Archer Daniel Midlands made an investment in FBN through its venture arm.

Farmers Business Network (FBN) is a farmer-to-farmer network launched in 2014 as an information source and for sharing of agronomic precision data. It now has thousands of farmer-members managing millions of acres of land across the world. FBN announced last week its $300 million Series G funding led by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC with participation from LN Mittal Family Office, ADM Ventures Investment Corp., Colle Capital Partners, Walleye Capital, and Tudor Investment Corporation. (BusinessWire)

According to the WSJ, Archer Daniel Midlands (NYSE: ADM) also entered a partnership with FBN for data that would monitor the carbon footprint of crops right from the stage of their planting. The size of ADM’s investment through its venture arm was not disclosed, however.

Use of funds

FBN will utilize the funds for general corporate and working capital purposes and to expand both its FBN Direct and FBN Financial platforms.

The company will also launch new products including new land, operating and equipment loan and insurance products to meet all the financial needs of farmers. IP investment in FBN Direct will focus on crop protection, seed breeding and biologicals, and robotics with on-farm research and development.

It also envisages additional hiring of over 350 new employees.

The company’s FBN’s Gradable platform measures and verifies the carbon score of grain and other crops. With the Gradable platform, farmers can also connect with grain buyers who are looking to source low-carbon, higher-premium bushels. The agtech intends to use the new funds to also support the further development of Gradable.

“Our mission is always to increase the profit potential of family farms and this investment will enable us to continue to innovate for our network of more than 33,000 farmers whose operations span North America and Australia,” said Amol Deshpande, CEO and Co-Founder, in a statement. “We continue to invest in IP and technology that deliver industry-leading efficiency, choice and price transparency for purchasing ag inputs while we scale our fintech and sustainability platforms to provide farmers the information and data they need to make the best choices for their own bottom lines.”

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