Farmon Review: Did we have ROI with our Farmon.ph Investment?

Are you curious about Farmon?

In this post, we will share with you everything we know about Farmon.

Let’s start!

What is Farmon?

In order to understand how Farmon works, you first need to know what crowdfunding is.

What is Crowdfunding?

The Wikipedia definition of crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.

Investopedia defines it as the use of small amounts of capital from a large number of individuals to finance a new business venture.

Bottom line, crowdfunding pools small amounts of money from different individuals.

With that said, Farmon is an online crowdfunding community where individuals that have extra money can help farmers with their financial needs and at the same time earn rewards from their contributions.

Things to Know about Farmon 1.0

There are couple of things that you need to know before you invest in Farmon.

Here are some of them:

Farmon products or crops are not always available.

As planting crops or raising livestocks takes time, Farmon only offers their products/crops on a per cycle basis.

It usually takes two or three months before the next cycle opens.

Slots on the crops/products usually runs out fast so be sure to watch out for their announcements in their Facebook page as they normally post it there.

We will also be updating this blog post if a new cycle is opened by Farmon.

At the time of writing this post, we are on the 22nd cycle which is still open until June 7, 2019 or until all the crops are fully funded whichever happens first.

There is a One Time Registration fee.

Farmon imposes a one-time registration fee for first time Farmoners which cost Php 300.

Take note of this when doing your computations.

You can only request for products or crops once per cycle.

Before you submit a request for products or crops, make sure you have double check it and your decision is final as they will not be allowing you to modify your investment request for that cycle.

You can have your Farmon investment contract notarized.

Farmon provides you an option to have your contract notarized with additional fee (Php 250).

Personally, I would only opt to get this if I am going to invest quite a large sum of money.

You can reinvest your earnings.

Once you already have your earnings from your previous cycle’s harvest yield, you can opt to reinvest it for the next cycle.

You just need to inform them about it.

There are three ways to pay for your Farmon investment.

There are three modes of payment in Farmon:

• BDO Bank Deposit
• Online Bank Transfer
• Cash Payment (the address is indicated in the contract)

You only have three to six banking days to settle your payment.

From the day that you have received the contract, you only have 3-6 banking days to settle your payment.

Take note of this as they will automatically forfeit your contract if you fail to pay on time.

They already stopped accepting Paypal payments.

During their early years, Farmon did accept Paypal transfers as a mode of payment.

Unfortunately, they have discontinued this.

Check out their email announcement here:

You can see actual videos of their farm in Farmon TV.

Last 2018, Farmon launched Farmon TV.

It is a section within the Farmon website which you can see latest videos of their farm and Farmon activities.

Although, the last video that they uploaded in Farmon TV was last December 2018.

Farmon Agri-Community Corporation is registered in SEC.

During its early years, Farmon was originally intended to be just a sole-proprietor type of business which was registered with DTI (Department of Trade and Industry).

By 2016, Farmon gained traction and following which prompted SEC to take a look at the business.

SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) then issued an advisory which reminds the public to take extra caution is investing with Farmon.

During that time, Farmon was not yet a corporation. Thus, it is not registered with SEC.

You can checkout the advisory in the SEC official government website.

Following the advisory, Farmon eventually decided to turn the sole-proprietor business as a corporation – thus the need to have it registered with SEC.

Checking out the company in the SEC Express System, it is still currently registered under the company name “Farmon Agri-Community Corp” with SEC registration number of CS201615543.

As for the secondary license, Farmon’s stand is that the secondary license’s rules and regulation do not apply as what they are doing is crowdfunding and it does not involve securities, equities or similar instruments.

Though, Farmon acknowledges that crowdfunding needs to be somehow regulated and is willing to comply with it.

Unfortunately, SEC has yet to release any crowdfunding rules and regulation up until now.

Farmon Registration: How to Join and Register in Farmon.ph?

If you are already decided in investing to Farmon, let me guide you on this step by step guide.

Here is how you can register to Farmon.

Step 1: Go to the Farmon website.

Type in farmon.ph and it will be redirected to community.farmon.ph

Step 2: Click on the Join Now menu option.

Step 3: Fill out the Registration Form.

Key in your name, address, phone number, email address and password.

You also need to attach a copy of any valid ID (either government or company ID).

In our case, we used our UMID.

Take note that the file size of the picture should not also be greater than 2MB.

Click on the Register button to continue.

A registration successful note will show up if your registration form is complete.

The page will also automatically redirect you to the next step.

Step 4: Enter your login credentials.

Input the login credentials that you have setup earlier then press the Login button.

Step 5: Setup your Challenge Questions.

You will also need to setup your secret challenge questions just in case you it is needed in the future.

