WINNIPEG — Not long ago, Farmers Edge had ambitions of selling its precision agriculture services to thousands of farmers on tens of millions of acres around the globe.
The digital agriculture company was expanding into Ukraine, Russia, South America, the United States and other markets from its home base in Western Canada.
However, sometime in 2023, the Winnipeg business made a strategic shift.
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It now plans to sell its expertise and services to ag retailers, agronomists, crop insurers, grain companies and sustainability platforms within the agri-food sector, said Kris Kinnaird, who started working at Farmers Edge about a decade ago.
“The biggest difference between then and now is our (new) focus on enabling other businesses … as opposed to working (primarily) with the farmer,” he said from his home office near Virden, Man.
“We’re trying to take more of a back seat. How can we be behind the scenes through technology and lab services…. Rather than competing, how can we enable those other businesses?”
Kinnaird, director of strategic partnerships with Farmers Edge, said the company wants to provide “managed services” to agri-retailers and the ag sector.
“We’ve got the technology, the agronomy and lots of data, we have those three perspectives,” Kinnaird said.
“It (managed services) is more of an IT term, but it’s really Farmers Edge taking the experience we have from our own business, like creating precision agronomic software … (and) building them technology, or doing some of the engineering and computer programming for them.”
Farmers Edge is also focusing on its soil testing business. It operates labs in Winnipeg and near Des Moines, Iowa, analyzing soil for agri-retailers, independent agronomists and many others in the crop sector.
“That (soil testing) business has exploded,” Kinnaird said.
“It’s great to see it and we want to push for more growth.”
The strategic shift toward services for the ag sector is part of a period of dramatic change within Farmers Edge.
Wade Barnes, an agronomist from Pilot Mound, Man., founded the digital agriculture company in 2005, developing software for variable rate fertilizer and field zone mapping.
Farmers Edge grew rapidly in the 2010s, delivering its precision agriculture services to farmers in North America, Ukraine, Russia and Brazil.
The firm went public in 2021, but it didn’t go as planned. By early 2022, Farmers Edge was still losing money and Barnes resigned as chief executive officer in March.
Vibhore Arora, who previously worked as president of fulfilment services for Amazon Canada, became CEO in June 2022.
This past January, the company announced plans to go private after Fairfax Financial purchased all common shares for 35 cents each.
This year, Farmers Edge has made several announcements that reflect its change in strategy.
For instance, it is partnering with U.S. National Sorghum Producers to capture on-farm data such as carbon intensity scores.
“Through our customized technology solutions, we’re committed to supporting (sorghum producers) in simplifying sustainability reporting and assisting their growers in accessing new revenue streams for climate-smart farming practices,” Arora said.
This spring, Farmers Edge announced a pilot project with Saskatchewan Municipal Hail Insurance to support risk management and hail loss adjustments.
The idea is to use predictive analytics and remote sensing technology to make loss adjustments more precise and efficient.
One of the larger managed services opportunities could be agri-retailers and farm equipment dealers.
Companies that once sold fertilizer and tractors are now providing agronomic support to farmers.
Those firms may need support for their precision fertility and digital ag services.
“We’re looking at how we expand our opportunity in the ag retail space,” Kinnaird said.
“The work that Farmers Edge did for 20 years, soil sampling, variable rate, zone mapping … how can we help with that.”
The Winnipeg company has shifted its strategy, but it hasn’t abandoned its old business model.
Farmers Edge will continue to work directly with farmers.
“I alluded to our focus will be on more (about) empowering other businesses that (do) direct to farm support,” Kinnaird said.
“But we haven’t left our direct-to-farmer business behind…. We’re still out there supporting farmers and maintaining that business, but it’s not the strategic focus, long term.”
