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Agriculture · head to head

Farmers Business Network (FBN) vs Teralytic

Farmers Business Network (FBN) logo

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

Agriculture

Farmer-to-farmer network and marketplace

From
$700/year
Rated
-
Teralytic logo

Teralytic

Agriculture

Wireless soil probe reading NPK at three depths, sold as an annual per-probe service rather than a sensor

From
On request
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Farmers Business Network (FBN) the Internet Archive's capture of Farmers Business Network's homepage on 2 January 2021 stated core FBN membership is free, with fees applying only to add-on services such as FBN Direct input purchases, crop marketing advisory, brokerage, financing and insurance, each offered by separately licensed FBN subsidiary entities.; Teralytic the company is reported at around six employees, so if it stops trading the buried probes become inert hardware, which is the single biggest risk in a multi-year soil sensing deployment.
  • They diverge on capability: Farmers Business Network (FBN) covers Seed performance analytics, Teralytic covers Wireless NPK sensing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Farmers Business Network (FBN) and Teralytic actually diverge.

Attributes where Farmers Business Network (FBN) and Teralytic differ
AttributeFarmers Business Network (FBN)Teralytic
Starting price$700/yearOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Agriculture).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Farmers Business Network (FBN)

  • Seed performance analytics
  • Input price transparency
  • Direct input purchasing
  • Yield analytics
  • Crop marketing tools
  • Farm financing
  • Agronomic insights
  • Farmer network access

Only in Teralytic

  • Wireless NPK sensing
  • Three-depth profile
  • Soil respiration and aeration
  • Long-range radio uplink
  • Cloud analytics
  • Above-ground sensing
  • API access
  • Multi-field deployment view

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

  • Input purchasingnot Teralytic
  • Seed selectionnot Teralytic
  • Price comparisonnot Teralytic
  • Farm financingnot Teralytic
  • Market insightsnot Teralytic

Teralytic

  • A research trial that needs continuous nitrogen readings between sampling dates rather than two lab tests a seasonnot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • A vegetable grower on sandy ground where leaching after rain makes a fortnightly lab test worthlessnot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • An almond or vine operation tracking salinity build-up under drip irrigationnot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • An agronomist validating a variable-rate nitrogen prescription against in-ground readingsnot Farmers Business Network (FBN)

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

  • The Internet Archive's capture of Farmers Business Network's homepage on 2 January 2021 stated core FBN membership is free, with fees applying only to add-on services such as FBN Direct input purchases, crop marketing advisory, brokerage, financing and insurance, each offered by separately licensed FBN subsidiary entities.

Teralytic

  • The company is reported at around six employees, so if it stops trading the buried probes become inert hardware, which is the single biggest risk in a multi-year soil sensing deployment.
  • No current pricing is published and reported figures have moved between roughly 300 and 500 US dollars per probe per year, so a buyer cannot model the cost of a hundred-probe deployment without a quote.
  • The subscription is mandatory for the probe to report at all, so the up-front hardware payment buys nothing durable and a lapsed account means a field full of dead instruments.
  • In-field NPK sensing is scientifically contested and readings need interpretation against soil type and calibration, so agronomists will not treat the numbers as interchangeable with a lab test and many will insist on both.
  • Spatial coverage is the unsolved problem: a probe measures one point, soil varies over metres, and covering a field properly multiplies both the hardware and the annual subscription by the number of zones you care about.

Pricing, plan by plan

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

$700/year
  • FBN Membership$700/year
    • Access to FBN Analytics
    • Seed performance data
    • Chemical price transparency
  • FBN DirectFree
    • Transparent input pricing
    • Direct-to-farm delivery
    • Seed & crop protection

Teralytic

On request
  • Teralytic Soil Probe$undefined/year
    • Probe purchased or supplied with an annual per-probe subscription
    • Subscription covers hardware, network, software and analytics
    • Reported figures have ranged from roughly 300 to 500 USD per probe per year

Which should you pick?

Choose Farmers Business Network (FBN) if

  • You need seed performance analytics.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want input price transparency.

Choose Teralytic if

  • You need wireless npk sensing.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want three-depth profile.

Questions people ask

Is Farmers Business Network (FBN) or Teralytic better?
Neither clearly leads. Farmers Business Network (FBN) starts at $700/year and Teralytic at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Farmers Business Network (FBN) or Teralytic?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) starts at $700/year and Teralytic at On request.
Does Farmers Business Network (FBN) or Teralytic run on more platforms?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) runs on Web, Ios, Android. Teralytic runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Farmers Business Network (FBN) best used for?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) is most often used for input purchasing, seed selection, price comparison, farm financing. Of those, input purchasing and seed selection are not what Teralytic is typically brought in for.
What can Farmers Business Network (FBN) do that Teralytic cannot?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) covers Seed performance analytics, Input price transparency, Direct input purchasing, Yield analytics. Teralytic covers Wireless NPK sensing, Three-depth profile, Soil respiration and aeration, Long-range radio uplink.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Teralytic: Can I buy the probe without a subscription?

No. The probe reports through Teralytic’s network into its cloud, and without an active subscription it does not deliver data.

Teralytic: Does it replace lab soil tests?

No. It gives continuous in-season trend data. Most agronomists will still want lab results for absolute nutrient values and for compliance records.

Teralytic: How much does it cost?

Teralytic does not publish current pricing. Reported figures have ranged from roughly 300 to 500 US dollars per probe per year including hardware and connectivity.

Teralytic: How many probes does a field need?

That depends on soil variability. One probe represents one point, so a field with several distinct soil zones needs one per zone to be meaningful.

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