Global Prairie sues ag tech firm FarmLink for loan default
January 5, 2017 | Bobby Burch
Kansas City-based marketing firm Global Prairie has filed suit against a local ag tech firm for defaulting on a loan, according to a document that was filed Nov. 14 in Jackson County Court.
In the document, Global Prairie alleged that Kansas City-based FarmLink failed to fulfill payments on a promissory note in the amount of $568,390 plus interest. A promissory note is a financial tool used to put the terms of a loan in writing and contains a written promise to pay a stated sum on a specific date.
FarmLink — whose website is now inoperable — offers a suite of tech services for farmers, including its analytics platform TrueHarvest and machinery sharing platform MachineryLink Sharing.
Led by CEO Ron LeMay, the company has raised about $77 million in capital. LeMay is also the managing director of OpenAir Equity Partners, which is a top investor in FarmLink.
FarmLink in February announced that it would split its company into two businesses, FarmLink and MachineryLink Solutions. The court filing includes two other affiliate organizations: FarmLink LLC and FarmLink Analytics.
Anne St. Peter founded Global Prairie in 2008. The firm has since opened offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Fort Worth, Washington, D.C., Berlin and Brussels.
“This is a legal matter and we intend to limit any comments to our court filings,” said Greg Wolf, an attorney at Dentons that’s representing Global Prairie.
FarmLink has not yet responded to request for comment. The ag tech firm was selected by Startland News as one of Kansas City’s top 10 startups to watch in 2016.
Featured Business

2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
‘Those are fighting words’: Why Weston Bergmann won’t stop until ‘The Blox’ changes every challenger’s life
With the largest live-in startup competition now available on Amazon Prime Video, the stakes have never been higher and the potential never greater for “The Blox” — a show where the reality TV format is mined to turn entrepreneur education into entertainment. “The demand to be on the show has exponentially grown, and with it…
Team behind KC Current, CPKC Stadium honored as Entrepreneurs of the Year
Chris and Angie Long scored another big win Thursday — joining the roster of Kansas Citians honored as UMKC’s Entrepreneurs of the Year — amid an evening that celebrated the world of athletics and the leaders who make the KC sports scene shine. “We feel very proud that we have set a bar,” said Angie…
UMKC’s Student Entrepreneur of the Year sees business potential in KC’s diverse futbol ecosystem
Lesly Romo couldn’t shake an idea bouncing around in her mind for the past few years: a venture she ultimately would call Golazo, a multi-faceted soccer facility that offers the world’s diverse forms of futbol all in one place. Recently named UMKC Student Entrepreneur of the Year, Romo first conceived the concept during her freshman…
InvestMidwest aims to turn connections into dollars; startups can apply to pitch now
Attending InvestMidwest as an audience member was so impactful for Nick Love that the Love Lifesciences co-founder hopes to pitch his own company when the startup-investor conference and showcase returns this spring to Kansas City — for the first time since 2019. “InvestMidwest allowed us to speak with investors, but was also structured such that…
