US farmers’ network FBN and sustainable ag firm ADM are partnering to expand FBN’s agtech platform. 55,000 farmers belonging to ADM’s network across North America will now have access to Gradable, FBN’s digital farm management platform.

The partnership will bring together ADM’s scale as one of the world’s largest grain buyers with FBN’s agtech platform and farm analytics. The platform allows farmers to identify areas where they can increase profitability of their operation. This includes measuring, reporting and verification capabilities that will allow farmers to participate in regenerative agriculture programmes and new markets for low-carbon grain.

The Gradable platform was developed to provide a modern digital infrastructure to strengthen the relationship between grain buyers and farmers. It addresses demands for more efficient, transparent, and secure grain transactions for production agriculture. Gradable’s digital infrastructure does this by connecting farmer and buyer experiences on a single platform.

Gradable also lays the groundwork for increased farmer participation in new sustainability markets by allowing them to easily collect and calculate verifiable production data–including carbon scores – empowering them to monetise these downstream benefits in the market. Farmers using the environmental scoring function of Gradable’s platform who have adopted regenerative practices, such as cover cropping, nitrogen efficiency tools, or no-till farming, have produced grain with carbon intensity footprints 20-30% below average.

“ADM is leading in the decarbonisation of our industry, meeting demand for food, beverages and consumer products that are produced sustainably from seed to store shelf,” said Greg Morris, president of ADM’s Ag Services and Oilseeds business. “Last year, we committed to reducing our Scope 3 emissions 25% by 2035. Just last May, we committed $20 million in incentives for farmers who use cover crops to improve soil health, prevent runoff and reduce carbon emissions. Now, we’re taking yet another important step by partnering with FBN to expand our array of digital tools and offer our farmer partners a leading-edge platform to measure and verify regenerative agriculture practices, and help manage their businesses. We’re excited to work with more farmers to find new opportunities for them to benefit from the production of differentiated, sustainably produced crops.”

The FBN platform allows farmers to:

• Access a full digital view of their business, with eventual capability to manage contracts, settlements and scale tickets in a single location
• Receive agronomic guidance and education on maximising environmental market outcomes
• Verify and maintain records on regenerative farming practices, such as cover cropping, reduced tillage and nutrient management, so as to benefit from specialised ADM (and other) premium programmes
• Access operating lines of capital with potential discounts for regenerative practice adoption

“FBN’s Gradable is not only the major digital innovation farmers need to identify opportunities to drive profitability, but it is also the carbon accounting system upon which a low-carbon ag economy can be built, with the potential to decarbonise the food and fuel supply chains on a gigaton scale,” said FBN CEO Amol Deshpande. “Combining ADM’s scale and expertise and FBN’s digital technology with the ability to efficiently, accurately, and consistently calculate and verify regenerative farm practices is powerful, and promises to serve as a catalyst for the development of premium markets that reward farmers for sustainable production. This level of transparency is then transferred down the line to consumers, supporting demand for sustainable consumption.”