How a Recent Software Merger Will Lead to New Technology Solutions for Greenhouse Growers
March 21, 2025 Last month, Greenhouse Grower reported on the merger between Silver Fern and Advanced Grower Solutions. This strategic partnership is designed to unite two complementary companies in horticulture technology, creating a unique platform for growth, innovation, and customer success.
More recently, Greenhouse Grower Editor Brian Sparks caught up with Adam VanWingerden, CEO of Silver Fern, and John Beauford, President of Advanced Grower Solutions, to learn more about how and why the two companies came together, and how it will enhance the tools and resources available to growers of all sizes in the greenhouse and nursery industries.
Brian Sparks: Why did this merger take place, and how did the process start?
John Beauford: It all started because I had a lousy hotel reservation at Cultivate last year. I happened to go over to the Hilton to get some coffee early in the morning before the show started, and ran into Adam. We had previously met, and we talked for an hour in the coffee shop and quickly learned that we see the market very similarly, even though we’re dealing at different spectrums of the market. Silver Fern historically has worked with enterprise-level growers, and AGS has been in that middle to smaller grower space, systems wise. As we talked, we realized there were some real complementary aspects of our business. At the end of the day, we do a lot of the same things. We’re both dealing with inventory, sales orders, production planning, and all of the data and operational aspects the grower has to manage. One thing led to another and we decided there was enough synergy that we should investigate coming together.
Adam VanWingerden: As John mentioned, we shared the same vision regardless of strategy and tactics, and we saw the same needs in the industry, so we continued talking. Many of us in the software part of our industry are doing similar things, and while we all think our products are superior in feature and functionality, we’re all trying to solve the same problems. We also saw that we were heavily aligned on mission and core values. That meeting at Cultivate was the first domino to fall, and I knew if we could confirm and ensure that there was indeed alignment on the vision, then we could all sit at the table and figure out why this is the right thing for the industry and the right thing for our companies.
Brian Sparks: You both of you mentioned some of the commonalities you have. But what are some of the more unique tools, platforms, or area of expertise that each of your companies bring to this new arrangement?
John Beauford: Historically, AGS has worked with a broader array of grower types. We’ve helped tree and shrub growers as well as annual and perennial growers, and several of our customers also do specialty propagation. We’ve also worked across a variety of grower sizes. When talking to Adam and the team at Silver Fern, they’ve worked with what we would consider some of the top growers in terms of volume, and they have been able to optimize a lot of these operations for forecasting production, planning, and some of the other aspects that these growers must consider. That was the thing that hit me when I started looking at their product offerings. I saw that ability to scale.
Adam VanWingerden: I would echo that. Even though there’s some overlap, there are also some core differences. ASG has proven to be a staple in our industry over the last 30 to 40 years, servicing a large tranche of growers and understanding the needs of the smaller nursery, tree, and shrub guys across different market segments. We have that equivalent on the large grower side, understanding how to drive efficiencies and how to address the core problems these growers are trying to solve. From the smaller grower market all the way to the largest growers in the market, at the end of the day they’re doing many of the same things. What makes our industry very challenging and unique is you’ve got three microeconomic variables: seasonality, weather dependency, and perishability of inventory. Those are the three problems that you’re trying to solve, and at the end of the day small growers are facing that, and large growers are also facing that. By combining our companies, we can bring our shared insights, knowledge, and products that can serve the whole market.
Brian Sparks: How do you plan to work with growers on incorporating these types of technologies regardless of size?
Adam VanWingerden: Across the board, we feel like our industry needs more robust ERP solutions. Growers want to be able to solve the core operational functionality that they have in the greenhouse and in the field, in an effective, easy solution. And that solution doesn’t have to be one big, comprehensive system that’s locked into and driven by finance and accounting. Finance and accounting absolutely needs to inform those things, but you should also be able to compartmentalize those core operational functionalities. What does it look like when you look longer term into demand planning versus short-term production planning, scheduling, and inventory management? Our shared vision is how to build something that can meet the needs of the smallest grower to the largest grower, and give them that best solution to take them into the 21st century through composable, modular ERP software.
John Beauford: There’s another aspect of this on the retail end. Not all growers sell to big box stores, but those that do have a unique set of requirements. That’s another area that we found a lot of synergy with the customers we have who are selling to big box retailers. We look at retail data analytics, automation, EDI relationship, trading partner intermediation, data transfer, and how they all work together. We’ve also seen an increase in the number of big box retailers who are moving their grower customers to pay by scan or similar inventory models, where the risk is on the grower. Adam and I both feel passionate about that end of our business. We want to put tools in the hands of the growers that help them optimize and maximize that relationship. It is an opportunity for many growers, but it can also be a detriment if they can’t see the right inventory or if they can’t price it correctly.
Brian Sparks: How do you see this news affecting your current customers?
Adam VanWingerden: The biggest and easiest benefit that they’ll realize is a whole new set of products and offerings they now have access to. We’re servicing some specialized software for larger growers, and the AGS guys have figured out some of the things we haven’t had the time to focus on. There’s a huge opportunity in expanded solutions and broader market experience. We have more robust leadership team and technical support. In addition, when you look at future development of our capabilities, this combined entity is going to lead to additional software to help growers scale automation, analytics, mobile experiences, and all those different things across the spectrum. There are certain synergies that you get from having a larger team. Together, we have a combined 250-plus years of horticulture experience, and 150-plus years of technical experience.
John Beauford: Over the years, any software company accumulates products that age, and there are also new requirements that our customers have. As a software provider, we must think about how we can climb that ladder of functionality as new things come into being in the software technology space. Right now, with the advent of AI and certain types of mobile experiences and sensor-related technology, there’s a lot of new developments that are going to be coming into our market in the next few years. Adam and I are excited about using our combined platform to bring some of those new things into existence and give our growers additional advantages and efficiencies.
Between our employees at AGS, we’ve had a few people that have worked directly for nurseries and greenhouses. As for Adam and his team, some of those guys grew up in a greenhouse. When you take that and apply it across the broad spectrum of our industry, it helps inform our decisions about product development, perhaps better than some of the generic software providers.
Adam VanWingerden: I like to say that we’re not techies trying to be growers. We’re growers who just so happen to be techies. The horticulture industry is in our blood, and I stand on the shoulders of many family members that have come before me. That’s why we care passionately about this industry.
Brian Sparks: How are you going to be branding this newly formed company? And where should people go if they want to get more information?
Adam VanWingerden: Right now it’s business as normal. We’re going into the peak of spring, and we have a lot of current customers that need our assistance and support through the spring. Our number-one immediate goal is to finish bringing our two companies together, specifically from an operational standpoint. Once that is done, our next focus will be to make sure that we have a cohesive brand strategy. In other words, there’s a lot more to come.
John Beauford: What we’re really trying to do right now as a shared entity is build out that product vision that Adam referred to, and how to make it practical for growers while giving them the leverage for future growth. When we improve the mobility, the data, and the automation, we can bring in some of these new, exciting technologies. Right now our customers come first, and we’re taking care of their immediate needs. But there are some exciting developments that’ll come from the combined entity, and some new things that are going to be very exciting for our future.
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