What is FBN?

Shay

Foulk: Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Ag View Pitch. Today you have Shay Foulk with two gentlemen from FBN, and I'd like if you guys would take a minute to introduce yourselves. TJ, maybe have you go first.

TJ

Wilson: Yeah, thanks for having us. TJ Wilson, I'm the Director of Sales here for FBN, so mainly focusing on the finance side of the business. So working with our customers on their ag real estate and operating needs to help their operations succeed. I'm located here in northeast Kansas.

Shay

Foulk: Awesome. I appreciate you tuning in. We actually got linked in at Top Producer. So Northeast Kansas, you weren't too far from home then, probably?

TJ

Wilson: No, about an hour and a half drive for me there.

Shay

Foulk: I tell you, I enjoyed Top Producer. Do you have any major takeaways from it?

TJ

Wilson: Yeah, I think the educational pieces are always good there. It's a great group of producers, so it's exciting to be able to engage with that group and really understand what they're looking at in the future.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, highly encourage anybody to attend that has not. Next, Charles. Charles, if you would take a minute to introduce yourself.

Charles

Barron: Yeah, Charles Barron, co-founder of Farmers Business Network, and I lead our product and our marketing work, which is our digital platform for FBN, which is, you know, covers and supports producers all over North America, US, Canada, really all 50 states and nearly all of Canada as well.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, well, I think that's a good starting point on maybe the foundation, how FBN got started. What the vision was at the time, and then maybe how has that morphed over, over the years?

Charles

Barron: Yeah, so, well, FBN started a little over 9 years ago or so, and what it started as, it started, you know, from a group of producers, and, and it started from producers being interested in sharing data with one another so they could make better agronomic decisions. And in this case, they were interested in sharing seed performance data with one another because they were frustrated by the type of information they were getting from their seed dealers, basically, and the seed companies. So they wanted agonomic performance, they wanted to see unbiased information, they wanted to see real producer information in terms of how products were performing in field and actually performing, not just on strip trials or not just from the company's own promotional materials. And so, you know, from there, that grew into FBN turning into an agronomic network.

So from that genesis, and those handful of farmers, which started in, you know, Northern Illinois and Iowa, and then a little bit in Nebraska, a little bit up in North Dakota. It's morphed into a network of nearly 80,000 farms or so around the US and Canada who've joined FBN and can do all manners of things. But the original genesis was producers working together online with information to make farming better, more transparent, fairer, to get more profitability and to have more competitive position in the ag economy. And that's where FBN really came from. And so it started with Seed Analytics, which turned into Seed Performance and us building what we call FBN Seed Finder, which became like the largest seed performance database of real-world producer info that farmers can still participate in.

It includes things like price transparency, so farmers could share what actual prices they were paying for seeds and chemical and see what other producers were paying in their state. It includes things like genetic relabeling, so they could see when a product was being sold by multiple companies, which was another thing producers put us on to. And then they would share in seed tags and we'd cross-match up, you know, all seed tags and, or as many seed tags as we could. We found things like 50% of the corn on the market or 50% of the soybean seeds on the market were actually being sold by multiple brands. And sometimes you could have those for as much as a $100 bag difference in state. So all those things were types of transparency on the market that was made possible by the FBN network.

And then it morphed into producers saying, great, now that you've shown us these huge variances in chemical pricing, for example, or seed pricing, go, go help us get the products. And so what started as analytics and transparency then, then turned into, you know, producers saying, great, we want to get these competitive price products, so, so help us go find it. So we started a business called FBN Direct, which then supplies farmers with national transparent pricing around specifically around crop protection, also can do things like seed, but also biologicals, adjuvants, and has morphed into animal health as well. So we have an online pharmacy and feed program so producers can access a fair, you know, really transparent, straightforward, upfront prices shipped direct to the farm. And FBN has then become the largest provider of especially crop protection nationwide online.

So that's, that's really been a tremendous evolution over the last many years. So it started as producers saying, hey, show me what fair market prices are, to go get us the prices, to, you know, we've really built that into a, you know, a major utility for farmers all over the country.

