Anti-Competitive Interference by Incumbents
In February of 2020, a Canadian federal court issued subpoenas to a group of major agriculture companies in order to conduct an antitrust probe based on allegations that businesses cooperated in an attempt to block online farm-supply startup Farmers Business Network, Inc. (FBN). [34]
In 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Canadian Competition Bureau was investigating allegations that Bayer, BASF, and Corteva engaged in anti-competitive practices toward FBN in Canada. [35] The investigation found that certain market players "engaged in communications with the goal of influencing manufacturers or wholesalers with respect to FBN." [36]
Company Growth and Expansion
In 2022, FBN partnered with the Environmental Defense Fund to provide financing incentives for farmers who implemented regenerative practices. [37] In 2023, the company launched an AI agronomy advisor to provide answers to farmer questions, such as combating pests, finding seed varieties, and preventing livestock diseases. [38] Also that year, FBN opened a 198,000 square foot fulfillment center in Saskatoon. [39] In March 2024, FBN surpassed $1 billion in financing provided through its farm operating lines. [40]
In August 2024, FBN and ADM launched Gradable, a 50–50 joint venture to expand the Gradable sustainability and grain-procurement technology platform. At launch, Gradable reportedly had more than 20,000 farmer users across over 12 million acres, had scored more than 200 million bushels, and facilitated over $30 million in annual incentives for sustainable practices. [41] [42]
In January 2025, FBN launched a Regenerative Agriculture Financing (RAF) Land Loan pilot program supported by the Walton Family Foundation, offering 0.25–0.5 percentage point interest discounts to about 20 participating farmers who implement soil and water health practices that meet criteria developed by the Environmental Defense Fund and Gradable. [43]
In June 2025, trade publication Drovers reported that FBN had expanded its livestock product line—adding Ridley Feeds, fencing supplies and equine products—and that the company served more than 13,000 livestock producers across the U.S. [44]
In July 2025, FBN announced $50 million in new funding to expand its AI-powered platform, opened the marketplace to third-party sellers, and stated that its network had grown to over 117,000 member farms (representing about 187 million acres). The company also said its finance platform had extended nearly $3 billion in total financing to growers and that its “Norm” large language model had been expanded beyond agronomy to crop-marketing queries. [45]
AI agronomic advisor (Norm)
In April 2023, FBN launched "Norm", an AI-powered agronomic advisor built on OpenAI's ChatGPT model. The tool is designed to answer questions spanning crop protection, input selection, livestock health and general agronomy, drawing on public datasets as well as FBN's proprietary information. [46] Trade outlet Future Farming described Norm as an "industry-first" AI agronomic advisor at launch. [47] Discussing the product’s aims, FBN’s VP of Technology, Kit Barron said: “There are so many different areas where we think we can help farmers maximize ROI.” [48]
