Indigo Marketplace: A different approach to crop marketing

by | Mar 19, 2020 | 5 Ag Stories, News

Indigo Ag strives to ?improve grower profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health through use of natural microbiology and digital technologies.?

An employee speaks to a suite of tools, which ensures farmers are fairly compensated for regenerative agriculture practices.

Indigo Marketplace provides “a transparent and efficient supply chain by directly connecting growers with buyers,” reports Heather Gieske, director of North America grain marketing.

?Marketplace is helping a farmer find his or her best bid of net transport. Most farmers are delivering to two or three buyers within a short distance of their farm or wherever that grain is stored. Typically their best bid is not one of those buyers. We want to help them understand what their best bid of transport is and help them get an extra four to five cents,” Gieske said.

Indigo Marketplace also provides options for crop marketing. Gieske outlines those options, found to be particularly for specialty crop growers.

?(It) provides complete transparency into unique specialty crops. Whether it?s white corn, organic, non-GMO, sunflowers, anything outside the scope of typical grade corn, soybeans, wheat, or rice, we can provide visibility into that,” Gieske said. “A farmer can post offers directly, with all of those specifications listed, and buyers can directly see that, and we hope pay a premium for those things as well.?

Producers can access Indigo Marketplace online at indigoag.com. They can then post offers and negotiate bids, upon creating a Marketplace account. Gieske speaks to options for producers looking to conduct such work over the phone.

“My father-in-law farms in central Illinois, and wants to talk to a real person, especially when it comes to trading grain,” Gieske said. “Farmers can call us Monday through Friday on our hotline, 855-947-2466. You can reach a grain marketing specialist, (who can) help you identify what your best bid is, identify a pricing tool that makes sense for you, help you build out a more robust and discipline markeiting plan, and ultimately transact with you.”