Outside of consolidation, perhaps no topic has dominated industry headlines more in recent years than ecommerce. Whether it’s pandemic-induced, or just part of the overall digital transformation in agriculture, the growth in ecommerce has massively accelerated as growers have become more comfortable with mobile and online transactions.
1
of
9
1
of
9
Central Valley Ag Cooperative
CropLife 100 Rank: No. 12 2020 Revenue: $201 million-$1 billion CommoditAg Partner Retailer Since:December 2020 Fulfillment Center Locations: York, NE; Beloit, KS; Randolph, NE (pictured); and Ainsworth, NE
CropLife 100 Rank: No. 57 2020 Revenue: $66-$100 million CommoditAg Partner Retailer Since:May 2019 Fulfillment Center Locations: Salem, IN, and Shelbyville, IN (pictured)
CropLife 100 Rank: No. 39 2020 Revenue: $101-$200 million CommoditAg Partner Retailer Since:January 2018 Fulfillment Center Locations: Markesan, WI; Evansville, WI; Union Grove, WI; New Richmond, WI; and Durand, WI
As this new megatrend has unfolded in agriculture, particularly in the crop input sector, so too has ecommerce choices, competition, and complexity, according to ag economist Dan Manternach. The ecommerce evolution has progressed rapidly, from the industry’s initial foray into ecommerce in the late 1990s, when companies like XSAg sought to match buyers and sellers of crop protection products on an internet auction-style site, to the launch of Farmers Business Network in 2014, “seen by some as a threat to disrupt ag retailing the way Amazon.com has turned malls into ghost towns,” Manternach says.
Stratovation Group, Meister Media Worldwide Agree to Data Partnership For Grower-Centric Specialty Crops Ag Biologicals Research
“Given that so many ag retailers have been talking about ecommerce for many years now, I would have expected the actual number of companies doing business this way to be pretty high among the nation’s top ag retailers,” he says. “Yet, according to the 2020 CropLife 100 survey, less than half of respondents (48%) have such business models in place.”
Nevertheless, to say that “almost half” of the CropLife100 retailers have embraced ecommerce is a long way from the days of thinking “it’s going to cut out the middleman.” These companies have recognized the ecommerce trend is here to stay, and have incorporated systems to give their grower customers options.
For the past four years, CommoditAg has been at the forefront of partnering with such innovative retailers. Following the addition of Central Valley Ag Cooperative in December, there are now nine CropLife 100 retailers that have joined the CommoditAg Network. You can view those partners in the slideshow above.
775CropLife 100 and CommoditAg: 9 Leading Ag Retailers That Have Partnered With the Ecommerce Network
Subscribe Today For
In today’s complex and fast-paced crop production sector, the team at CROPLIFE keeps 21,000 agricultural retailers, distributors and their suppliers up to date on such decidedly 21st century issues as seed technology, biotechnology, precision agriculture, customer service and retention, and business management. See all author stories here.
March 4, 2021 
