2017 Fall Farm Outlook

Page 36 Oct. 25, 2017 2017 Logan County Fall Farm Outlook Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS FarmLead offers the following mission statement: “FarmLead aims to facilitate greater equality, efficiency and transparency in grain marketing. Our online grain marketplace allows farmers to find more buyers and identify the best possible deal, while grain buyers easily access and identify the grain for sale in their desired location.” The firm does not physically handle the grain product. It offers a connection between sellers and buyers and also tools to assist the seller in making marketing choices. This firm offers a list of qualified grain testing labs that can grade product and provide the appropriate documentation. The firm also offers a daily blog “Breakfast Briefs” (https://farmlead.com/blog/breakfast- brief/) written by president and CEO Brennan Turner. Turner himself is a former professional Hockey player, turned Wall Street Commodity analyst turned entrepreneur. The company is physically located in Canada. The company offers its clients the following: Online physical cash grain marketplace where it’s free to post, and fees are a fraction of the cost of a brokerage - around the clock grain listing and negotiations available for buyers and sellers - transparent, quarterly credit verification of all buyers on the platform - increased market reach across North America bringing more buyers and sellers to the table; all for less time in the office and more money in the farmer’s pocket. Fees charged for these services are based on total grain sold in a trade. FarmLead website: https://farmlead.com/ about/ Grainster is another web based brokerage program that offers sellers direct access to buyers all across the county and internationally as well. The company was the subject of an article by Chris Bennett in AgWeb, an online magazine published by Farm Journal. Bennett referred to the business as “a dating service for grain.” His article goes on to say: “Grainster does no trading, but rather connects farmers with the people that will trade grain. The system is relatively simple: A farmer goes on Grainster and lists the amount of soybeans, corn, wheat, or rice that he wants to sell and includes a phone number and email. The buyer – who may be local or otherwise – contacts the farmer and negotiates a deal. The company charges an annual fee to the seller, who then had unlimited access to the Grainster selling tools and can post product for sale as often as he or she wishes. Continued ►►