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Agriculture · head to head

Farmers Business Network (FBN) vs Toro Lynx Central Control

Farmers Business Network (FBN) logo

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

Agriculture

Farmer-to-farmer network and marketplace

From
$700/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Toro Lynx Central Control logo

Toro Lynx Central Control

Agriculture

Golf course irrigation control where the mobile app stops working if you let the NSN subscription lapse

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Toro Lynx Central Control nSN is free only for the first year after purchase, and the Lynx mobile app is tied to an active NSN subscription, so the remote control feature demonstrated at sale disappears in year two unless the club renews an item the capital budget did not carry.
  • They diverge on capability: Farmers Business Network (FBN) covers Seed performance analytics, Toro Lynx Central Control covers Course mapping.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Farmers Business Network (FBN) and Toro Lynx Central Control actually diverge.

Attributes where Farmers Business Network (FBN) and Toro Lynx Central Control differ
AttributeFarmers Business Network (FBN)Toro Lynx Central Control
Starting price$700/yearOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWindows, Web, iOS, Android
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Toro Lynx Central Control

  • Course mapping
  • Flow management
  • ET and weather adjustment
  • Lynx Smart Module
  • Lynx Cloud
  • Mobile app
  • IntelliDash
  • NSN support

What people use each for

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

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

  • Input purchasingnot Toro Lynx Central Control
  • Seed selectionnot Toro Lynx Central Control
  • Price comparisonnot Toro Lynx Central Control
  • Farm financingnot Toro Lynx Central Control
  • Market insightsnot Toro Lynx Central Control

Toro Lynx Central Control

  • An 18-hole course replacing a 20-year-old central control where sprinkler-level adjustment currently means walking out with a keynot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • A superintendent chasing a night-time main break who needs the flow alarm before the green floodsnot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • A resort with three courses on one pump network balancing demand across a limited windownot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • A municipal complex under a water restriction that must document applied volume by areanot 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.

Toro Lynx Central Control

  • NSN is free only for the first year after purchase, and the Lynx mobile app is tied to an active NSN subscription, so the remote control feature demonstrated at sale disappears in year two unless the club renews an item the capital budget did not carry.
  • Lynx controls Toro field hardware, so central control and sprinkler manufacturer are a single twenty-year decision and a club cannot switch software without rewiring the course.
  • It runs on a Windows workstation in the maintenance building as the system of record, which means a machine that has to be patched, backed up and eventually replaced, and courses routinely run it on hardware well past support.
  • Toro publishes no pricing at all: everything comes through a distributor quote inside a large irrigation project, so a club cannot separate the software cost from the pipe and heads to judge whether it is fair.
  • Full capability depends on the field hardware generation, and courses with older Toro satellites cannot use head-level Smart Module control without a field upgrade that costs more than the software ever did.

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

Toro Lynx Central Control

On request
  • Lynx Central Control$undefined/year
    • Bought as part of a Toro irrigation system through a distributor
    • Lynx Cloud included with each system
    • NSN support free for one year after purchase, paid subscription thereafter

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.
Farmers Business Network (FBN) review

Choose Toro Lynx Central Control if

  • You need course mapping.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want flow management.
Toro Lynx Central Control review

Questions people ask

Is Farmers Business Network (FBN) or Toro Lynx Central Control better?
Neither clearly leads. Farmers Business Network (FBN) starts at $700/year and Toro Lynx Central Control 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 Toro Lynx Central Control?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) starts at $700/year and Toro Lynx Central Control at On request.
Does Farmers Business Network (FBN) or Toro Lynx Central Control run on more platforms?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) runs on Web, Ios, Android. Toro Lynx Central Control runs on Windows, 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 Toro Lynx Central Control is typically brought in for.
What can Farmers Business Network (FBN) do that Toro Lynx Central Control cannot?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) covers Seed performance analytics, Input price transparency, Direct input purchasing, Yield analytics. Toro Lynx Central Control covers Course mapping, Flow management, ET and weather adjustment, Lynx Smart Module.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Toro Lynx Central Control: Is the Lynx mobile app free?

No. App access is included with an active NSN subscription. NSN is free for one year after the Lynx purchase and paid after that.

Toro Lynx Central Control: Can Lynx control another manufacturer’s sprinklers?

Not meaningfully. It is built around Toro satellites and two-wire modules.

Toro Lynx Central Control: Is Lynx cloud-based?

Lynx Cloud is included and handles remote access and updates, but the core system still runs on an on-site Windows workstation.

Toro Lynx Central Control: What does NSN actually provide?

24 hour specialist support, remote diagnostics, the mobile app, IntelliDash and training, delivered from Abilene, Texas with offices in Belgium and Australia.

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