Top 5 Turning Points in Ag Retail You Need to Know About
Throughout the month of October, CropLife has highlighted the marketplace milestones from the past 25 years. Now, it’s time for us to tell you which of these takeaways rank as the Top Five. Although many of these were important, five stood out from the crowd, due in large part to their lasting impact on the category of the industry they affected.
So here they are, in chronological order:
2000: StarLink Found in Food (Seed/Biotech)
Biotech seeds were fairly new to the agricultural scene in 2000, but they promised big things for growers. This included providing more reliable yields and better pest control options. But there were segments of the public that didn’t trust “genetically modified organism (GMO)” plants. Then, StarLink corn – a variety approved only for animal feed – was found in taco shells. Although no consumers were harmed from this incident, biotech crop opponents now had proof “Big Ag was lying to us.” This incident caused an immediate backlash against biotech crops (anti-GMO) that continues to this very day.
2013: West Fertilizer Explosion (Retailers/Facilities)
In 2013, the West Fertilizer Co. plant in Texas exploded in a spectacular fireball ignited by stored ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Almost immediately, ag retailers across the country began switching their crop nutrient offerings to less volatile products. Subsequent investigations into this disaster led to several new safety procedures being implemented by ag retailers, including the creation of ResponsibleAg, that remain in place in 2025.
2015: IARC Ruling on Glyphosate (Crop Protection)
For several years since its introduction, glyphosate herbicide has been vilified by many segments of the general public. However, governmental regulatory agencies across the globe had deemed the product “safe for use.”
Then, in 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) ruled glyphosate was a “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Many groups read “probable” as “definite” and the floodgate of lawsuits against glyphosate – and many other crop protection products – opened full force. Today, billions of damage rulings/legal dollars later, agriculture, crop protection suppliers, and ag retailers/growers are still fighting these battles on a daily basis across the country.
2020: COVID Supply Chain Disruptions (Fertilizer)
Since the industry’s inception, the business model for ag retailers when it came to storing fertilizer revolved around a concept called just-in-time. This meant buying fertilizer late in the demand cycle and storing it only briefly before making a shipment to the grower-customer. This limited the risk factor for retail facilities, with fertilizer supplies ample to meet demand.
Then, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. Soon, supply chains in many industries were negatively affected, including fertilizer. Even though the pandemic is long over in 2025, supply chain disruptions are still being felt by ag retailers. This has caused many companies to switch from just-in-time models for fertilizer to just-in-case – ordering products sooner and storing them for longer.
2024: Development of Smart Tech (Equipment)
The most recent development on the Top 5 Turning Points for ag retail in the 21st century is just starting out. For several years now, various equipment manufacturers have been experimenting with Smart Tech systems for agriculture. This has included drones and autonomous vehicles. Yet, the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) systems on a more widespread basis in 2024 promises to change the entire range of agricultural equipment development going forward.
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