Hit on the Save button once done.

A note will show up if you were able to successfully update your details.

The page will also automatically redirect you to the user home page.

That’s it! You have successfully registered to Farmon.

In the next section, we will show you how to invest in Farmon. ?

How to Invest in Farmon?

Now that you have successfully registered with Farmon, it is time to invest!

Join me in exploring the platform with this step by step guide.

Note: We are just using the term “INVEST” but it is actually buying crops in Farmon. 

Step 2: Enter your login credentials.

Step 3: Click on the User Control Panel menu option.

Step 4: Select the Request Product for XX Cycle.

We were lucky that at the time of creating this blog post, the 22nd cycle opened.

So for this step by step guide, we will be investing in Farmon 22nd cycle.

Step 5: Choose a Farm Location.

Farmon now has several locations from which you can invest in.

Choose a farm location to check what products they offer.

It is important to note that not all farm locations are similar – some farms have crops that other locations do not have.

Step 6: Select the Products that you want to fund.

In this example, we chose Echague Isabela Growers Farm.

They have watermelon and rice crops for this cycle.

Their farm page also include product details such as the plot size and the duration.

For watermelon, it costs Php 1,500 and it will take around 4 to 6 months to grow the crop.

Since we want to invest in watermelon, you need to click on the available button beside it.

Enter your preferred number of plots/heads.

In our case, we will just settle with one.

As soon as you input the number of plots or heads, a box with sample computation breaking down your total investment.

In this section, you will also have an option if you would want to have your contract notarized.

Notarization of the contract costs Php 250.

We’ll choose not to have our contract notarized.

Take note that new partners will need to pay an additional Php 300 as registration fee.

Once you are okay with the details, click on the Add to My Cart button to continue.

The next screen will show you a confirmation that your product has been added to your cart.

You will also have an option to add more products.

For this example, we will opt to add one more crop to our total investment.

Looking at the other farms, we found Pamplona Growers Farm has squash.

We’ll choose that for our second product.

Squash costs the same as the watermelon: Php 1,500.

It will also take four to six months to grow and sell the crop.

Similar to the watermelon product above, you will also need to specify the number of plots/heads.

Add to your cart when done.

Step 7: Hit on the My Products Requests button at the top right portion.

Step 8: Confirm the details of your investment and place your order when done.

You will see the total investment breakdown in this page.

Since we are not anymore adding a new product to our cart, we shall proceed in placing the order now.

Click on the Place my order now button.

Click on the OK button to confirm.

Remember that you are anymore allowed to add or remove a product once you click on the OK button.

If it was successful, you will see this message:

To verify if your products or crops were really placed in order, click on the user control panel menu, select My Product Requests and click on the View My Requests History link.

You should see the products or crops that you intend to invest into and their statuses.

How to Pay in Farmon

Now it’s time to pay.

Follow this step by step guide on how to pay in Farmon investment.

Step 1: Login to the Farmon website and go to your Message Centre.

Step 2: Check for Farmon’s update regarding your contract.

Here you will see if Farmon already has an update to your investment.

In our experience, it took them three days to provide the contract for the farmon investment cycle.

The message update will typically have two buttons: one is for you to download your contract and the other is for the payment form.

Take note of the deadline as failing to pay on time will automatically forfeit your slot for the investment cycle.

Here is a copy of Farmon contract:

Step 3: Pay the amount due through your preferred mode of payment.

There are three payment options that you can choose from: BDO bank deposit, cash payment and online fund transfer.

For this guide, we will be choosing the most convenient for us which is through BDO online transfer.

Login to your BDO account, go to Send Money and select To any BDO account (10,000 limit).

Enter the Send Money details such as Farmon bank account number and the amount to pay.

You will also have an option to save your transaction as template for future use.

Click submit to continue.

A pop-up verification will show up, just hit on continue.

As an added security, BDO will be sending an OTP or one time password to your mobile phone number.

Enter the OTP and click on the submit button.

If the transaction was successful, a reference number will be shown to you.

Take note of this reference number as you will need to provide it to Farmon later.

Step 4: Fill up and submit the Farmon Payment Form.

Inform Farmon that you already paid the amount for the investment cycle.

Go back to the message centre and click on the Payment form button.

Complete the Farmon payment form.

Select which payment type you chose.

In our case, we will select BDO Online Banking.

Input the rest of the details needed in the payment form such as the account name, transaction or reference number, bank/remittance branch location, exact date of payment and exact amount in Philippine peso.

You will also have an option to add a note here for Farmon.

Farmon is also requiring us to attach a proof of payment for our transaction.

