Indigo expands ag industry support during COVID-19

- Indigo expands access to transportation logistics support, grain marketing tools, and real-time market insights in response to COVID-19.
- As an extension of Indigo Transport, a new transportation hotline offers assistance to all growers, buyers, and carriers to ensure the continued, efficient transport of grain.
- To help growers optimize their profitability potential in volatile market conditions, the company has enhanced its suite of pricing tools and launched GrainWaves, a podcast with real-time insights and analysis of the grain market.

Indigo Agriculture, a company dedicated to harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet, expands its support for growers, buyers, and carriers to help them manage their business with confidence during COVID-19. The additional measures include a transportation logistics support hotline and expanded pricing tools. To supplement these resources, the company has also launched GrainWaves, a podcast offering real-time, expert analysis of grain markets, as the first in a series of free resources featuring subject matter experts from within and outside the organization.

“Even in the face of a pandemic, American farmers are committed to feeding and fueling the world,” says David Perry, Indigo’s CEO. “While growers have demonstrated resolve and resiliency in the face of COVID-19 - as they have through prior global events - Indigo is committed to proactively ensuring our growers are equipped with the information and resources to assure the physical and economic well-being of their profession and communities.”

While the United States has enacted temporary measures to ensure the delivery of agricultural products throughout the pandemic, the virus has resulted in longer wait times at buying facilities as businesses comply with recommended social distancing guidelines. To further support the efficient transport of grain across the U.S., Indigo Transport is expanding access to its transportation logistics capabilities with a transport support hotline (1-833-LOAD-HELP). The service, available to grain carriers at no cost, offers on-demand personal support, including matching carriers with substitute drivers or trucks in case of sickness, identifying route-optimized backhauls, and providing the most up-to-date social distancing guidelines in delivery facilities. When paired with Indigo’s transportation support mobile app, the hotline, accessible every day from 7 am to 7 pm CT, allows carriers to execute a contact-free delivery.

As industries respond to shifting demand for food and fuel, the emergence of COVID-19 has resulted in added volatility within commodity markets, highlighting the importance of developing informed grain marketing strategies. As a result, Indigo has enhanced its suite of pricing tools and launched a grain marketing podcast - GrainWaves - to help growers manage risk and finance their operations during the time of COVID-19.

The first of these enhanced grain marketing options – Daily Price with Floor – is available to growers today. Growers can establish a floor price to limit their downside risk and price an equal bushel quantity every day at the settlement price or the floor price, whichever is higher. As part of Indigo’s broader suite of pricing tools, “Daily Price with Floor” and all forthcoming offers come with the flexibility to choose a desired buyer and location and are accompanied by Indigo’s pricing desk and grain marketing specialists.

To further support growers through the grain marketing process, Indigo has launched GrainWaves, a short-form podcast providing real-time insights into grain markets. Co-hosted by Indigo’s Gabe Sheets-Poling, Head of Global Markets and Pricing, and Rodney Connor, Senior Director of Markets and Intelligence, GrainWaves leverages the hosts’ combined 35+ years of experience in grain trading. Every week, the hosts answer questions around current events, market volatility, and selling strategies, among other topics. GrainWaves is available on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, Radio Public, and Podbean, offering a convenient listening experience for growers, especially as they head into Plant 2020.

“Translating market swings and maintaining logic-driven pricing strategies is a lot to consider during planting season, but it’s even more important in moments of added uncertainty or stress like today’s pandemic,” says Sheets-Poling. “That’s where Indigo’s pricing tools and market analysis comes in: consistent, solid decision-making to set growers up to hopefully not only take advantage of seasonal trends and well-worn market behavior, but also plan for the long-term success of their business -- regardless of the broader forces impacting their operation and the agricultural sector at large.”

In addition to the enhancements outlined, Indigo has adapted as necessary to continue supporting growers day-to-day while protecting employee and customer health. These adaptations include the debut of online seminars to connect growers with digital tools; digital collaboration with its agronomic team; and expanded reporting.