Shay

Foulk: And I would imagine in tandem, simultaneously, as you're offering products, now financing comes into that. So enter TJ, enter TJ's roles over this, this rapid introduction. So maybe just a little bit of history on why that was a natural progression and then maybe how that's transformed either, either one of you guys.

Charles

Barron: Yeah. So, so similarly, you know, anytime we would encounter a problem or our farmers would encounter a problem, they'd say, hey, can FBN help us do X? You know, can you use the power of a network and use the power of having thousands of farms, tens of thousands of farms participating to, to do X, to get better prices on inputs, to get better rates on loans, to do marketing better, to get premiums in the market through things like sustainability. Now we're doing even land evaluation with our AcreVision program, but that's morphed into a complete platform for producers where they can leverage the FBN online network and the digital technology, digital platform that FBN has to get better, more competitive opportunities for the farm across all those things.

Shay

Foulk: And TJ, I'd have you talk just a little bit about why that financing has become such an important piece, why it's important to the farm operations that you're working with, and maybe just some initial considerations here on, on how they can leverage that as a tool and where you've seen it have maybe the most impact for farmers.

TJ

Wilson: Yeah, so I think one of the key things that we've found from producers is just options. Obviously, when it comes to, you know, the ag finance space, there's a lot of capital required to be able to manage an operation. Costs are not getting any cheaper, land values are not getting any cheaper. The capital at play here just continues to get bigger and bigger. So producers are wanting options. As we've done a lot of our research out there, that you're continuing to see a lot of consolidation in the banking space, and you've seen a lot of consolidation in the farm credit space as well. So as there's more consolidation, there's less competition. And as we all know, competition is good for, for all people in the economy and in the market. So producers were really just looking for another option.

They were looking for somebody else to come in and be transparent with them and offer them some competitive product sets and do it in a quick turnaround time. So what we saw is we continued to launch more digital platforms. We have our instant decision on in our operating loans and some of our real estate loans up to certain dollar amounts. So we're able to get customers' decisions, you know, within minutes instead of, you know, filling out all their financials, going, trying to go in there, the reviews and, and go through that process year in and year out. They can do it in an online format from their phone, from their tractor, wherever they are, and be able to get that very quickly and get the capital they need for their operation.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, that's awesome. Um, I would think that in this economic environment— we're recording here at the end of February 2024, uh, continuing to see interest rates rise, no real end in sight, at least for the foreseeable future here— that you've continued to garner significant amounts of interest and maybe people that are sharpening their pencil and, uh, continuing to reach out. Have you, have you seen an uptick in people that are looking to utilize the financing portion? It seems like maybe that's a bigger push right now.

TJ

Wilson: Yeah, absolutely. That's a huge push for us right now. And people are continuing to inquire about the financing offerings within FBN, just as we talked about, just the requirements of how much capital it takes. They need to look at all sources they can and with the cost and where interest is right now, that's not something a couple of years ago they really had to think about what those interest costs were for their operation. And now when you're talking primes at 8.5% and looking like it may stay there for here a little while, that's really a calculation they have to take into account. When they're looking at their breakevens and doing their P&Ls for the year.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, with our client base, interest expenses are up 77% over last year. So not many line item expenses that you can afford to have that, uh, continue to jump. So, uh, if I'll put you on the spot, TJ, uh, just 3 programs, you know, top 3, if there was someone that's like, hey, what, you know, what do I need to be reaching out to FBN on as far as financing goes, which 3 are you gonna say, hey, these are these are good options.

TJ

Wilson: Yeah, on the finance side, obviously real estate, you know, your traditional real estate programs, your long-term fixed rates on, you know, anything you're doing ag-related, that's a very viable program for us. It's very important in the market with land values where they are. Our operating loan is a great turnaround. It's a great product right now to be able to get capital in a timely manner to customers in the market. And then the last plug I'll kind of throw in is our proprietary product with Farmland Capital. So that is a development product that we have that, really allows customers to get some equity out of their, their land, but doing a little bit non-traditional route instead of a traditional loan. So that can get very deep, but it is a very good product for our customers to look at, especially if they have a lot of equity.

