Agriculture & Agribusiness
Farming operations, agricultural input suppliers, grain handlers, and agribusiness service companies supporting crop and livestock production.
- 12
- Segments
- 54
- Verticals
Overview
Agriculture & Agribusiness covers the farm economy and its value chain — crop and livestock production plus the agribusiness layer of inputs, equipment, commodity trading, grain handling, and services. Farm production itself (~$500B in annual cash receipts) is tracked by the USDA Census of Agriculture rather than the Economic Census and is highly fragmented across roughly two million farms; the agribusiness value chain sized here represents roughly $664 billion, though much is pass-through commodity trade.
Farm production is fragmented, but the agribusiness layer is consolidated around major players — the ABCD trading houses (ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Dreyfus), input majors (Nutrien, Corteva, Bayer), and equipment leaders (Deere, CNH). Demand is driven by global food needs and commodity cycles (2021–22 figures reflect the commodity-price boom), with agtech, precision agriculture, biologicals, and sustainability reshaping the sector and driving M&A.
Market snapshot
- Market size
- ~$695B
- Growth
- ~8.2%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
- Companies
- ~25,573 firms
85.7% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 21,905 micro-businesses, below most mandates.
- 20–99
- 2,56470%
- 100–499
- 76721%
- 500+
- 3249%
Almost none of this is farming. Crop and livestock production are surveyed separately from the rest of the economy, so what is measured here is the trade around the farm gate — the dealers, input suppliers and merchants — which is also the only part of agriculture that is genuinely acquirable. The farms themselves are family balance sheets, not deal flow.
NAICS 111110, 111120, 111130, 111140, 111150, 111160, 111191, 111199, 111211, 111219, 111310, 111320, 111331, 111332, 111333, 111334, 111335, 111336, 111339, 111411, 111419, 111421, 111422, 111910, 111920, 111930, 111940, 111991, 111992, 111998, 112111, 112112, 112120, 112130, 112210, 112310, 112320, 112330, 112340, 112390, 112410, 112420, 112511, 112512, 112519, 112910, 112920, 112930, 112990, 114111, 114112, 114119, 114210, 115111, 115112, 115113, 115114, 115115, 115116, 115210, 423820, 424510, 424520, 424590, 424910. U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Economic Census.
Business model & economics
Revenue model
Input sales, commodity trade, equipment, and farm services
Key economics
- Revenue per firm
- $27,181,419
- Revenue per employee
- $1,302,061
- Employees per firm
- 15.0
- Recurring revenue
- Moderate
- EBITDA margin
- Thin pass-through trade; richer services/agtech
- Capex intensity
- Moderate
recurring seasonal input and service demand
Characteristics
- Scale-driven — payroll is only 4% of revenue; the cost base is assets, not headcount
- Deep strategic-buyer pool — 324 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has trade buyers
- Fragmented farm production; consolidated agribusiness layer.
- ABCD trading, input majors, and equipment leaders dominate.
- Agtech, biologicals, and sustainability reshaping the sector.
NAICS 111110, 111120, 111130, 111140, 111150, 111160, 111191, 111199, 111211, 111219, 111310, 111320, 111331, 111332, 111333, 111334, 111335, 111336, 111339, 111411, 111419, 111421, 111422, 111910, 111920, 111930, 111940, 111991, 111992, 111998, 112111, 112112, 112120, 112130, 112210, 112310, 112320, 112330, 112340, 112390, 112410, 112420, 112511, 112512, 112519, 112910, 112920, 112930, 112990, 114111, 114112, 114119, 114210, 115111, 115112, 115113, 115114, 115115, 115116, 115210, 423820, 424510, 424520, 424590, 424910. U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Economic Census.
Geographic concentration
Alaska, North Dakota and South Dakota — a map of where agribusiness is the economy rather than where the most food is grown. Concentration measures how much of a state's business base sits in one industry, and in the northern plains almost all of it does.
U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses (firms by state), NAICS 111110/111120/111130/111140/111150/111160/111191/111199/111211/111219/111310/111320/111331/111332/111333/111334/111335/111336/111339/111411/111419/111421/111422/111910/111920/111930/111940/111991/111992/111998/112111/112112/112120/112130/112210/112310/112320/112330/112340/112390/112410/112420/112511/112512/112519/112910/112920/112930/112990/114111/114112/114119/114210/115111/115112/115113/115114/115115/115116/115210/423820/424510/424520/424590/424910. Concentration shown by location quotient.
M&A deal context
Who’s acquiring
- Agribusiness majors & trading houses
- Input, equipment & dealer consolidators
- Agtech & biologicals investors
What’s driving deals
- Input, equipment-dealer, and grain roll-ups.
- Agtech, precision-ag, and biologicals investment.
- Commodity-cycle and global-food demand.
Segments in this industry
- 7.1.1Agricultural Biologicals & Biopesticides5 verticals
- 7.1.2Agricultural Commodity Trading & Merchandising5 verticals
- 7.1.3Agricultural Equipment Dealers4 verticals
- 7.1.4Agricultural Inputs & Supplies4 verticals
- 7.1.5Agricultural Lending & Finance4 verticals
- 7.1.6Agricultural Services & Consulting4 verticals
- 7.1.7Agricultural Technology (AgTech)8 verticals
- 7.1.8Aquaculture & Fisheries4 verticals
- 7.1.9Grain Handling, Storage & Elevators4 verticals
- 7.1.10Livestock & Animal Agriculture4 verticals
- 7.1.11Row Crops & Grain Farming4 verticals
- 7.1.12Specialty Crops & Horticulture4 verticals
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