If you chose to do physical bank deposit, ensure that all of the details should exactly match what is indicated on your deposit slip.

Since we chose online bank transfer, we will need to print and convert a copy of our transaction details into a jpeg or png file format.

Fortunately, BDO has this printable version button in the transaction confirmation page.

If you tried to save this printable version, you will find out that it will be saved as a pdf file which Farmon does not accept as a file type in their payment form.

We actually tried to upload this pdf file format and we got an error message:

As a workaround, hit on the print screen button on your keyboard while the printable version of the transaction details is on the screen.

Open Microsoft paint and key in Ctrl + V in your keyboard which is the paste function.

Crop only the section that you need.

Then, go to file and select save as.

Save your file as jpeg format.

Go back to the Farmon payment form and click on the Choose File button to attach the image.

Hit on the Submit Payment Details button when you have successfully attached the transaction image file.

A pop-up confirmation will show up.

Review all the details in your form and if they are all correct, click on the OK button.

Look for this details to ensure that you have successfully submitted the payment form.

Step 5: Download, sign and submit the Farmon Contract.

The next step is for the contract.

Click on the Download Contract Here button.

Your image will open and on the top right, click on the printer icon to print the document.

Add your signature to the printed contract.

You will then need to scan the document or take a picture of the signed contract.

Go back to the Message Centre and submit the form by attaching it to your response.

Take note that the file size should not be greater than 5MB.

Step 6: Wait for their confirmation.

They’ll be reviewing your submitted contract and payment form.

Once it is confirmed, they will notify you via the message centre if you need to do anything else or if everything is okay.

In our case, all went well and we are now only waiting for the start of the real farming which is on July 15, 2019.

Farmon Farming Cycle: What is the current cycle?

We will try our best to update this blog post once a new cycle is announced by Farmon.

Farmon 23rd Cycle

• Opening date for Registration: July 8, 2019
• Closing date for Registration: August 16, 2019

Farmon 22nd Cycle

• Opening date for Registration: April 22, 2019
• Closing date for Registration: June 7, 2019

Farmon 2.0: What You Need to Know

Farmon.ph recently introduced Farmon 2.0.

It is a totally different concept from Farmon 1.0.

What is Farmon 2.0?

Farmon 2.0 focuses on funding different projects that covers the entire farming cycle in order to increase the efficiency, quality and quantity of harvest outputs. The projects will focus on increasing the effectiveness and efficiencies in irrigation, inputs or fertilizers being used, processing and warehousing and distribution among others.

The Farmon 2.0 fund will be managed by an in-house fund manager.

With Farmon 2.0, you will no longer need to choose which products or crops you want to fund.

Instead, the fund manager will be the one to decide which project would yield a potential higher return and fund that venture accordingly.

FarmOners no longer need to monitor when a cycle would open.

Based on experience, Farmon 1.0 products or crops would go “out of stock” almost hours after it was opened.

With Farmon 2.0, you no longer need to monitor the opening of a cycle as you can fund it anytime.

Registration for Farmon 2.0 is the same as Farmon 1.0

The registration process for both are the same so as to avoid confusion.

Farmon 2.0 has no lock in period.

You can fund and withdraw your funds anytime as there is no lock in period.

However, it will be best to let your fund grow for at least five years as Farmon 2.0 is designed to be a mid to long term venture.

Farmon 2.0 will focus on six projects where funds will be used.

Instead of just one product or crop (in Farmon 1.0), funding Farmon 2.0 will allow you to earn from the six projects that it will focus on.

Here are the six projects:

• Irrigation system
• Farm mechanization
• Agro-chemical, inputs and fertilizer
• Post-harvest facility
• Rice processing and warehousing
• Logistics and rice distribution

Farmon now has their own research facility.

As they will now be focusing on the entire farming experience, it is only fit that they create their own research facility in order to enhance and develop existing processes and products that are involved in farming.

Farmon’s Technology Team include: agriculturists, chemists, agricultural engineers, biologists and consultants.

Farmon is now developing their own farm inputs.

Farmon will no longer rely on farm inputs that are available in the market.

You can transfer funds from Farmon 1.0 to Farmon 2.0

They will be allowing FarmOners to transfer funds from Farmon 1.0 through their platform if they want to use their existing funds for Farmon 2.0.

How to Invest in Farmon 2.0?

Investing to Farmon 2.0 is relatively easy as it has the same process as Farmon 1.0.

Here is a step by step guide on how we did it:

Step 1: Login to your Farmon account.

Go to the farmon website and enter your login credentials.

If you do not have an account yet, you can easily create one by accomplishing the form here.

Step 2: Access the Farmon 2.0 registration form.

There are several ways to access the Farmon 2.0 registration form.

