Milk It First comprehensive site for farmers to find commodity news, forecasts, futures prices and other important industry information
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
One of the first things that 90,000 of America's farmers doevery morning--after milking the cows, of course--is log on to TedFarnsworth's Web site, Farmbid.com. Launched last year,Farmbid.com is the first comprehensive site where farmers can findcommodity news, forecasts, futures prices, information about herbs,the latest jokes, as well as access to 20,000 products.
The site's main attraction, though, is its auctions, whichallow busy farmers to bid on equipment, tools, chemicals, seeds,veterinary drugs and even baby piglets without ever leaving thehomestead. Before long, farmers also will be able to learn aboutthe latest legislation, research sources of disaster relief, anddiscover whether a vendor has an item in stock and how quickly itcan be delivered.
With 70 percent of farmers between the ages of 25 and 45 loggingon to the Net, the time is ripe for a site like Farmbid.com, its37-year-old creator believes. "At one time, the most importantpiece of farm equipment was a tractor. Today, it's a laptop andthe Net," says Farnsworth, who operates the business from anoffice in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, along with 27 employees.
The business is an outgrowth of Farnsworth's previousventure, an auction site called Infospot.com. But when he realizedit probably wasn't a bright move to go head-to-head with thelikes of Amazon.com and eBay, this nephew of New York state dairyfarmers decided to target a niche largely ignored by othernetpreneurs.
Farnsworth's first step was to commission Arthur Andersenfor market research, then he turned to family and friends for $4million in start-up capital. They hooted with laughter but gave himthe money.
Farnsworth attracts site traffic by attending agricultural tradeshows and talking to farmers. So far, the
approach seems to be working. The site is getting 7 million hitsa month from 90,000 farmers in the United States, China, Russia andother countries.
Farmbid earns more than $60,000 a month in sales, most of thatcoming from the 5 percent commission it receives on auction items.That's hardly chicken feed, but Farnsworth already is hatchingplans for an IPO to take place sometime this year.
Pamela Rohland, a writer from Bernville, Pennsylvania,completes stories for Start-Ups and other nationalpublications with assistance from her four cats.
