Early CropLife 100 Notes
November 3, 2014 In something that’s become an annual tradition here at CropLife magazine, this week’s column provides our readers with a sneak preview of some of the findings of our CropLife 100 ag retailers survey. Are you ready?
Truthfully, offering up this preview the past few years has not been very difficult to do. Since the start of the 2010s decade, CropLife 100 ag retailers have largely enjoyed the fruits of the agricultural market on the whole. In other words, every company has seen healthy year-over-year sales growth in virtually all crop input and grower-customer service areas.
But this year is shaping up to be slightly different on this front. At first look, the overall numbers show growth of almost $1 billion compared with the 2013 totals. However, upon closer inspection, nearly 90% of this revenue gain can be traced back to a single multi-billion dollar ag retailer almost doubling its size through multiple outlet acquisitions. Take away this one company’s sales and the total CropLife 100 marketplace looks to be completely flat for the first time in more than a decade.
As for why this is the case, you need look no further than the fertilizer sector. After reaching new heights in sales and market share during 2013, fertilizer revenues look as if they will experience a significant decline in 2014. At presstime, 70% of those surveyed described the market for fertilizer this year as “very challenging” compared with prior years. As a result, readers can expect to see the market share figure for fertilizer to drop to near 50% once the final numbers are tallied.
A Crop Protection Comeback. While fertilizer has struggled in 2014, crop protection product sales have boomed. For several years now, the crop protection products sector has been up or down marginally each year, losing overall market share in the process to faster growing sectors.
But not in 2014. This year, ag retailers will probably see their overall crop protection product sales grow easily past the $9 billion mark, gaining back at least 1% or 2% in market share.
As for why this is taking place, most respondents say that the ever-increasing number of herbicide-resistant weeds have caused growers to expand their product mixes and application timing. And it bodes very well for the category’s future.
UAVs Not ASAP. On the technology front, the buzz surrounding unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been downright deafening at times in 2014. Indeed, our sister publication, PrecisionAg magazine, named UAVs as its Top Tech Trend for the year in a recent edition. Given this fact, you would think CropLife 100 ag retailers could hardly wait to try out these precision ag tools for themselves.
But you would be wrong. Based upon the early returns, approximately 50% of respondents indicated
they don’t plan to employ UAVs in their businesses.
Look for more details on these and other key market trends in our annual CropLife 100 issue in December!
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