16 Most Diversified Ag Retailers In 2016
January 8, 2016 Diversification. It’s the battle cry for financial planners everywhere. Many will preach that spreading your investments across market sectors, industries, and companies can help you manage risk and lower the volatility in your portfolio.
The same principle holds true in business. Corporate diversification is a risk-reduction strategy that involves adding multiple products, services, locations, and customers to your company’s portfolio. In ag retail, our annual CropLife 100 ranking offers a compelling case study in business diversification.
Each year we rank the top 100 largest ag retailers in the U.S. based on total sales. The list consists of independent dealerships and cooperatives offering fertilizer, crop protection products, seed, and custom application services. Spreading revenue over those four categories is the key to a retailer’s well-balanced business portfolio. Conversely, companies that put all their eggs in one basket are more prone to market volatility.
Rankings Criteria
In putting together a list of the most diversified ag retailers from the CropLife 100, I considered the following criteria:
- Must have multiple retail outlets.
- Must have at least some revenue in all four sales categories.
- At least three of the four categories must have double-digit sales figures (%).
- No category should represent more than 50% of total sales.
There are 16 retailers from the 2015 CropLife 100 that meet the above criteria (see table below). Of those, 11 are cooperatives and five are independent dealerships. The table includes the companies’ percentage of total sales for each of the four categories (Crop Protection, Fertilizer, Seed, and Custom Application). The total revenue for the 16 companies ranges from $25 million to more than $1 billion, while the number of retail outlets range from five (Reynolds United Co-op) to 800 (Crop Production Services). Each company’s ranking in the 2015 CropLife 100 is also listed.
16 Most Diversified Ag Retailers In The U.S. (2015-16)
| Rank | Company | Crop Protection Sales | Fertilizer Sales | Seed Sales | Custom Application Sales | Revenue Range | No. of Retail Outlets | 2015 CropLife 100 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Watonwan Farm Service* | 30% | 28% | 22% | 20% | $50-64 million | 20 | 63 |
| 2 | Home Oil Co.* | 31% | 27% | 34% | 8% | $65-99 million | 7 | 53 |
| 3 | West Central Cooperative* | 25% | 39% | 28% | 8% | $50-64 million | 17 | 72 |
| 4 | Pinnacle Agriculture Holdings | 39% | 31% | 23% | 7% | More than $1 billion | 186 | 5 |
| 5 | Reynolds United Co-op* | 36% | 40% | 20% | 4% | $25-49 million | 5 | 74 |
| 6 | Helena Chemical | 41% | 38% | 17% | 4% | More than $1 billion | 427 | 2 |
| 7 | Agri-AFC, LLC* | 34% | 43% | 20% | 3% | $100-199 million | 26 | 25 |
| 8 | Crop Production Services | 38% | 44% | 14% | 4% | More than $1 billion | 800 | 1 |
| 9 | Panhandle Coop* | 39% | 45% | 11% | 5% | $25-49 million | 6 | 82 |
| 10 | Great Bend Coop* | 33% | 46% | 12% | 9% | $25-49 million | 9 | 77 |
| 11 | North Central Farmers Elevator* | 21% | 48% | 25% | 6% | $100-199 million | 22 | 27 |
| 12 | Van Horn Inc. | 25% | 48% | 22% | 5% | $100-199 million | 12 | 38 |
| 13 | Delta Growers Association* | 31% | 48% | 17% | 4% | $25-49 million | 7 | 89 |
| 14 | South Dakota Wheat Growers* | 21% | 50% | 21% | 8% | $200-999 million | 40 | 13 |
| 15 | Ag Partners LLC | 22% | 50% | 23% | 5% | $65-99 million | 17 | 47 |
| 16 | Ceres Solutions Inc.* | 28% | 50% | 14% | 8% | $65-99 million | 24 | 46 |
| *Cooperative | ||||||||
Notes:
- Watonwan Farm Service was the only retailer with double-digit sales (%) in all four categories in 2015.
- West Central Cooperative has approved a merger with Farmers Cooperative Co. (No. 18 on the CropLife 100), effective April 1. The new unified cooperative will be known as Landus Cooperative.
- Members of North Central Farmers Elevator voted not to merge with South Dakota Wheat Growers.
- There are more companies in the lowest revenue range (four) than there are in the highest (three).
- The annual CropLife 100 survey represents a snapshot of a company’s offering. Product diversification can dramatically change year to year, depending on shifts in demand and prices of crop inputs.
- Sales figures do not include a host of other services, such as data management, consulting/scouting, and grain elevator revenue.
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