And I would recommend they call in and talk to somebody about that too.

Shay

Foulk: I actually just did a webinar this morning with someone else in this space. So I'm a little bit curious, could you just take a couple minutes to maybe explain that farmland capital a little bit more?

TJ

Wilson: Yeah, absolutely. So what, what we do is an equity injection into that deal. So we can, we can come in as a very minority equity injection for the producer to get some capital out of that. And it's effectively a 10-year option contract, where there's no payments required for that 10 years. And the only thing the producer would potentially have to pay back is a change in value in that farm over a 10-year period. And so it's really based off of the appreciation or depreciation in that piece of land.

Shay

Foulk: Yep. Very similar format to the discussion that I had today. So that's great. Charles, we got you back on here. So one question that I— well, I got several questions here. The first one, massive growth in 9 years. How has that been handled? Do you sleep much? Your team has obviously expanded dramatically. Tell me a little bit about how that has changed.

Charles

Barron: It's, you know, it's been a, you know, just amazing journey. It's a lot of hard work by a whole lot of people to build the company over the years. And, you know, fundamentally isn't possible without, you know, producers wanting, you know, FBN to be there. I think that was always the, the, the most fun part of FBN was producers really asking us, yes, you know, do this. You know, we want to see this information or we want you to provide this role and provide a more competitive alternative. We need a competitive alternative to the inputs industry. So, you know, we need to get prices in check. And FBN has been really proud to do that. So, you know, especially when you look at something like price transparency and inputs, you know, FBN has basically created a national benchmark that has made the entire crop protection industry have to sharpen its pencil.

And everyone has to compete with that FBN price, which is, you know, many, many tens of thousands of farmers benefit from whether or not they're, they're part of FBN or not. So there's, you know, real enormous benefits that we've been able to create in the market. And then it goes back to a lot of the things, you know, TJ was talking about. We continue to innovate, we continue to bring out new products. Some of the other really exciting things on finance is that when you have both sides of the platform and you have the ability to provide inputs and the ability to do marketing and the ability to do financing, then you can combine those in interesting ways. So if a producer comes in on an FBN operating loan right now, they can actually earn 0% on input purchases on, made on FBM. It's all done as part of a seamless online experience.

They can do it while checking out, buying a product online, or they can do it by applying for a loan. So we make it really, really easy. And then we just launched a program this week, which is our third year of doing it, called Regenerative Ag Finance. And Regenerative Ag Finance is a program where they can earn up to a half point off an operating loan. By providing various environmental or sustainability criteria, again, through the analytics platform of FBN. It's very easy to do, and it's now a way of directly rewarding producers for their agronomic practices through a reduced rate on an operating loan. And we've been able to double that program now for 3 years in a row. So that's, that's tremendously exciting. And we expect over the next 5 years to be able to deploy, you know, $1 billion in operating support through the Regenerative Ag Finance Program.

Shay

Foulk: So with the, you know, with that forcing the rest of the industry to sharpen their pencils, I think maybe a different analogy is now all of a sudden the other input providers, they're kind of standing there in their underwear, you know, maybe feeling, feeling a little exposed, probably some hostility, some hard conversations. I don't know, lawsuits, I would imagine stuff that comes with that. I mean, how did you navigate that? Was there any major hurdles? And then I'll jump into my second part of that question.

Charles

Barron: Yeah, there were, there were many. So firstly, you know, the industry really hadn't, you know, provided access to FBN. So, you know, it's very difficult for us to access product to be able to provide the service to growers. And so we ultimately, you know, did a lot of it on our own. So we acquired a company, Willowood USA, And Willowood is, you know, a very, very well-known brand in generic crop protection. And so that's FBN. We have our own registrations and product. We can, you know, sell directly to our farmers and with our community builder farmer partners in a way that's really, you know, unimpeded. That doesn't mean we're not welcoming of partnerships. And we work with many, you know, major manufacturers and brands, especially in things like animal health. Crop protection. And we welcome FBN being a platform for companies to work with producers in a more competitive way.

