New company helps farmers increase profits for free

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa— DATE — Growers Edge™, an independently owned company based in West Des Moines, Iowa, has launched an online resource center designed to enhance farmers’ profits. Growers-edge.comis free to farmers and provides a one-stop resource for their business and marketing needs. On average, the site has helped farmers find 15 cents per bushel on the spot markets and 25 cents per bushel on the forward markets. Current subscribers have reported additional earnings of 20 to 40 cents per bushel. 

“There is a lot of information out there, and the purpose of growers-edge.com is to help farmers make sense of it all,” said Craig Mouchka, president of Growers Edge. “Farming is challenging and sometimes unpredictable. Farmers need timely and relevant market, weather and profitability information from a source they can trust.”

Growers-edge.com provides farmers with the means to track grain bids at their preferred elevators and search for the best price on the spot and forward markets within a 200-mile radius of their farm, less their trucking and storage costs. It also allows farmers to track their profitability in real time against profit goals they establish, while also letting them know the value of bushels sold, those still in storage and their overall profitability by crop. In addition, growers-edge.com provides weather intelligence specific to their farming operation and market commentary from the leading firms.

Research has shown that farmers increasingly rely on the Internet to access information. Sixty-three percent of farmers have high-speed Internet access, and 43 percent currently own a smartphone. Growers-edge.com was developed to allow farmers to access all necessary information from one trusted and unbiased source and provide the knowledge to be able to make the best choice for their business.

Information available at growers-edge.com includes:

• CashMax: allows farmers to track cash bids from more than 4,500 locations nationwide and search for the best price on the spot and forward markets within a 200-mile radius of their  location, less trucking and storage costs. Farmers can also view historical basis by location, as well as see a map view of their local market and more.
• Profit Manager: allows farmers to view how profitable their farming operation is at all times, establish profit goals, edit input costs, record marketing transactions and track their profitability by crop and year.  Growers-edge.com calculates  the numbers to show farmers how they are doing in relation to their profit goals. The program also displays total revenue on sold bushels to date, displays value of unsold bushels and tracks profitability in real time.
• Quote Edge: provides real-time market information on a 10-minute delay, as well as the latest market newsin a familiar layout that automatically updates as the market moves.  Farmers can create a customized page to display the markets they track most often and also offers access to custom charts and technical analysis of individual contracts.
• Trading Edge: gives farmers the opportunity to trade in the futures and options markets for a low $7 per trade commission versus standard $30 – $70 commissions.
• Weather: presents local daily conditions and forecasts, in addition to regional and national radar maps.

Farmers have the option to select what information is delivered to their phone via text messaging and when, allowing them to stay on top of their farm’s profitability no matter where they are. Since its soft launch in 2010, the site has amassed more than 10,000 users.

“Our mission is to increase farmers’ profits,” said Mouchka. “Growers Edge is successful because our business is different from anything else out there. We’re turning data into useful answers and solutions, looking out for thousands of farmers. What we have been hearing from our customers is that they are saving money because they now don’t have to pay for this information.” 

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Growers Edge News Release.pdf