Is Farmers Business Network the New Rooster?

When some observers look at the alternative selling strategies being developed by entities such as Farm Trade and Farmers Business Network (FBN), they sometimes make comparisons to another attempt at this kind of business model from the early 2000s — Rooster.com.

Started in the spring of 2000, Rooster.com was intended as a one-stop marketplace where growers could get news, order suppliers, and ultimately sell their products. Initially, the company had the backing of large agricultural players such as Cargill, CHS, and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). At its height, Rooster.com boosted more than 30,000 registered users and employed a staff of 80.

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However, in May 2001, the company abruptly closed its doors, citing a “failure to meet its revenue targets” and an inability to “secure additional funding.”

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A one-time member of the Rooster.com family was Kevin Fry, now Co-Owner of Fry Brothers, a crop protection products supplier in Ewing, NE. While he understands why some people might see FBN as “another Rooster,” several key market dynamics are a bit different in 2017 vs. 2001.

“For one thing, Rooster.com tried what it did when the Internet wasn’t that old, which is no longer the case,” says Fry. “For another thing, there are many more generic crop protection products available today than there were in the early 2000s, with plenty more scheduled to come off-patent in the next two years. This means that for a company like FBN, sourcing materials to supply potential customers will be much easier than it ever was for Rooster.”

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