So we're excited to do that. But we've, yeah, we've dealt with all manners of conflict. You know, we had a famous issue up in Canada with where, you know, FBN had acquired a company and then that company got cut off by the industry. And turned into an issue with the Canadian Competition Bureau. We recovered from that. We, you know, again, we adapted to it. We took more control of our product portfolio and our supply chain. And, you know, we serve many thousands of farms in Canada despite all the interference we faced up there. And it's a thriving, thriving business for FBN. So So yeah, it's not been without its hardships at all. Ag is not an easy business to crack into by any means. But, you know, if you're creating value for producers, then there's demand there, you know, for producers.

Shay

Foulk: So I'd like to give you an opportunity to just whatever comes top of mind. I don't have any notes here on anything in particular outside of that incident that you mentioned. When you have companies that experience rapid growth that are paving the way in the industry, doing something different, mistakes are bound to happen, you know. And, and farmers— he said he'd been around 9 years— farmers have about a 10-year memory of a bad experience leaving a sour taste in their mouth. Is there anything that, you know, I— offline I mentioned that people have perceptions, and what we always say is perception— there's perception, there's reality, and the truth is somewhere, you know, in the middle. Are two different perceptions. Reality and truth are somewhere in the middle.

So is there anything that a farmer listening, they're like, oh, FBN, they do this or they do that, or, you know, things that are just inaccurate that you would like to address that you think is something that would be good for listeners to know?

Charles

Barron: Yeah, absolutely. I'd love to. I'll get to a couple of the ones that have been around for a long time. So again, as I talked about, FBN's origins were as a data platform for farms. And so often the industry would paint us, or salespeople running around the country would say, well, FBN is just trying to steal your data. FBN's a data grab. FBN is, you know, all these negative things around farm data. And that's totally untrue. What FBN was is a platform for producers to share data with one another. And they could learn from the system as a whole. And no one could ever see their farm's data and they couldn't see anyone else's farm data. And FBN never sells the data, doesn't sell data to anyone. It's just, it's a utility for producers to use. So that was sort of misnomer. Number one, that's always been out there.

So, you know, categorically, FBN does not sell producer data as a revenue stream of FBN. What FBN does is enables data sharing for producers. Number one. Number two, it's, it's totally optional for producers also. They do not have to share data to use other parts like finance or to use things like FBN Direct and purchase crop protection. So that's, that's been a big misnomer for a long time. The second one would, I would say, is around the experience of FBM, that, you know, is it going to work? You know, is the delivery going to work? And, you know, admittedly, in our first couple of years, the delivery experience was pretty rough. We were building our logistics system, we were building our warehouses, our trucks, and so many farmers didn't get the experience that they expected. That has come just light years, you know, in the last few years.

We built a phenomenal logistics network in the US and Canada. We have about 27 facilities in total. You can see the pictures of the trucks behind me. We house the, house, blend, you know, the product in our warehouses and then ship direct to the farm. And they can go on fb.com and see, see the expected delivery timing now, which is typically as little as 3 days for most, most parts of the country. So we've really turned that from a very, you know, troubled kind of negative experience of the delivery experience for producers into a really, really tremendous, you know, Amazon-like level of reliability. And that's what we're striving for. So, so that's kind of, you know, point number, point number 2 is that, you know, the core experience of FBN is very, very reliable and the delivery experience that farmers get now is terrific.

And number 3 would be sort of, you know, again, when we got into crop protection, many farmers would say, well, FBN's selling you old product or it's, you know, it's junk product or it's, you know, it's, it's the, it's It's the unwanted clearance product that somehow FBN could get its hands on, or it's only brokered stuff. So that's now, you know, that's categorically untrue. You know, as I said, Willowood USA is one of the largest, most reputable brands, best known names in generic crop protection. That's FBN. Farmers First, that's FBN. That's our brand. And, you know, we've really become a major trusted provider to farms across the US and Canada, especially in generic crop protection. Those are brands that, you know, we now own and really stand behind.

And so, so, so now this is, you know, you're getting highest quality product, you know, that we source and manage our supply chain very, very tightly.

