In 2024, Ag Technology Experiences a ‘Pause’ for CropLife 100 Retailers
December 11, 2024 
Every year when CropLife® magazine compiles the results from its annual CropLife 100 survey of the nation’s top ag retailers, there is always at least one big surprise in the numbers. For the past few years, this “survey surprise” has tended to be positive. For instance, in 2022, 99 out of the CropLife 100 ag retailers reported year-over-year revenue growth from the year before. In 2023, the seed category saw its overall sales rebound following several years of declines.
In the 2024 CropLife 100 survey, however, the news was of a negative variety. For evidence, consider the tale of the ag technology sector.
Now throughout the past two growing seasons, there has been plenty of marketplace “buzz” regarding ag technology. In mid-2023, as the Federal Aviation Administration released new guidelines for operation, application drone activity among ag retailers has steadily increased. Furthermore, major equipment manufacturers such as John Deere, Raven Industries, and Fendt/AGCO has dabbled in all sorts of new high-tech product launches. These have included numerous systems featuring autonomous operations or powered by advanced artificial intelligence (AI). Indeed, many of these products have been on display at dozens of the ag equipment industry’s biggest winter and summer trade shows, including the National Farm Machinery Show, Farm Progress, the Midwest AG Industries Exposition (MAGIE).
Depressed Revenues
However, despite all this activity in the ag technology sector, sales for these products among the nation’s top ag retailers have not grown. Quite the opposite, in fact.
According to data collected in the 2024 CropLife 100 survey, ag technology product sales this year topped only $338.1 million. This represented a surprising 59% decline from the sales figure ag technology products recorded during the 2023 growing season, when the sector topped $815 million.
So, what happened? According to survey respondents, two explanations come to mind. The first ties back to grower-customer revenues. Based upon data from the USDA, net farm income was expected to decline for 2024, down 4.4% vs. 2023 to $140 billion. Many market watchers say that whenever farmer incomes drop, “ag technology purchases are the first things cut.”
The second explanation is a little less bleak and has to do with more semantics than sales figures. Since many of the newest ag technologies are for application work, a portion of the nation’s ag retailers have included these sales into their custom application revenues. In fact, at least one dozen CropLife 100 ag retailers noted this bookkeeping position on their 2024 survey forms. So ag technology sales may be stronger than the overall numbers show for this year’s growing season.
Can the ag technology sector recover some in 2025? According to the nation’s top ag retailers, the outlook isn’t that bright. Based upon the survey results, only 9% of respondents see ag technology adoption next year being “huge.” Another 36% believe growth in this sector will remain “small.” The vast majority, 55%, think “it’s too early to tell” how the ag technology sector will perform in 2025.
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