Ag Retail 2000-25: A Quarter Century at Breakneck Speed
The October issue of CropLife® Magazine is a very special edition. This month, we celebrate all the great/not-so-great moments experienced thus far by the world of ag retail during the first 25 years of the 21st century.
The issue is a delayed sequel to our Farm Chemicals WOW issue, which made its market debut during the fall of 1999. That perfect-bound edition celebrated the entirety of agriculture to that point, as the world stood on the precipice of the new millennium.
The scope of this issue isn’t quite so grand as that one. In this issue — which we could informally call our “Double WOW” edition, I guess — we are looking back at the past 25 years of the marketplace, highlighting all the highs and lows for the major categories that make up our industry.
To say it’s been a transformative 25 years would be a bit of an understatement. Anyone comparing the ag retail world of 2025 with that of 2000 is likely to be amazed at the breakneck speed with which various trends/segments of our business has changed.
For example, back in 2000, most custom application was accomplished via ground self-propelled sprayers, steered manually through fields using lightbars and foam markers to keep track of where applicators were. Today, application can still be done using ground rigs — but spray drones are likely flying, employing targeted- instead of broadcast-application. In addition, GPS and automatic steering largely control sprayers, taking lots of the guesswork out of the mix. Also, with these advances, application work can sometimes take place at night.
And these Smart Tech advances are just getting started as new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered systems and autonomous vehicles move from in-field curiosities to mainstream.
For ag retailers themselves, the past 25 years have been equally transformative. For proof, consider the annual list of the nation’s top ag retail companies, the CropLife 100.
Back in 2000, the listing of these companies was alphabetical, with companies listed in various sales ranges. However, the top companies in the industry back then usually only cracked the $500 million mark.
The original WOW issue of Farm Chemicals was a milestone.
As we prepare the 2025 CropLife 100, there are now eight ag retail companies that belong to a “More than One Billion Dollar” club. They accomplished this through a combination of increased crop inputs sales, expanded product/service offerings such as biologicals, and market consolidation. None of these trends appear to be slowing down any.
And there’s lots more to consider/discuss. So, we at CropLife decided it was time once again to take a cue from our brethren from the late 1990s and dedicate an entire issue to our industry’s accomplishments/challenges between 2000 and 2025.
The original WOW issue of Farm Chemicals was a milestone.
Here’s hoping this issue of CropLife, celebrating the industry’s first quarter of the millennium, will be just as cherished.
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