North America and delivers crop protection products directly to farms (with some next-day delivery occurring) in nearly all 50 US states and most Canadian provinces. “Our livestock service similarly serves several thousand farms in nearly all 50 US states,” Baron adds. “We provide pharmaceuticals, livestock equipment and supplies and a variety of animal feeds.”
A look at tool use
Members can take advantage of as many or as few FBN services as they like.
In terms of usage specifics, Baron explains that the tools “each have different use cases at different times of the year. Post harvest and during seed buying season, Yield Benchmarking and Seed Finder are very popular. Norm assists growers with chemical selection and in-season management, and satellite imagery is used for late-season crop stress scouting. Our Community Forum, Norm AI Ag Advisor, AcreVision, and Price Transparency systems are popular throughout the year.”
As to whether tool development or usage has shifted much over the past two few years due to factors such as increased input costs, Baron explains that this year, FBN refreshed its ‘Chemical Price Transparency’ analysis and was able to report to members that there are widespread and colossal price discrepancies – up to 468% – for the same chemical products across different regions. “There was a median 72% variance between the highest and lowest prices paid nationwide,” he says, “and state level differences reached up to 400%. We found that farmers could save significantly by switching to generic alternatives.”
In terms of adding new services, from the start, FBN has actively sought and responded to feedback. Baron reports that “this past year we released numerous industry firsts – including AcreVision, a transformative solution that assists farmers in making informed decisions about land purchases, expanded crop protection products for Canadian growers and built out Norm, our AI ag advisor – which is now capable of passing agronomy tests.”
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Gradable
For a small cost, members can also access the ‘Gradable Plan,’ which at first included soil sampling and associated farm-specific specific fertility recommendations. Gradable now provides regenerative farm practice monitoring, measurement, reporting and verification services (for practices such as no-till). This simplifies the enrollment in premium programs for farmers.
“We do not actively have carbon [market] programs,” Baron explains, “but are instead focused on supply chain sustainability premium programs, which we believe are the best ways to reward farmers for their regenerative practices.” Gradable is now a standalone Joint Venture between FBN and ADM, a global crop processor and supply chain manager. In 2024 so far, over 20,000 farms are engaged in the platform through partners like ADM, Poet Ethanol and others, making it one of the largest and fastest-growing sustainability systems in the world.
Future plans
Unsurprisingly, FBN plans to continue to expand its portfolio of products and services. “For farmers, we want FBN to be the best way to buy all the critical goods and services they need, get financing, market grain and make the most important operational decisions to run their farm profitably,” says Baron.
For its supply partners, FBN wants to be their best way to access farmers, and for its marketing & sustainability partners, FBN wants to be the best way to source their grain and reward producers for their sustainability efforts.
In the end, Baron says, “our plans will always be in support of the mission of putting farmers first.”
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