U.S. Ag Retail: Precision Agriculture Stumbles into the New Year

By CropLife

Technology and precision agriculture at the retail dealership is a tale of two distinct, opposing perspectives, writes Paul Schrimpf at CropLife. The broader view paints a picture of future data compatibility, value-rich farmer interfaces that provide growers with insight and the ability to interact with partners, efficiency-building automation through sensors and augmented machinery, and more.

The current challenges and reality that many retailers will be battling over the next 12 to 24 months is shrouding optimism for the 2020 season and beyond. CropLife 100 research in the December issue of CropLife^® magazine indicates that sales of precision agriculture services fared weakly, with nearly seven in 10 retailers reporting flat or decreased revenues in 2019. And this month’s cover story shows just 10% of respondents to the Buying Intentions Survey were planning to invest in precision agriculture equipment.

For many, the long shadows cast by an unrelenting 2019 season are at the root of the darkened outlook, in particular for the hardest hit regions in terms of weather and prevent plant acres.

On this front, AgTegra Cooperative was hit particularly hard in a significant portion of its territory in South Dakota. Brent Wiesenburger, Director of Ag Technology Services, says that an estimated 30% of the co-op’s acreage went toward prevent plant — acres for which a prescription application plan had already been developed.