Olds (Rural Roots Canada) – Streamlining feed procurement is the goal of FeedXChange, an innovative platform that connects farmers and feed brokers. It enables them to find the best deals, negotiate favourable prices, and save money.

FeedXChange is the brainchild of Styn Nieuwenhuis and Josh Hawley. Nieuwenhuis says the idea came about simply because there was little data available about the by-product side of the feed ingredient market.

“If I want to find out the elevator price of feed barley, or canola variety, it’s all publicly available,” he notes. “But in the feed industry, most of the protein ingredients are by-products. If you want to get a price, and you don’t want to go to a feed company and do it yourself instead of buying a complete feed and making everything in a mixer and doing it that way, it’s really hard to tell if you’re getting a good price”

The FeedXChange site takes a two-pronged approach that helps farmers and brokers.

“We created a website that has two roles – a marketplace where we partner with feed brokers to create more transparency in the market,” says Nieuwenhuis. “They can place futures and current prices, and instead of having to phone numerous people, we can see everything on one dashboard.”

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FeedXChange also addresses the operation inefficiencies faced by feed brokers, who traditionally rely on manual processes and outdated tools.

“On the broker side, they’re barely using Excel. There’s no logistics software available for them. They need a CRM to contact their clients. They’re manually sending out 100 texts a day — this is the price we need, this is the future price – they’re spending their whole day on the phone. There’s nothing to help them to get more organized, manage trades and profit and loss.”

By making these tools available to brokers, Nieuwenhuis says FeedXChange not only streamlines their operations but enables them to modify and utilize the platform effectively. The data collected can be compared to publicly available data, assisting farmers in better analyzing the market.

FeedXChange has garnered significant attention from the tech community. The response from farmers has been organic but promising as the platform continues to fine-tune its features in Beta testing mode as it works towards a full launch.

For more information, you can visit the FeedXChange website.