TJ

Wilson: So TJ, I think to add on to that, I think it, it's, it's important to know that as we've grown rapidly, like Charles mentioned, and anytime we grow rapidly, there's going to be growing pains and growing pains are always going to lead to lead to some stellar experiences. But at the end of the day, you know, Charles and the team and the leadership is really the mantra is farmers first. And everything we're going to do and continue to build out is, is with that mission in mind and try to make the experience as best we possibly can and as good a customer and farmer experience as possible to put them in the best position long term.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah. So maybe, maybe on the flip side, then steering away from any of the negative connotations, You just hit on the farmer-first mentality, the diverse offerings, everything else. If you're— and you are on this podcast, I'm sure— speaking to someone that's never utilized FBN, never worked with your team, never had a bad experience, never had any experience, you know, what's the reason that they should consider working for FBN? So TJ and then Charles.

TJ

Wilson: Yeah, I was going to let him go first, but I'll go. No, I think the key thing, and especially when I'm looking at FBN as a whole, as I talked about, is the farmer's first mission. You know, we continue to keep that at the forefront of everything that we think about, everything that we plan for and try to do and build. And when I'm looking at FBN Finance specifically, I look at the quality of the team and the farmer's first product offerings that we try to build. So, you know, when you're looking at a team, I think one of the biggest issues in a lot of the ag space is lack of experience, as, you know, you know, some of the historical bankers continue to age out and the experience in the industry ages out. We've got a team of about 30 lenders on staff right now, with half of them are producers, including myself.

So they know what our farmers and our customers are going through on a daily basis. They manage their own operations. And they've got an average tenure in the, the ag lending space of over 15 years. So very experienced team, very good at what they do. And we continue to try to build things out to the benefit of the farmer, as Charles mentioned, our regenerative ag loan fund and our operating loan offering around that. So really want to try to find ways to reward producers for things that they are doing and for their practices that will be a benefit long term, and we see long-term value in for them and their operation.

Shay

Foulk: So, all right, Charles.

Charles

Barron: Yeah, I mean, that's— I mean, I think that's what has brought everyone to FBN is really a passion for agriculture and a passion for farmers. And it's a it's a phenomenally fun and rewarding, difficult but very rewarding, you know, industry and customer when, you know, you get to see your results translated out into a family farm's operation. So, you know, we've done so many things over the years where farmers have said, thank you, thank you for saving me, you know, 30% on my crop protection or saving me 30% on my health insurance, which is a program that FBN had offered. Or, you know, the farm tell us that we had gotten them, you know, into a premium that had earned, netted his farm nearly $1 million in profitability. It was a complete windfall for them. So there's just some, you know, some obviously some extremely exciting examples like that.

But just every day of just trying to make the industry a little more competitive, a little fairer, a little better for farmers, give farmers more control, you know, that's something that has, you know, always kept our team motivated. And we have, For our, it's a really mix of, you know, people. One misnomer is FBN is a Silicon Valley company. You know, we have a, our technology office is in Silicon Valley. I'm in Omaha. TJ's in Kansas. You know, our team is all over and we have facilities all over rural communities. And oh yeah, that probably brings me back to one of my other favorite misnomers about FBN that FBN's not local. FBN's just online. It's not true at all. You know, we have hundreds of employees, most of whom were in rural areas. They're in rural communities. That's where our warehouses are. That's where our sales folks are.

That's where our loan advisors are, our livestock folks. So all the components of FBN that serve farms are local. And we have, you know, several hundred what we call community builders who work with FBN locally as well and work with farmers. So FBN is as local as any business in agriculture. And, you know, really, really proud of that. We just enable that with technology. And the most important local business is your farm, right? So if your farm's not thriving, then your community can't thrive. So that's all part of the mission as well. And it's been a, you know, it's been— it's a, it's a, it's an exciting, hard but exciting, fun place to work.

Shay

Foulk: So started with information, moved into transparency and then products and financing. You mentioned land and data. You've mentioned health insurance, you've mentioned lending, you've mentioned a lot of things. What is FBN?

