Farmers Business Network (FBN®), the AgTech platform and farmer-to-farmer network, today released its 2024 FBN Ag Chemical Price Transparency Report, highlighting the significant variances in prices across the industry, and shining a spotlight on an opaque market.
The report analyzed more than 2,400 unique pricing data points from 2024. Prices spanned 33 states and represented over 120 insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and adjuvant products.
The report found:
- National Pricing Extremes: Among the 120 products analyzed nationwide, there was a 72% median difference between the highest and lowest price paid. 25 products had a 50% or greater difference between pricing extremes, and seven products saw at least a 100% price difference.
- State Level Price Differences: Within a single state, farmers can experience up to a 400% price difference between the lowest and highest price paid for chem products. These differences happen locally as well – one Minnesota farmer paid 27% more for the same product, purchased in the same location, than his neighbor.
- Switching to Generics Offered Substantial Savings: Farmers could have saved substantially by purchasing generic alternatives to branded chem products, including 35% savings by replacing Roundup PowerMAX® with FBN generic alternative Willowood Glypho 6 and up to 33% savings by replacing Explorer® herbicide with FBN’s Willowood Mesotrione 4SC.
“Hidden pricing is a major issue for farmers, the report highlights just how much price variance exists, and how much growers are overpaying from the fragmented, opaque nature of the chemical market farmers are battling,” said Charles Baron, Co-Founder, FBN. “Price Transparency has been a core belief of FBN since our inception. “
FBN also launched a completely revamped price intelligence system for farmers, providing more information on chemical product pricing, trends, and benchmarks so growers can easily compare their prices to other farms.
- FBN’s new price transparency system allows farmers to see aggregated price statistics from invoices shared by FBN members for comparable products with the same active ingredient.
- Now producers can see pricing timelines, seasonal price trends, and benchmark their pricing to national averages and FBN current market prices – helping FBN members gain transparency and build confidence around the optimal time to purchase.
FBN also released its Canadian Ag Chemical Transparency insights, which exclusively reveals national price trends for popular chem products including Liberty 150® SN Herbicide, Vibrance® Quattro, and Conquer® II Herbicide.
The price discrepancy for Liberty 150® SN Herbicide, for example, was as low as $9.03 and as high as $15.75, or a 74% price difference.
Generic alternatives can be found on FBN Direct, which provides farmers with both high quality generic and brand-name products at competitive, transparent list prices. Providing price transparency on chemical markets and buying trends provides farmers confidence and competitive markets.
FBN’s unique chemical purchasing system enables growers to select & plan chemical programs, compare alternative products, see list prices and select delivery timing, get product support, and choose their financing options. FBN Direct now partners with hundreds of nationwide Community Builders who work with farmers locally as sales agents, providing farmers online convenience with local support.
Download the free U.S. Ag Chem Price Transparency Report here.
Read the detailed Canadian ag chem pricing insights here.
