Bushel Buddy Seat Conference Showcases New Features for Its Integrated Workflow Solutions
Bushel, an independently-owned software technology company focused on developing digital tools for the agricultural supply chain, held its annual Bushel Buddy Seat Conference, June 11-12 in Fargo, N.D. Almost 200 agribusiness representatives from ag retailers, cooperatives, and grain companies gathered to learn about industry trends and updates from Bushel. Key announcements were made around customer relationship management, payment solutions, and Bushel’s network reach.
Customer Relationship Management
Bushel showed a live demo of key functionalities including automated customer records, a complete view of customer data accessible via mobile and web, comprehensive customer profiles and historical interaction notes. Bushel is also developing a virtual assistant using generative AI to help answer basic questions within the platform to continue to provide insights into customer relationships. Bushel’s CRM integrates directly with 15 different enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, significantly reducing agribusiness team members’ need for manual entry.
“Bringing new people on or replacing old roles can be very difficult in agriculture. Transition happens and it’s going to continue to happen. Yet, there are still customer needs that need to be met for your grain and ag retail business. The hardest thing I have yet to figure out is how to have one spot to see grain contracts alongside fertility or chemical purchases. I think with the Bushel CRM tool, it’s going to be extremely effective as it relates to trying to utilize the data that is provided,” said Zach Jans, Grain Manager of Prairie Grain Partners.
Payment Solutions
Bushel also showed the login flow it created for farmers to digitally access and manage lines of credit serviced by Compeer Financial. This allows farmers to view line of credit details including current balance, interest accrued, and original loan amount and make payments on lines of credit directly in Bushel Wallet.
“To have a scale of anything, you need to have infrastructure. Bushel’s working with the same businesses our clients are working with day in and day out: grain elevators, input suppliers, manufacturers, and others. And that’s the infrastructure we trade in day in and day out as a lender and our clients are trading with day in and day out. That intersection was the right kind of partnership for us to look at. It’s providing an underlying conduit for business to take place very seamlessly and effortlessly,” said Terry Hinds, Chief New Markets & Assurance Officer at Compeer Financial.
Bushel debuted a new direct deposit feature in Bushel Wallet that simplifies ACH enrollment and boosts payment data security by removing the need for voided checks and mailing paperwork, reducing the risks of check fraud and identity theft. It is a deposit-only account, offering a safer alternative to standard ACH transactions. This upgrade also improves the customer experience by enabling auto-enrollment and allowing farmers to manage their funds easily. Agribusinesses benefit from cost reductions, including zero transaction fees and savings on printing and mailing checks, while staff can streamline workflows by setting up deferred payments through ACH. This solution is available through Bushel’s customer portal.
“We hear from our customers that ACH can work for farmers, but they are still seeing lower adoption rates of between 10-15 percent. Our automatic direct deposit into Bushel Wallet helps take some of the complexity from the agribusinesses trying to manage account data, and the inconvenience from the farmer having to provide voided checks,” said Bersie.
Bushel co-founder Ryan Raguse demonstrated a proof of concept for Bushel Wallet that creates an income statement based on account activity within the digital payment platform.
“This will save hundreds of hours of data entry that occurs within farm accounting systems and provides a faster snapshot of financial health simply based on the payment activities happening right inside Bushel Wallet,” Raguse said.
New Generative AI Proof of Concept for ScoularView
Scoular announced that it is working with Bushel on a proof of concept to bring a generative AI assistant into ScoularView to help answer account questions from farmers such as how many bushels are in storage, average protein levels during last number of loads, or number of bushels remaining on to be delivered.
“When you think about how AI can impact us at Scoular, it’s about providing insights, simplifying workflows, and freeing up resources to work on more important tasks. We want to ensure we are making the best decisions and providing the best customer service. We’re at the right time for exploring how AI can built into existing tools, and are partnering with Bushel for a proof of concept to see where it can go,” said David Tomlinson, Chief Information Officer at Scoular.
Network Growth
Bushel now powers more than 3,500 grain and ag retail facilities, representing more than 50% of U.S. and Canadian grain origination. Combined with its integrations with agricultural ERPs, this network is a unified digital infrastructure that enhances efficiency and communication across the agricultural supply chain.
“Over the past few years, we’ve been working to provide one workflow solution for agribusinesses that helps them have better processes for their teams. We see these innovations as more ways that life for agribusinesses is better when they are connected on the Bushel platform,” said Bushel CEO Jake Joraanstad.
Throughout the day, Bushel highlighted other features in the fully integrated workflow solution, designed specifically for agribusinesses. This integrated workflow solution allows agribusinesses to connect all their data, people, and processes in a single solution. The suite of tools for Bushel’s integrated workflow solution includes:
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Customer Portal
- Commercial Portal
- Farm Management
- Bid, Offer, and Hedge Management
- Payments Management
- Website Management
This provides agribusinesses with connected systems that can be automated, systemized and run in real-time. With most ag retailers and grain businesses running short on staff, it becomes simple for office staff and IT teams to use and maintain their systems.
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