Mon, 30 Jul 2018
While the agricultural industry is already familiar with the annual list of Ag retailers ranked by sales, CropLife 100, the question arises on what makes these “CropLife” companies stay on top of the game, and what changes need to be made to boost sales further.
In 2017, Crop Protection Services (Nutrien) has managed to lead with a net sale of $18bn. followed by Helena Chemical Co. and Growmark, Inc.
Considering that farmers not only have input needs but also rely on application services, the big ag retailers frequently utilize these opportunities by branching out to provide new value-added services like crop insurance and soil testing while expanding across the globe.
In this line, focusing and investing on technology is proving to be one of the main trends to keep up, for instance, Nutrien is building its foundation on technical solutions and investing in new capabilities.
Also, is it important to acknowledge that there is a common trend running in these large enterprises. Normally, they employ thousands of people to serve more than 40 states in the US, and apart from selling crop protection products and fertilizers, they also provide financial and precision ag services as well as energy products and logistics facilities. Additionally, some expand their digital platform offer and offer financial tools for farmers.
Furthermore, an emphasis on ag biotech is showing its potential in solving challenges faced by farmers. With a large-scale biotechnology team, more reliable and accurate researches can be done, and more seeds and chemical products can be developed. Therefore, investing in biotechnology is not only going to generate high financial returns but also gain farmers’ loyalty and trust by providing reliable inputs.
In addition, global trade represents the great leap forward for agriculture retails. According to the Fact Book 2018 published by Nutrien, China, India and US are the top three countries with the largest fertilizer consumption, and the population is predicted to grow to 2.3 bn. in 30 years.
While this happens, Asia and Africa will eventually create higher demands in commodities as majority of population growth will occur in these regions.
Bearing this in mind, companies should not neglect the opportunities outside the US market but continue to grow their global retail networks and trade internationally for a competitive revenue. Besides making a profit, global trading drives the world’s GDP to a higher point and promote economy growth which is beneficial to businesses.
Ag retailers had a very successful year in 2017, and the trend seems to be following this year. Nevertheless, for retailers to stand out of their competitors, new value-added services and biotech practices must be developed, while embracing the new tech era and opportunities that come along with it.
Our Agriculture 4.0 workshop mission is to help farmers better engage with the latest technology available in the market and present a wide range of solutions for the modern farmer.
To address these challenges, we have developed AG40 workshop, a programme designed around bringing key stakeholders from throughout US agriculture together to tackle the most issues in relation to the stability of the market. To find out how this will be achieved, and whether you can be involved in this, follow the link here and below:
ABOUT AG40
Challenge Advisory is bringing together AG40, a unique workshop where organisations will have the ability to network amongst each other for precise and profitable resolutions across the entire industry. There will be panel discussions and workshop sessions designed to create partnerships and profitable business development, helping to find cross-specialism solutions to current sectoral challenges.
Join Challenge Advisory and all our stakeholders for education, interoperability and investment relating to the latest technology in digital agriculture – click here to find out more:
Rebecca Lam
Rebecca Lam