We’ve been on the podcast circuit over the last few months. Two recent shows we’ve been on: Farm of the Future Report and The Scoop.
On both podcasts, our Chief Commercial Officer, Todd Robran, explained how fintech-powered warranties and input financing are helping ag retailers accelerate product adoption, support farmers’ success, and navigate a changing ag economy.
Here are the highlights of each conversation.
Warranties Are a Powerful Risk Management Tool
On Farm of the Future Report, Robran broke down the basic mechanics and benefits of a Crop Plan Warranty for host Tim Hammerich.
At its core, Robran explained, a Crop Plan Warranty is a risk mitigation tool designed to give farmers more confidence to try new products or practices.
He offered a concrete example: A plan might include a fungicide, micronutrient, and insecticide applied to soybeans at the R1 growth stage – all backed with a warranty. The farmer’s historical yield average would serve as the benchmark for performance.
“If the farmer doesn’t hit his historical production,” Robran said, “there’d be a warranty payment to cover some of that risk. Maybe it’s the cost of the products, or maybe it’s some other measurement that the retailer wants to use.”
And warranty coverage doesn’t have to be limited to crop inputs. Retailers can also use warranties to encourage farmers to adopt new technologies or regenerative practices. That includes cover cropping, nitrogen reduction strategies, or reduced tillage systems.
Given today’s tough economic environment, Robran emphasized that “risk management tools [are becoming] even more important.” What’s clear: Warranties give farmers a way to de-risk their operations while still exploring innovations that may increase productivity or sustainability over time.
Warranties Also Built Trust (And Are Easy to Manage)
On The Scoop podcast, Robran built on these ideas by showing host Margy Eckelkamp how warranties fit into a larger ag retail strategy. He put Growers Edge’s warranties into two main buckets: agronomic and sustainability focused.
Agronomic warranties cover inputs like fungicides, biologicals, micronutrients, and seed technologies. Sustainability-focused warranties, Robran said, includes “farmers [who] are interested in trying cover crops, trying reduced till or no till, [or] trying things like nitrogen reduction.”
No matter which input, practice, or technology a farmer needs, a warranty gives them more assurance that their investment will pay off – and that they’ll be covered if there’s a shortfall. This builds trust over time, both in new ag innovations and in the retailer recommending them.
To offer these warranties, Robran explained, Growers Edge relies on a wide range of data:
- Public datasets
- Proprietary private data (over a five-year period)
- Historical production records from individual growers
- Crop insurance claim histories
- Performance data for specific products or product combinations
- The geographical location of the retailer (to determine any associated agronomic risks)
- Size and scope of the enrolled acreage (larger areas typically reduce adoption risk)
The process may sound complex – but the end result is designed with simplicity in mind. To start, retailers can embed Growers Edge’s technology into their ERP or CRM. From there, Robran explained, “Enrollment can be just simply a click of a button, and the grower is automatically enrolled.” The impact: less friction for retailers and their customers.
The Vision: A Connected FinTech Ecosystem for Ag Retail
While warranties remain a flagship offering, Growers Edge has steadily built a broader ecosystem of fintech tools for ag retailers.
“As Growers Edge launched Crop Plan Warranty about four years ago, we had a second product kind of in the incubator,” Robran said on The Scoop. The product in question? Input financing.
Robran shared an example to explain how it works: “Say a farmer comes in and the retailer sells them on all the great attributes of two or three new products that the retailer wants them to buy. The farmer may not have the cash to purchase all of those new products at that point in time, so Growers Edge now offers input financing that is married up with the warranty.”
This pairing is powerful. “The fact that that input financing is backed by a warranty allows us to offer favorable terms to that farmer on that input loan,” Robran explained. “It becomes a reinforcing circle, if you will, of the warranty and the input financing working hand in hand.”
Going forward, Robran shared, Growers Edge is poised to expand its fintech capabilities – thanks in part to the recent acquisition of Agcor, a SaaS vendor that helps financial institutions evaluate water rights and risks. Water is a growing concern for farmers, especially outside the Midwest.
Another Growers Edge innovation to keep an eye on, according to Robran? Intelligent farm mortgage financing. Much of that world still operates on paper and PDFs. But by streamlining lending workflows, Robran said, “we can help advance the farm mortgage business to deliver faster answers, solutions, funding – whatever it might be.”
Fintech Partners Should Build Relationships – Not Replace Them
On both podcasts, Todd Robran mostly focused on the opportunities for fintech in the ag industry. But one of the most important insights he shared was what FinTech can’t do. It can’t replace the trusted relationship between a farmer and their retail sales rep.
“Fintech can strengthen that relationship,” Robran said, “but [retailers] own that relationship.”
Good fintech partners will offer creative ways for retailers to both win new customers and maintain their trust for years to come. As the farm economy evolves, that kind of partnership will only become more essential.
If you’re looking to build one, let’s get in touch. Growers Edge would love to help you drive ag innovation and give farmers the confidence to try something new.