Farmers Business Network (FBN) has spun off its global crop solutions business into a wholly separate entity as the company pursues a “pure technology platform” strategy.
The company will continue to operate its digital marketplace that offers financial services, digital tools, and access to inputs and supplies for farmers.
Global Crop Solutions (GCS), meanwhile, launches as “an independent supplier of crop protection products,” according to FBN.
FBN previously handled the entirety of developing and managing product registrations, supplier sourcing, first mile and import logistics, and regulatory compliance for crop protection products.
These activities will move with GCS, which will become a “preferred supplier” on the FBN store.
A focus on primary business
The main advantage of this split is that it allows FBN to concentrate on its primary business, which is its digital marketplace, CEO Diego Casanello tells AgFunderNews.
“This year, the FBN Store will offer its widest selection of seed, crop protection, fertilizers, livestock products, farm tools, and supplies. Farmers also utilize FBN for financing, grain marketing services, and digital insights,” he says.
“FBN excels at developing cutting edge technology that helps farmers lower operating costs, make more informed decisions for their farms, and simplify the customer experience.
“By digitalizing the distribution and retail of goods, capital, and services and opening our network to more sellers and financial partners, we are solving one of the hardest problems for innovators in ag: cost-efficient market access to the farm gate.”
GCS will be able to sell products to other ag retailers, which Casanello says “unlocks a significant growth opportunity” for the newly launched company.
“Right out of the gate, GCS has one of the largest portfolios of North American crop protection registrations in the entire industry, but the company was restricted to sell these products exclusively through FBN.”
The two entities will maintain a “strategic commercial relationship,” with GCS being a preferred seller on the FBN digital marketplace and continuing to sell popular brands such as Willowood USA and Farmers First exclusively to FBN customers.
FBN’s e-commerce marketplace currently servers more than 117,000 farms onboard accessing more than 7,000 products across crop inputs, livestock supplies, and seeds. Earlier this year, the company raised $50 million to, among other things, build out new AI-centric tools for customers.
‘The seed and crop protection markets have evolved’
The news comes the same week ag giant Corteva announced it would split its seed and pesticide businesses into two separately listed companies.
Like FBN, Corteva cited a need for “stronger strategic and operational focus” in the coming months.
“The seed and crop protection markets have evolved, and as a result, we see the opportunities ahead for both companies diverging – this is the right time to act to stay ahead of the market,” Corteva CEO Chuck Magro said in a statement.
“This separation will allow both businesses to maximize long-term value creation by focusing on their own priorities. As such, we see this separation as the logical next step in their growth trajectory.”
Kraft Heinz, another major agrifood business, offered up similar reasoning last month when it announced its own separation into two different companies, citing a need to “accelerate profitable growth and unlock shareholder value.”
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