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Agriculture · head to head

Farmers Business Network (FBN) vs Tucor

Farmers Business Network (FBN) logo

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

Agriculture

Farmer-to-farmer network and marketplace

From
$700/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tucor logo

Tucor

Agriculture

Decoder irrigation controllers with a yearly remote-access subscription priced separately for cellular and Ethernet

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.; Tucor nLPNet is a yearly subscription priced differently for cellular and Ethernet, so a site with no cabled network path is committed to the higher recurring rate for the life of the controller with no way to change it later without running fibre.
  • They diverge on capability: Farmers Business Network (FBN) covers Seed performance analytics, Tucor covers NLP-C controller.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Farmers Business Network (FBN) and Tucor differ
AttributeFarmers Business Network (FBN)Tucor
Starting price$700/yearOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Windows, 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 Tucor

  • NLP-C controller
  • Decoder diagnostics
  • Flow monitoring
  • MAD-based programming
  • Station prioritisation
  • Weather correction and water budget
  • NLPNet remote access
  • Cycle Manager

What people use each for

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

Farmers Business Network (FBN)

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

Tucor

  • A university retrofitting a conventional multi-wire system to two-wire without trenching a new cable to every valvenot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • A nursery or greenhouse needing 50 independent programmes on one controllernot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • A grounds team chasing a decoder fault on a mile-long loop who need it located rather than dug fornot Farmers Business Network (FBN)
  • An HOA that wants unscheduled-flow alarms after a contractor cut a lateralnot 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.

Tucor

  • NLPNet is a yearly subscription priced differently for cellular and Ethernet, so a site with no cabled network path is committed to the higher recurring rate for the life of the controller with no way to change it later without running fibre.
  • Neither the controllers nor the subscriptions have published prices, so a multi-controller estate cannot budget a rollout without distributor quotes for each site.
  • Tucor runs two separate cloud portals, NLPNet and Cycle Manager, which is a confusing surface for a small vendor and means the answer to where a function lives depends on which product line you bought.
  • It is a small independent competing with Rain Bird, Hunter and Toro, so the installer and spares network is thinner and a site is more exposed if a distributor relationship in its region ends.
  • The product documentation is sparse compared with the major manufacturers, so specifying and commissioning depends heavily on the local distributor knowing the platform rather than on published material a consulting engineer can read.

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

Tucor

On request
  • NLPNet remote access$undefined/year
    • Yearly subscription required for remote access
    • Separate pricing for cellular and Ethernet connections
    • Priced per controller

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 Tucor if

  • You need nlp-c controller.
  • You work on Web, Windows, iOS, Android.
  • You also want decoder diagnostics.
Tucor review

Questions people ask

Is Farmers Business Network (FBN) or Tucor better?
Neither clearly leads. Farmers Business Network (FBN) starts at $700/year and Tucor 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 Tucor?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) starts at $700/year and Tucor at On request.
Does Farmers Business Network (FBN) or Tucor run on more platforms?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) runs on Web, Ios, Android. Tucor runs on Web, Windows, 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 Tucor is typically brought in for.
What can Farmers Business Network (FBN) do that Tucor cannot?
Farmers Business Network (FBN) covers Seed performance analytics, Input price transparency, Direct input purchasing, Yield analytics. Tucor covers NLP-C controller, Decoder diagnostics, Flow monitoring, MAD-based programming.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Tucor: Is remote access included with the controller?

No. NLPNet is a separate yearly subscription, and it is priced differently depending on whether the controller connects over cellular or Ethernet.

Tucor: How many valves can one controller run?

The NLP-C addresses up to 500 decoders and 125 sensors across 20 points of connection, with up to 50 programmes.

Tucor: Can Tucor retrofit a conventional system?

Yes, converting a conventional multi-wire installation to two-wire decoder control is the main reason sites choose it.

Tucor: Who owns Tucor?

It is a privately held company founded in 1995, based in Harmony, Pennsylvania, and independent of the major irrigation manufacturers.

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