Types of Suppliers

Since everything Farmers of North America does is directed toward building Member Value, we categorize businesses into suppliers that provide different levels of value to Members. The value suppliers provide is mapped to our Priority List in three primary categories:

Major Suppliers are businesses that provide value to Members in one or more of the five priority areas and have agreed to offer Members competitive pricing on farm inputs demonstrating that the supplier’s participation provides an opportunity for “major” contributions to maximizing Member profitability.  Examples of Major Suppliers include AgraCity Crop and Nutrition (AgCan), Genesis, the FNA Farmers Fertilizer Limited Partnership (FNA FLP), and Farm Credit Canada (FCC).

FNA’s service team may take instruction from Members to place orders with Major Suppliers on the Member’s behalf; FNA may authorize some Major Suppliers to contact the Membership directly; or the supplier may be approved to deal with Members through a dealership or other third-party entity.

Intermediate Suppliers are businesses that have agreed to provide competitive farm inputs that do not fall under the “major” category. Their participation is often in the form of dealership agreements with FNA.

Intermediate Suppliers deliver significant value, but the products and services they provide do not feature as prominently in a farmer’s budget. Products offered by Intermediate Suppliers include farm tires, farm parts and livestock equipment.

Major and Intermediate Suppliers prices are negotiated exclusively for FNA Members, and some products are even exclusively available to Members.

New products or programs that suppliers wish to offer FNA Members must be first approved by FNA management.

Preferred Suppliers are part of what is traditionally thought of as a “Membership Benefits” package. The benefit, usually a discount price, is obtained through normal retail channels by presenting the Membership card or providing the FNA Membership number to the Preferred Supplier. Preferred Suppliers may provide additional benefits such as enhanced rebates or preferential shipping terms.  NAPA Auto Parts is a good example. Some Members have reported receiving thousands of dollars in rebates from NAPA.

Preferred Suppliers are never given direct access to the Membership.

In some FNA communications you may see references to Major Programs and Intermediate Programs. This is how suppliers to FNA Members may present their products in easy-to-find groupings such as: “Major Program – Crop Protection” or “Intermediate Program – Tires.”