SAN CARLOS, Calif. and CHICAGO — Farmers Business Network (FBN), the global farmer-to-farmer network and ag tech company, announced on Dec. 20 the hiring of the company's first chief information officer, Kumud Kokal.

Kokal brings a wealth of experience in digital and IT transformation to drive innovative solutions across the company. Kokal will work to optimize the company's processes and technology to pass that innovation along to its growing network of farmer members. In the pandemic age, digital innovation has never been more vital to a business and its customers.

"FBN has long been the leader in farm data and analytics, and we will bring that same innovation to our employees and internal processes," said Kokal. "Every day our employees are working to provide the best and most cutting-edge solutions to our farmer members. I'm looking forward to furthering that goal through leading FBN's information technology and bringing our employees the best tools to help them serve growers."

Kokal will lead the IT, infrastructure and security teams, working closely across FBN's many departments, such as FBN Finance, Gradable, FBN Direct, R&D and more to optimize workflows and technology, and in turn, get better products to farmers faster.

"Kumud brings expertise across a range of tech companies to FBN," said Amol Deshpande, CEO and co-founder of FBN. "Everything we do strives to provide ROI to our members. By optimizing FBN's internal processes, we'll be able to even better deliver for our growers."

FBN is an independent ag tech platform and farmer-to-farmer network with a mission to power the prosperity of family farmers around the world, while working toward a sustainable future. Its Farmers First promise has attracted more than 33,000 members to the network with a common goal of maximizing their farms’ profit potential. FBN has set out to redefine value and convenience for farmers by helping reduce the cost of production and maximize the value of their crops.

FBN members farm more than 80 million acres in the U.S., Canada and Australia. The company has over 800 personnel and offices in San Carlos, CA., Chicago, Ill., Sioux Falls, S.D., a Canadian headquarters in High River, Alberta, and an Australian headquarters in Perth.

Click here for more Industry News.