More than 90% of Growers Edge’s retail partners are renewing its input financing program for 2027, the company says, a sign that retailers see value in a tool they say helps them sell premium products earlier in the season.
Michael Hoffstatter of Growers Edge says financing changes the conversation at the counter. Whereas before, a retailer may have hesitated to ask a grower to commit to a premium product early in the season.
“With financing, it’s allowing them to offer that to them, knowing that they don’t have to pay cash right away,” Hoffstatter says.
Repayment isn’t due until February after harvest, and growers also want credit lined up sooner, Hoffstatter says.
A credit line in place lets growers take advantage of preseason discounts and buy when the timing works for them. Applications for the 2027 season are up from this time last year–3X year over year. At the same time, he says, retailers report that growers are “very cautious” about what they buy and when, with diesel costs the hot topic.
The program also changes the retailer’s books. Retailers that have used in-house credit have been on the hook for defaulted loans, Hoffstatter says. With Growers Edge, a retailer is paid within 48 hours of submitting a transaction and is “effectively out of the transaction,” he says, which helps as a tool to manage their cash flow. The company says the program costs retailers nothing, has no recourse for the retailer, and can be branded to the retailer’s look and feel. A retailer can choose to buy down the grower’s interest rate, he says, but does not have to.
High renewal rate
Growers Edge had 125 retailers in its 2026 program, and 94% re-enrolled for 2027.
“First year of the program, we weren’t sure how it would be accepted in the marketplace. We’ve found the program was a great fit with no recourse and overall a great response from renewal customers. This reflects a strong need for this type of product and Growers Edge was able to provide a high level of support to those returning customers,” Hoffstatter says.
The program can be used for anything a grower puts on a crop, Hoffstatter says, with no product restrictions.
He attributes the retailers that did not renew to geography, lower-than-expected grower demand, or crop mixes that did not fit the program. He says there were no real concerns with the program itself, and the company plans to follow up with those retailers at their request.
A complement to the operating line
Hoffstatter does not suggest input financing as a replacement for bank credit, but rather as a piece of the capital structure for the grower.
“I would recommend keeping the operating line where it is,” he says. He also says banks have pulled back on operating lines and become more constrained on available credit, so growers are looking for ways to offset that.
