A new tech start-up, based on the Eyre Peninsula, is allowing farmers to submit tenders on a web platform and have companies compete to fulfil their fertiliser and chemical needs.
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Founder Fraser Kessling is a mechanical engineer and comes from Kimba. He started iinputs.com in July, with his father Averell Kessling.
"My background is mechanical engineering and I've been working for four years," he said. "My father has run his own accounting business for 40 years."
While not from farming backgrounds themselves, living and working in Kimba, they could see first-hand some of the challenges farmers face, particularly from high input costs.
"I came up with the idea of creating a platform that would work as a reverse Marketplace," Fraser said.
"It allows farmers to upload chemical and fertiliser tenders and then have suppliers or retailers who can quote on their tender.
"The idea was to help save farmers money on input costs and give some purchasing power back to the farmer. We wanted to set up a competitive and transparent process so farmers can receive competitive quotes for their business."
Fraser said the main driver behind the business was to allow transparency in pricing. The platform is free for farmers to use. "Any farmer can sign up and create a tender on the platform absolutely free," Fraser said.
Once a farmer's tender has quotes against it, they can then select their preferred quote and are matched with that supplier, before further details are refined.
"Once the supplier uploads their tax invoice, we then charge the supplier a 0.5 per cent finders fee on that order, which offers excellent value for suppliers to pick up new customers," Fraser said.
"We anticipate farmers will save at least 10pc on input costs, creating a win/win situation."
As well as retailers, iinputs.com also hosts manufacturers who can quote farmers directly on bigger orders.
"We also offer a buyers group feature so farmers can get together and put in an order as a buyer's group," Fraser said.
Fraser said it was a "really easy" process for farmers to get set up on iinputs.com
"It doesn't cost anything so there's nothing to lose by using the platform." he said.
The idea was to help save farmers money on input costs and give some purchasing power back to the farmer.
- FRASER KESSLING
Paula Thompson
Paula Thompson is ACM's National Machinery and Ag Tech writer. She has been an agricultural journalist for more than 20 years. Prior to her current role, she was a reporter with the Stock Journal, covering livestock markets and the grains industry.
Paula Thompson is ACM's National Machinery and Ag Tech writer. She has been an agricultural journalist for more than 20 years. Prior to her current role, she was a reporter with the Stock Journal, covering livestock markets and the grains industry.