Charles

Barron: FBN is a platform to run your farm. Yeah, it's a, it's a platform. We are a network of producers. And then FBN, the platform itself is a platform of either offerings or technologies that help you run the farm more profitably.

Shay

Foulk: I think the reason I asked that question that way is I think that's going to have light bulbs go off in people's heads when they hear that, because sometimes, as you well know, many businesses that have entered the space over the last 5 or 10 years in particular, It's, it's like, what are they? What do they do? What do they want to be good at? Are they just throwing crap against the wall and seeing what sticks, or are they here to serve and deliver on the mission that they're promising or that they're telling people? And that's why I wanted to ask that question. So I appreciate the response on that.

Charles

Barron: The second one, I guess, yeah, what I'd say is, you know, we do a lot of things and we want to be, you know, excellent at the things we do, you know, so we have, we have been working over the last few years to really also kind of narrow down the things we're doing. We definitely have, you know, experimented a lot and launched a lot of new initiatives. And we know we need to be outstanding at crop protection and the delivery of inputs to producers, the financing of producers, having a completely seamless finance approval process and loan servicing process, you know, after that that producer is exposed. We also have really become world-class at sustainability.

And through our partnership with ADM, now opening up a range of sustainability programs that producers can access through the FBN technology, that, you know, that's going to be the easiest way for a producer to access a premium market and for us to be able to bring a marketplace of sustainability premiums to farmers. And so if you go to FBN, you can see a menu of options from ADM, from POET, other partners that we have where they can earn premiums. So we want to be outstanding at the things we do. And whether someone uses us just for sustainability, just for finance, or just for crop protection or other inputs, that's okay. But we want to know, want them to know that they can do many things with FBN and they'll have a great experience when you do.

Shay

Foulk: So what's, what's FBN missing out on right now? You know, you talked about the things that you're maybe paring down on, you talked about the things that you're doing really well and wanting to maintain that excellence. Is there anything that's in your guys', you know, crosshairs that either of you think is, is a good opportunity moving forward or that you're pursuing?

Charles

Barron: Well, as I said, we want to be really want to be great at the things that the things that means, you know, in the world of inputs that more products that we can support a farm with so we can meet the full needs of producers. We work in biologicals, we don't provide dry fertilizer, and we don't have, you know, the full full-service retail. In the world of finance, it's more flexibility for producers that they can have, more sources of capital that we can bring to the table that then gives producers more options. So that's Farmland Capital, that's regenerative finance, you know, so we can go well beyond a typical, you know, lender and just providing operating line or input line or real estate. We can, we can offer real, you know, custom and premium programs for farmers.

So I think we look at all those and then we look at how these things connect together, you know, and then, and that's where these programs like sustainability and regenerative finance and then finance for inputs, it all works together, you know, in the FBN system really easily. But I would say just, you know, opportunities is we're wide open to partnerships with all types of farm companies, especially suppliers and providers of services or products, give us a call. And, you know, we want to work with farmers. That's, that's what FBN certainly do.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, absolutely. What's the, you know, what's the long look here? What's the, what's the 10-year mark? You know, you said North America right now. It's just, is this a global picture? Not, not get— not asking for any industry secrets here. I'm kind of curious. I mean, I think that's a natural question.

Charles

Barron: It, I mean, inevitably, as we, we have done things abroad. So we were in Australia for several years, and we decided to close that business because It was just very different, very hard to serve in the same way that we can serve North America. North America is very big. I think sometimes new companies run abroad very quickly and maybe too quickly, and it sort of, they may not have, you know, really nailed the value they can provide in the home market. North America is a huge market. And so there's, we could spend, we could never go beyond North America and build a phenomenal company. So I think, you know, it is, you know, eventually more international. And we've, you know, done some experiments around the world, but our core is really serving US and Canadian producers.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, that's great. You know, maybe last, last few minutes here, kind of wrapping up. TJ, I wanted to, I wanted to follow back up to you. You know, there's, I got a call a while ago from a young producer that is looking at a tough economic situation moving forward and, you know, has frankly had a couple of bad years and is looking for, you know, what financing lending options are available, growth-oriented. And when it comes to like the lending side, you know, character is one of the top 5, you know, the top of the 5 C's when it comes to lending. So, so character. And then obviously a lot of the programs that exist for financing on individual products.

