Taking The Industry’s Pulse At ARA

When most of you read this particular column, many of the industry’s key folks will probably be spending at least some of their time at the annual Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) meeting in Orlando, FL (myself included). For the past decade or so, ARA has helped wrap up the current production year for ag retailers. It has also offered some insights into how the next season might play out.

Undoubtedly, the “buzz” at this year’s ARA show will center on the wave of consolidations currently hitting the marketplace. Cooperatives continues to merge at a steady clip, with the latest one being CropLife 100 members Valley Agronomics joining forces with Wilco-Winfield come January 1. Likewise, crop production suppliers seem eager to merge their operations (and share R&D costs) across the board. Finally, equipment makers are buying up one another at a rapid clip, the latest example being New Holland purchasing Kongskilde.

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Then, of course, talk of low commodity prices and falling grower-customer incomes will likely dominate many conversations at the meeting. Has the industry hit the bottom of its current down cycle or will the numbers (and dollars) fall even further in 2017? Many will have their opinions on this, I’m sure, but only time (and global grain demand) will tell for certain.

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There is also likely to be much talk regarding what type of regulatory environment agriculture will be facing in 2017 now that Donald Trump and the Republicans control both houses of Congress as well as the White House. And what might the 2018 Farm Bill look like?

In the coming weeks, CropLife magazine will attempt to provide some insights into what attendees of the annual ARA meeting thought on our Website, with more complete industry breakdowns being presented in our January 2017 State of the Industry report. Until then, stay tuned . . .

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