Ag Retailers Face a Growing Question: Where Is the Value?

As ag retailers navigate higher operating costs, changing customer expectations, and an expanding array of technology-driven services, one question is becoming increasingly important: What value will growers continue to pay for?

Amy Asmus, co-owner of Asmus Farm Supply, discussed that question during a recent episode of CropLife Retail Week, along with the challenges facing retailers as they head into the next few years.

For Asmus, the issue isn’t simply about adding more products or services. It’s about understanding what an ag retailer can provide that remains valuable as growers gain access to more information, recommendations, and data through technology.

Finding the Retailer’s Value Proposition

The pressure to define that value is particularly relevant as some cooperatives and independent retailers reconsider the businesses they operate. During the discussion, Asmus noted that retailers are increasingly evaluating where they can provide the greatest value to their customers.

“So I think they’re looking at what needs to be looked at and saying, ‘Where is our value proposition? What can we bring our growers that is of a value that they will continue to pay for?’” Asmus said.

That evaluation could lead some retailers to narrow their focus rather than continue trying to provide every possible service.

Asmus pointed to her own operation as an example. Asmus Farm Supply focuses primarily on crop protection, along with some liquid plant nutrition, seed, and seed treatment. Unlike many cooperatives, the business isn’t involved in grain, energy, or feed.

That specialization, she said, is part of understanding where the business can create value.

For retailers that do offer a broader portfolio, the same question still applies: Which parts of the business provide value that customers recognize and are willing to support?

Technology Changes the Equation

One of the biggest factors complicating that calculation is technology.

Growers have access to more data, recommendations, and decision-support tools than ever before. As those resources become increasingly sophisticated, retailers have to consider what role they will play in a marketplace where information itself is becoming easier to obtain.

“A real key question that everybody needs to ask themselves is what value will growers pay for when products, recommendations, and data become increasingly more available through technology sources?” Asmus said.

That doesn’t mean technology eliminates the need for retailers. Instead, Asmus believes it creates an opportunity for retailers to differentiate themselves through expertise, relationships, and services that technology alone can’t easily replicate.

“Obviously, technology is not going to gather grain, grind it, and get it to you for your livestock,” she said. “So that would be a pretty safe value prop.”

For crop-focused retailers, however, the challenge may be more nuanced. If growers can obtain information about products, application recommendations, weather, and agronomic conditions from digital tools, retailers need to demonstrate why their involvement still matters.

Asmus believes trust will be an important part of that equation.

“What we need to do is how do we create the possibility that our growers see us as the trusted source and not technology?” she said.

A Willingness to Rethink the Business

That shift could require retailers to rethink some long-standing assumptions about what an ag retail business should look like.

For decades, many cooperatives and other retailers have sought to be a one-stop shop for their customers, offering everything from crop inputs to grain, fuel, and feed. But Asmus sees evidence that some businesses are beginning to question whether that model remains the right fit for their operations.

“I think a lot more businesses will be asking themselves that question and we’ll be coming up with some unique solutions for them,” she said. “And we’ll be seeing that over the next couple of years in ag retail.”

The goal isn’t necessarily to abandon traditional services or pursue technology for its own sake. Instead, retailers may need to determine where their particular expertise, infrastructure, and customer relationships create the most sustainable value.

That could mean specialization for some businesses and diversification for others. The important step, Asmus suggested, is making the decision deliberately rather than simply continuing to operate the way the business always has.

Watching the Business Model Evolve

The changing role of the ag retailer is likely to remain an important conversation as the industry moves toward 2027 and beyond. Technology will continue to expand the amount of information available to growers, while economic pressures may encourage retailers to scrutinize every part of their operations.

For Asmus, that makes the industry’s ability to adapt especially important.

The question for retailers isn’t simply what they sell. It’s why growers need them — and what they can provide that technology, manufacturers, or other market participants cannot easily replace.

Watch the full episode of CropLife Retail Week to hear Amy Asmus discuss the changing ag retail business model, fuel costs, harvest conditions and the challenges facing retailers and growers this season.