The first option is by clicking on the Banner notification on your control panel / dashboard (see image below).

Click on the Open button.

You will be redirected to the Farmon 2.0 landing page as well.

Step 3: Complete and submit the Farmon 2.0 registration form.

You will have to fill up the different fields in the registration form such as the number of units to fund and if you require to have a notarized invoice.

Take note that the number of units to fund must be a whole number from 1 to 500.

If you prefer to have a notarized invoice, you will have to pay an additional 250 pesos for the notary fee.

At the time that this guide is being written, the price per unit is set at 100 pesos.

We will be opting to get 100 units for Farmon 2.0.

The system will automatically compute for the total amount that you need to pay them.

In our case, it amounted to 10,000 pesos.

Click on the Submit button when done.

Step 4: You will need to wait for their confirmation.

After hitting the Submit button, you will see a success notification on screen.

You will have to wait for one to three business days for them to manual send you the invoice.

I could do a reinvestment as I still have money in my vault from the last Farmon 1.0 cycle proceeds that I participated in.

Otherwise, I could do a fresh payment to them.

Step 5: Pay the amount needed for your Farmon 2.0 investment.

For this guide, I’ll reinvest my money in the vault.

In that case, I need to download the invoice, sign it, scan or take a picture of the signed invoice / contract and send it back to them as an attachment on their Message Center.

Take note that if you are attaching an imaging in message center, the file size should not exceed 5MB.

It just took them around 20 minutes to acknowledge the signed invoice.

Step 6: Wait and Verify if your Farmon 2.0 fund is now active.

It took Farmon nine days to get my Farmon 2.0 fund active (receive a confirmation message via Farmon Message Centre).

Farmon Review: Did we have ROI with our Farmon.ph Investment?

I first encountered Farmon way back 2014 when it was just starting.

I was one of the first FarmOners that invested in their first cycle.

Although before I started investing in them, I first researched and asked questions directly at them about some unclear details on the Farmon investment.

I finally decided to take on the risk and became a FarmOner.

They sent me a copy of the contract and the invoice which included the terms and conditions, investment details and payment procedure.

I chose to invest in 30 plots of Chicken and 2 plots of Tomato.

The total product cost for the chicken was 2,250 pesos.

For the tomato, the total product cost was 3,000 pesos.

The actual farming for the first cycle would start by September 1, 2014.

Here is a copy of the contract:

I deposited the farmon investment payment to their bank account and also sent the scanned copy of the deposit slip.

They also requested that I would print and sign the contract and to forward them the scanned copy.

At that time, they still did not have their own website and Farmon was still a Facebook app just like Farmville.

It took them three weeks before they forwarded my login credentials to the Farmon Facebook app.

Unfortunately, the Farmon Facebook app is no longer active so I won’t be able to show you what it looked like.

The following year around September 2015, they migrated the Farmon experience to their own website Farmon.ph Console.

Farmon also had video updates being sent to their FarmOners for the status of their farm investment.

They even used vimeo before to show the videos to the FarmOners.

Fortunately, their vimeo channel is still up and accessible.

You can check it out here.

Although, they already discontinued sending out video updates as it was no longer sustainable given the growing number of FarmOners.

By December 2014, I received my first profit from Farmon.

I did not withdrew the amount as I intended to reinvest it in the open cycle at that time.

My tomato investment yielded 54% profit while the 30 plots of chicken yielded 38.13%.

To be honest, I was quite happy of the result as I did not expect it to be at that percentages.

For the succeeding cycles and up to the present, I just continued with Farmon by reinvesting my profits.

Here is the transaction history of how my 5,250 pesos grew to 14,408.44 pesos with Farmon (that is 174% growth in my capital!).

In the last cycle that I had reinvested, it cost me 12,000 pesos which left me with 2,408.44 pesos balance in my vault account.

If you are curious of the products that I chose to invest in, here is my product history with the percentage profits.

Here is the current active product: banana!!!

Overall base on my experience so far, I could say that I am happy with my Farmon investment as it has yielded quite a good profit.

Shall I still continue to invest in them?

My answer is YES.

Though, as always, only invest the amount that you are willing to lose as I consider this a high risk form of investment.

But if you will ask me if Farmon is a scam?

Considering all factors, I am placing my trust in them that they are legit and that they are really geared towards helping the farmers in our country with their advocacy.

Disclaimer: All investments have risks. We do not guarantee returns or positive results on any of these investment or business opportunities. Past performances are not to be used as guarantee for future returns. We are not promoting or discouraging you to invest in this product or business. Always do your own due diligence and research when choosing an investment. Happy investing!

WE invest. WE review. YOU decide!