Atlanta, GA |
Out of a small office in downtown Atlanta, big ideas are taking shape that could change the way farmers handle their finances. What started as a manual bookkeeping service, Good Agriculture has evolved into an automated financial management platform designed to tackle one of the most persistent pain points in production agriculture.
“Everything is hard for a small farmer. They’re doing the finances, the logistics, the marketing, the legal compliance, the hiring, and the farming — all by themselves. When we asked them which thing they’d most like to get off their plate, the number one thing that came up was finances,” said Alex Locklear, Founder and CEO of Good Agriculture.
Good Agriculture was recently named one of four finalists for this year’s American Farm Bureau Federation Ag Innovation Challenge — recognition that reflects both the need the company is addressing and the efficiency gains it delivers for producers.
“The two biggest value propositions we’ve seen for our farmers are: one, we’ve been able to point out specific insights like, ‘Hey, this thing you’re growing is actually losing you money,’ or ‘You’re spending way more on diesel fuel than other farmers your size,'” Locklear said. “Then they can make those changes and see more profit. For the other half of our customers, it’s purely time savings — we’re just taking that off their plate so they can reinvest into the farm.”
With margins tighter than ever, Locklear says the ability to break down the true cost of every operation on the farm has become critically important — and the results often surprise producers.
“It’s so important to know: every time I do a tractor pass, what is that going to cost me? What is my cost per acre? Am I selling at a price point that actually makes sense, or the more I grow, the more am I losing money?” Locklear said. “Every time we’ve broken down the numbers for a farmer, there’s always something that surprises them — some thing they’re doing that’s actually not worth it at all.”
With three service tiers, Good Agriculture is designed to serve farms across the spectrum — from new operations just getting started to established family businesses doing eight figures in annual revenue.
“We’ve gotten to work with such a fun diversity of farm businesses — row crops, livestock, value-added products, agritourism, you name it. From brand-new farmers who don’t have any revenue yet and just want to get started on the right foot, to family businesses doing ten-plus million dollars a year who need a little more support,” Locklear said. “We just love supporting farmers through that journey.”
Good Agriculture is continuing to expand its offerings based on what producers are asking for. This year the company added tax filing, and payroll and bill pay are both in development.
“Farmers always ask us for additional things we can do with their financial management. This year we added filing their taxes for them — and that’s been huge,” Locklear said. “The next thing we’re implementing is payroll, because everybody is asking for it. After that, bill pay — handling the invoices, paying the bills, managing the money coming in and out.”
For Georgia’s farmers who have long handled their books the hard way, Good Agriculture is offering something simple but powerful: one less thing to do — and a clearer picture of what’s actually working on the farm.