FBN^® launches Farmers First™ product line for adjuvants and crop nutrition in the U.S.

Date:03-16-2022

Farmers Business Network^® (FBN^®) the global farmer-to-farmer network and ag tech company, has announced the U.S. launch of an expanded line of adjuvant and crop nutrition products under a new private label brand, Farmers First™. These products are poised to optimize crop protection and fertilizer programs in a year when conventional methods have seen up to a 400% increase in price over the past two seasons.

The launch of this portfolio comes at a particularly challenging year for farmers, where supply constraints and rising costs have farmers looking for ways to get the most out of their crop protection and fertilizer investment. A January 2022 poll of FBN farmer members reinforced these concerns, where more than 30% of members surveyed indicated they were considering alternative crop nutrition solutions to help optimize their fertilizer programs. Purdue University Extension and other extension services are encouraging the use of adjuvants as a best practice to optimize crop protection applications this year.

“We see adjuvants and crop nutrition products moving to the forefront of crop planning as farmers look for ways to drive stewardship and sustainability in their input programs,” said Neil McCormick, Global Product Development Manager for Adjuvants & Crop Nutrition at Farmers Business Network. “We have vetted the top technologies out there to create a portfolio of high-quality adjuvant and crop nutrition solutions under the Farmers First brand to meet the high stakes of this moment.”

New products in the Farmers First™ crop nutrition line include tools to maximize the efficiency of fertility programs that are priced to enable farmers to incorporate multiple solutions on the acre, including:

• Inhabit Boost™: a proprietary micronized carbon source with soil and foliar application to improve fertilizer efficiency, soil quality, and nutrient transport

• Catalyst ADV™: a soil prebiotic solution containing over 400 active biomolecules that improves the native soil microbiome to make nutrients more available to the plant

• Inject-N™ ADV: a soil probiotic (Azospirillum Brasilense) that fixes atmospheric nitrogen in a variety of crops, converting NH₂ to NH₄, a form more available to the plant

• Inhabit P™: a liquid phosphorus complexed with micronized carbon to improve availability and reduce tie up for more efficient delivery at low use rates.

The new Farmers First™ adjuvant line incorporates improved products and formulations, many of which have been certified by the Council of Producers and Distributors of Agrotechnology (CPDA) for product quality.

To help simplify the complex process of adjuvant discovery and selection, FBN has organized these solutions under a new system called the M.A.P. system, which stands for Mix, Apply, Perform. This system organizes adjuvant categories into groups that support tank mixing, product deposition and drift management and product performance. The M.A.P. system is highlighted on the new Farmers First product packaging so farmers can easily identify the target use of an adjuvant solution.

Additionally, the FBN online platform goes an extra step to assist farmers in identifying label required or recommended adjuvant pairings with crop protection products. The FBN Direct^® online store was recently redesigned to include a recommendation modal that highlights recommended adjuvants when a crop protection solution is added to their cart, the first of many new digital agronomy features coming to the online buying experience with FBN.

“Our goal with the online store experience is that farmers get the information they need to feel confident in their input selections, from seed to livestock to crop protection and nutrition products.” said Hirotaka Ellis, Director of Product Management at Farmers Business Network. “These digital agronomy tools are the start of a significant investment we are making to enhance our store features and deliver useful, network-driven content to our members.”

“The mission of FBN has always been to put farmers first in the agriculture economy, and we're looking forward to extending this commitment through our global brand of farm inputs," said Amol Deshpande, CEO and Co-Founder, FBN.

The adjuvant and crop nutrition portfolio is the first of many future categories coming under the Farmers First™ brand in the U.S. and beyond, signaling the evolution of the capability of FBN to develop, commercialize and supply proprietary solutions for its global farmer network.

The full lineup of Farmers First™ Adjuvants and Crop Nutrition products for the 2022 season are available at www.fbn.com/direct.