Key Takeaways:
- Good Agriculture supports farmers by managing financial and administrative burdens.
- The company focuses on regenerative farmers, who often have more complex operations.
- AI is used in combination with human oversight to deliver scalable services.
- Financing challenges persist due to high land costs and limited understanding of newer models.
- The company aims to expand into broader operational support by 2030.
Good Agriculture: Supporting Farmers Beyond the Fields
Good Agriculture, a U.S.-based startup founded by Alex Edquist and her co-founder Kirsten Simmons, is developing tools to support the administrative and financial needs of farmers—particularly those practicing regenerative agriculture.
“Farmers are doing everything themselves—farming, finances, logistics, compliance. It’s too much,” said Edquist in a recent interview with iGrow News.
While many agtech startups focus on optimizing crop production, Good Agriculture is positioning itself as a back-office solution. “They don’t necessarily need help with the farming. That’s the part they’re good at,” Edquist explained.
From AI Tools to Human Support
The company operates a tech-enabled services model. Tasks such as bookkeeping, grant matching, and financial analysis are initially handled by AI systems and then reviewed by human experts.
“AI takes the first pass, and a human verifies before sharing results with the farmer,” Edquist said. The goal is to provide automation support without requiring farmers to navigate unfamiliar software platforms.
Good Agriculture currently supports farms in over 30 states, ranging from small nurseries to large-scale ranches. Regenerative farmers make up a significant portion of its early customer base, due to the time-intensive nature of their practices.
Financial Visibility and Common Barriers
Many farmers struggle with tracking and understanding their financial performance. Edquist outlined a range of customer profiles—from those with no structured financial management to those with sophisticated systems seeking more efficiency.
“There’s no getting around it that trying to make money as a farmer is really hard,” she said.
Factors such as high interest rates, elevated land prices, and expensive inputs have made it difficult for new and existing farmers to expand. Additionally, accessing traditional financing remains a hurdle for farmers with non-conventional business models.
Navigating Policy Uncertainty and Loan Access
The company has also observed the effects of recent policy changes, including temporary funding freezes on USDA cost-share reimbursements. According to Edquist, many farmers made upfront investments based on these programs but were left uncertain about reimbursement timelines.
Good Agriculture monitors such developments on behalf of its clients. “We help farmers stay on top of what’s paused, what’s open, and what’s changed,” she noted.
New Financing and Insurance Models by Good Agriculture
Edquist said that more lending and insurance products are beginning to reflect the operational realities of diversified farms.
“We are starting to see more non-traditional loan products and differentiated insurance models that may eventually reward lower-risk practices,” she explained. These innovations are still in early stages and are not yet widely accessible, but their development is ongoing.
Challenges remain for farmers whose business models do not align with traditional commodity-based metrics. One Good Agriculture customer, for example, was denied an FSA loan due to direct-to-consumer pricing that was viewed as unrealistic, despite historical data supporting it.
Good Agriculture’s Outlook to 2030: Building a Broader Support System
Looking ahead, Edquist hopes to scale the company’s offering to serve a much larger base.
“By 2030, we want to be working with tens of thousands of farmers and expand support beyond finances into operations—like HR, legal, certifications, and inventory,” she said.
The company remains in early-stage development with a six-person team and is preparing for a new fundraising round. “We’re still learning in real time what farmers need and building tools that can scale with them,” Edquist added.
Discover the company’s website here.
Discover their Funding Eligibility survey here.