If, if someone to me, aside from just looking at what product availability there is and maybe how it fits into their operation, it seems to me the most actionable thing someone could do is just reach out and say, hey, what, what's available from a lending perspective? What's available for financing? And also looking at the point of the season that we're in here right before planting, is there anything top of mind that, you know, they maybe haven't made purchasing decisions on that they could action today?

TJ

Wilson: Yeah, on the financing side of things, absolutely. So I mean, it's always best just to reach out. So obviously we've got the website that is very interactive. People can go to see a lot of what we have to offer there. They can apply for loans right online there. They see who our loan advisor team is and reach out directly to any one of them, especially ones that maybe are in their area. So that's a great resource for them. Call in, send an email, you know, reach out to any of us and we're happy to have that conversation. As mentioned, we've got a long experienced team and when it comes to troubled situations, we have a very experienced credit team as well that does a lot of these scenarios, does a lot of different structuring, can work with producers on a lot of different scenarios that they need to maybe rework. Rebalance their financials, a lot of different things like that.

And especially it is a tough time right now, obviously, with corn and soybean prices where they're at in the Midwest, it does not paint a good picture for cash flow for this year. So producers definitely have to take that into account and really dig in and look at that right now when it comes to making their plans for this year and making sure they have enough capital. There's a lot of producers that are holding on to grain longer, which obviously intensifies the need for capital throughout the growing season., it makes it more prevalent for them to be looking at other financing options out there.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, I appreciate that. Uh, any final thoughts, guys? What do you, what do you want to leave the listeners with, um, when they think FBN? What do you want them to think about, and what would you encourage them to pursue moving forward? Charles?

Charles

Barron: Yeah, just, I, I would think, uh, know that FBN is a trusted partner to thousands of farms now. I mean, we, we made 33,000 deliveries to farmers last year, so I think, you know, no matter what you heard about FBN over years previous, if you heard about us or you've never heard about us, you know, we play a big role on many, many farms. And so definitely just check it out and find, you know, find what could be a fit for your operation, whether it's, you know, crop protection or livestock or financing and sustainability. We have a broad range of programs and don't hesitate to reach out, ask us questions or email us and we will, we will find you a local FBN person who can support you. Or you can work straight on the website. So it's a, it's a fun, it's a really, really fun platform. Go on there and you can participate in the FBN community. There's a forum for our members.

There's also a way for producers, again, they can share data, they can participate in Seed Finder and price transparency, all free to do. So just, just come on and join FBN and start checking it out.

Shay

Foulk: Awesome. PJ, any final thoughts?

TJ

Wilson: Well, I just reiterate that, that, you know, there's, there's a lot going on within FBN. There's a lot of opportunities, there's a lot of products, there's a lot of different things that producers can do with us. So it's, it's a great idea to go on and check it out and see what makes the most sense for them, or reach out to one of our trusted employees who's very experienced at what they do, and we're happy to talk through those options with you.

Shay

Foulk: And for the listeners, the reason I wanted to have this conversation is I think this is a very viable option for people that have not considered it. You know, I told these guys beforehand, our whole perspective— or excuse me, our whole purpose is to provide value and perspective to the listeners. Uh, we, we wanted to ask you guys to be on if we didn't think that was the case. And so if there's, uh, you know, clients of ours, if there's podcast listeners, you guys got questions or reservations and you want to talk to me about my experience, uh, feel free to reach out on that end. But Gentlemen, I really appreciate your time. Thank you for coming on, asking some hard questions, giving us an overview, and just— I appreciate what you guys are doing with that Farmers First message and keep at it. So thank you.

Charles

Barron: Thanks, Shay. Good to see you.

TJ

Wilson: Thanks for the time.

Shay

Foulk: And thank you everyone for listening to another episode of the Ag View Pitch, and we will catch you next time.