Chicago-based R.J. O'Brien & Associates (RJO), an independent futures brokerage and clearing firm in the United States, and Greenstone Systems, a leading market provider of integrated agricultural accounting and management software, have partnered to digitally connect and automate origination, merchandising and hedging for U.S. grain companies through the Hrvyst initiative.
The integration will be piloted at several locations throughout the country with broad commercial availability expected this summer.
Hrvyst is a purpose-built agri-tech application created by RJO for the commercial grain industry that automates hedging by digitizing the entire grain origination and merchandising process. It electronically links grain offers, purchases and sales to the futures market and to the grain company's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The platform is broker-agnostic so it can be used by commercial grain elevators and linked to their existing brokerage firms.
Greenstone's MyGrower is the powerful mobile engagement platform that enables growers to access real-time account information from the AGRIS ERP system anywhere, anytime. It seamlessly connects growers to their elevators so they can operate their business on-the-go. AGRIS is the most widely used ERP system in the U.S. grain industry.
Through this new integration, the MyGrower platform moves beyond a mobile engagement platform and resource into a transaction-generating tool that can help originate more bushels and facilitate hedging against activity in the cash market. Offers created with MyGrower can instantly flow into and be managed and hedged by Hrvyst while the AGRIS ERP system updates in real-time.
"Grain companies are forced to rely on manual processes to string together disconnected workstreams for buying or selling grain and managing hedges," says Kirk Bonniwell, senior managing director, Hrvyst. "This kills productivity and introduces unnecessary risks. Too often, it also contributes to missed origination and merchandising opportunities. Integrating the Hrvyst and Greenstone platforms mitigates those risks and offers the grain industry an opportunity for straight-through processing capabilities enjoyed by other industries for years."
"Customers informed us that they need a connected solution from the grower, to the hedge management trading system, to the accounting system," says Mike Terning, head of product with Greenstone Systems. "The decision to partner with R.J. O'Brien's Hrvyst was driven by our commitment to provide Greenstone customers with the best combined system. This integration will help grain originators and merchandisers increase engagement with farmers and reduce hedge slippage. It will also greatly increase efficiency and accuracy as accepted offers automatically flow from the Hrvyst trading system into the AGRIS platform."
Bonniwell said: "The agricultural industry has faced enormous challenges over the past few years, and these are only magnified as the world is dealing with the effects of COVID-19. It's more important than ever that those in the grain industry make use of the tools that reduce risk, while ensuring the uninterrupted operation of the food supply chain. This partnership can help those in the grain industry meet those goals and remain properly and precisely hedged in real time, without waiting hours or days to know where they really stand."
For more information, please visit greenstonesystems.com/hrvyst-mygrower.
