Bushel, an independent developer of software designed to facilitate digital transactions throughout the agricultural supply chain, announced the release of what it described as a “new digital payment network” on Wednesday (June 29).
Bushel also offers Bushel Payments, which moves money between growers and agribusinesses on Bushel’s platform, and Bushel Wallet, which is a digital wallet designed for agribusiness and farmers. The company has also developed an application programming interface (API) called Bushel Wallet Link.
The products will help farmers make digital payments and help companies that work with farmers receive digital payments, according to a press release. Executives at some companies highlighted in Bushel’s announcement said they plan to implement the new technologies in time for the start of this year’s winter wheat harvest in July.
Paper checks are still the main form of payment in the $200 billion industry, Bushel noted.
Charlie Laird, director of IT strategy at Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. — which already uses Bushel Wallet and plans to embed a payments capacity into a user portal — said that his company is expanding its digital payments capabilities because “we knew we needed to provide a way to more easily transact with our customer base in a seamless and timely manner.”
Meanwhile, Bushel CEO Jake Joraanstad said the products announced today fulfill needs that have been clear since the company launched in 2017.
“From early on in our work to digitize agriculture, it became apparent a big piece of this was how farmers and agribusinesses did business with each other,” he said. “They need the tools to become more financially efficient and clearer on the state of their operations.”
Farmers and agricultural businesses are increasingly utilizing digital solutions to streamline their operations and boost efficiency. In April, John Deere and connected operations specialist Samsara announced an integration that aimed to provide greater visibility into support vehicles.
See also: Farms Deploy Tech to Boost Efficiency, Communications, Uptime
The integration allows farmers, through an online John Deere farm management system, to monitor both the location and status of the support vehicles they use in their farming operations in near real time.
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