Norm costs nothing beyond a free Farmers Business Network account, and it answers the kind of questions farmers usually put to an agronomist or a seed rep: which herbicide fits a weed problem, how to handle a disease, what to watch for in a cow herd. FBN launched Norm in April 2023, when its network counted more than 55,000 members farming over 117 million acres across the US and Canada.
Norm is named after Dr. Norman Borlaug, the plant scientist, and FBN billed it at launch as the industry’s first AI ag advisor.
How It Works
Farmers type questions in a chat and get answers covering agronomy, crop protection products, seed and input choices, pest and disease strategies, farm business and livestock health, with an emphasis on beef cattle. It was first built on OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and draws on public data about weather, soil and application rates, along with FBN’s own feeds on agronomy, animal health and crop health. FBN also pointed it at a structured set of product labels to improve answers on chemical questions, where mistakes carry the most risk.
In February 2026 FBN expanded Norm into a broader AI team. New personas include Dr. Diane for livestock, Hitch for machinery, Hedge for grain trading, Hal for weather and Laura for farm real estate. FBN says these tools can use farmer-provided data such as equipment, historical yields, grain positions and input history to personalize guidance.
Pricing
Norm is free for FBN members, and membership itself is free to create on the company’s website. Membership also opens FBN’s farm, ranch and finance offerings, so the advisor doubles as a front door to the company’s other products. No paid tier for the AI tools has been published.
What to Watch Out For
When it launched, every Norm answer carried a warning that it was an experiment and not meant for real agronomic guidance, and FBN told users to follow label directions, local regulations and a trusted agronomist. Treat its answers as a starting point, and get a second opinion before large purchases. Public detail on accuracy testing and languages is thin. This entry is based on published information, not hands-on testing.
Recent News
At its Farmer2Farmer conference in Omaha in February 2026, FBN unveiled an AI team that adds livestock, machinery, grain marketing, weather and real estate agents alongside Norm.
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