February 3, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan

Precision ag and data management solutions company Farmers Edge announced its newest partnership with American Crop Insurance – an insurance services provider in the U.S. Northeast region – to disrupt the traditional crop insurance model by creating a data-driven, experiential platform. 

Through the deal, American Crop Insurance will gain access to a turnkey digital solution that will enable the expanding of their business, will attract elite growers, and gain the company a stronger position in a very competitive market.

This tie-in with Farmers Edge will give the company access to FarmCommand®, a vertically integrated farm risk management platform with a suite of digital tools to enhance data management for growers, giving the option to share information with the agency, and to automate acreage reporting through its Smart Reporting™ tool,  and claim filing through its Smart Claim™ tool.

Powered by AI and in-field sensors, FarmCommand® transforms collected data into insights, and offers weather forecasting, highly accurate predictive crop modeling, advanced scouting tools, and automatically detects changes in crop health, so farmers can monitor their fields for optimized production and output.

“American Crop Insurance is proud of our high-tech, personalized approach to working with growers, and our partnership with Farmers Edge is enabling us to take it to the next level,” said Jim Stinson, general sales manager, American Crop Insurance. 

“We’re excited to create new tailored services for our growers and provide a faster, more efficient way to work together that saves them a lot of time and reduces the headaches of keeping paper-based records. The digital revolution in ag is in full force; paving the way for our growers to realize the benefits of connected farming is one of our top business priorities.”

There are more than 291 million insured acres in the U.S. with Risk Management Agency (RMA) estimating that the acreage for 85 percent of major crops and 73 percent of specialty crops planted, are covered, and increasingly, technologies that give both farmers and insurers a better understanding of these operations through data without bias are taking root. 

In 2017, another crop insurer, Des Moines, Iowa-based Crop Pro Insurance announced the close of an $8 million Series A round of financing co-led by top agriculture investors Finistere Ventures and Seed 2 Growth Ventures (S2G), and GuideOne Insurance. 

At the time, Crop Pro also announced that it was the first ag venture-funded insurance provider to earn approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to offer federal crop insurance products to farmers.

Farmers Edge

Launched in 2005, Farmers Edge has leveraged the potential to transform agricultural production to increase yields, efficiency, and sustainability for the long-term, becoming the most comprehensive data management platform on the market and transforming the industry with disruptive technologies and strategic partnerships.

In 2016 the company closed on a C$58 million (US$41.2 million) investment round led by Mitsui and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers’ Green Growth Fund, and including Osmington Inc. The company also announced the appointment of former Monsanto executive, Lucas Trindade, as general manager of Brazilian Operations. In April, it announced it was partnering with Eastern Colorado Seeds with the goal of expanding its presence and increasing farmer adoption across the U.S. Plains region.

One month later, Toronto-based commercial real estate firm Osmington Inc. exercised a $3.2 million investment option in the company.

That same year also brought expansion in the U.S. with the opening of an Iowa headquarters in Ames, and a new partnership with Delta Agribusiness in New South Wales, Australia, giving the company a foot in each of the world’s top agricultural production regions including Canada, the U.S., South America, Russia, and Australia. It also announced a $6.1 million investment secured from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), and an additional $12.2 million committed from internal sources and consortium partners in September 2016.

On the back of this funding, the company turned its eye toward more strategic partnerships and in May 2018 announced a partnership with Raven Industries, a leader in the application control market, and in June 2018, partnered with global manufacturer and distributor of irrigation and infrastructure equipment Lindsay Corporation. 

Now pivoting to expand its market presence into crop insurance, Wade Barnes, CEO and co-founder of Farmers Edge, said, “Insurance is a data-rich and labor-intensive industry. By creating a seamless connection with their growers, American Crop Insurance can tap into real-time data, ensuring they have the highest-quality data sets to support personalized services.”

“This partnership positions the agency as a leader in their industry, embracing the changing technological needs of growers while also streamlining internal processes to foster business growth.”

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.