Then, Now, and Next: Lessons from 25 Years of Ag Retail Transformation
Editor’s Note: As we mark the first 25 years of the 21st century, CropLife reflects on the innovations, challenges, and transformations that have shaped ag retail — honoring our past while looking ahead to agriculture’s promising future. In this article, Terry Kippley, President & CEO for the Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology (CPDA), examines the key regulatory and structural shifts that have defined the past — and what they signal for the next 25 years.
It’s been a consequential 25 years for agricultural retailers. Buckle in as the pace of regulatory and structural change intensifies.
Looking back, four things stand out as key drivers of industry change.
First are the fundamentals. In 2000, there were 2.166 million farms compared to 1.88 million today, resulting in the loss of locations and branches.
Second was the 2013 ammonium nitrate explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. facility in Texas. Fifteen people were killed, more than 160 were injured, and more than 150 buildings were damaged or destroyed.
Regulators responded to this tragedy with a promise. Either fix this problem or we will fix it for you. Retailers acted quickly by forming ResponsibleAg — an industry-led certification initiative that helps retailers comply with environmental, health, safety, and security regulations.
The third is the passage of the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) in 1996. Retailers have spent the last 25 years redesigning their pest control programs to accommodate the FQPA phase out of broad classes of long relied upon chemistries like the organophosphate insecticides. New chemistries replaced older products in the marketplace.
Fourth is the passage of the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA) in 2004. PRIA delivered never before seen predictability to retailers. Today’s challenge is a lack of funding for EPA’s Pesticide Program, resulting in a regulatory backlog that prevents $500 million in new tools and products from reaching farms.
Looking ahead to 2050, here are four more things to watch.
First, we will lose more farms while those remaining get larger, resulting in more retail consolidation and a retooling of grower offerings to accommodate the needs of larger customers.
Second will be a renewed focus on precision agriculture. Farmers and retailers have made great strides to precisely apply inputs with no off-site movement of either nutrients or crop protection products. That won’t be enough as verification and strict enforcement, led by California, will be nationwide requirements to ensure that what’s applied stays there. Before 2025, Drift Reduction and Soil Retention adjuvants showed up as tiny blips on a farm’s radar screen. Expect widespread adoption of these exciting new tools moving forward.
Third, expect major policy shifts. Farm bills have long anchored agricultural policy, but food policy advocates, shaped by consumer expectations around nutrition, sustainability, and trust in the food system, are elbowing agriculture aside. Eighty percent of the funding for the next farm bill will go to nutrition programs.
Funding for traditional commodity programs is taking a back seat.
The last quarter century proves that ag retail is resilient and in-dispensable. The next 25 years will bring even more change, but along with it comes the opportunity to strengthen the partnership between retailers and farmers. At the Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology, we will continue working to ensure the policies and tools, benefiting farmers and retailers are in place to help ag retail lead the way.
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