Digital agriculture firm Farmers Edge has partnered Santander Bank subsidiary Gira, a multiplatform provider that supports growers and funding crop production through barter.

Through the partnership, Farmers Edge and Gira aim to generate a more transparent credit environment in Brazil for both farmers and lenders by providing more reliable data.

Barter trade operations have become popular among small and medium-sized Brazilian growers as it makes funding more feasible by using future production as payment. Santander Bank recently acquired 80 percent of Gira, with the aim of expanding and developing the company’s operations in this payments area.

Gira’s platform has been the first in the region to implement geolocation of production areas for gathering and analysing agronomic data plus monitoring production on farms reliant on barter.

“Our unique digital infrastructure and FarmCommand platform will help to minimise risk for lenders and empower Brazilian growers,” said Farmers Edge founder and CEO Wade Barnes. “By allowing lenders to access field-centric data that our proprietary tools collect, farmers can borrow capital to finance their growing season, improve land, and scale their business — all while using our solutions to boost yields, streamline processes, and grow more sustainably in one of the world’s largest food exporting nations.”

“We are creating an integrated environment for risk management in agriculture,” said Barnes. “As the local pioneer in this field, Gira is the ideal partner for creating the transparency and visibility we need to fuel the digital transformation of Brazilian agribusiness. Now farmers can match the needs of their operation to the right tools, and banks can lend at favourable rates to help their country’s growers prosper.”