7.1.6Segment

Agricultural Services & Consulting

Agronomists, crop consultants, and farm management firms providing technical services to crop producers.

4
Verticals

Overview

Agricultural Services & Consulting covers the support services performed for farms — custom field operations (soil prep, planting, harvesting), farm labor contracting, farm management, and agronomic consulting. At ~$24B it is a fragmented base of custom operators, farm-management firms, and agronomic advisors serving growers.

Demand is driven by farm outsourcing, labor scarcity (custom harvesting and labor contracting), and the rising value of agronomic expertise and data-driven decision-making. It is a fragmented, service-driven segment with consolidation around farm-management and agronomy-services platforms, increasingly intertwined with precision agriculture.

Market snapshot

Market size
~$35B
Growth
N/A
Companies
~9,729 firms
Firms by employee count

91.7% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 8,913 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe812 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
57971%
100–499
16020%
500+
739%

Custom application, soil testing and agronomy — an outsourced-labour business that grows as farms consolidate and stop owning specialised equipment. The classification was rebuilt in 2022, so there is no clean five-year comparison to draw a trend from.

NAICS 115111, 115112, 115113, 115114, 115115, 115116, 115210. U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Custom operations, farm management, and consulting fees

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$3,591,880
Revenue per employee
$141,563
Employees per firm
9.9
Recurring revenue
Moderate

recurring seasonal and management services

EBITDA margin
Service- and expertise-driven
Capex intensity
Moderate

Characteristics

  • Balanced cost base — payroll is 26% of revenue, leaving room to scale margin without cutting staff
  • Moderate strategic-buyer pool — 73 firms exceed 500 employees; a scaled asset has buyers, but not many
  • Custom field operations, labor, and farm management.
  • Labor scarcity and outsourcing drive demand.
  • Agronomic expertise and data increasingly valued.

NAICS 115111, 115112, 115113, 115114, 115115, 115116, 115210. U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Economic Census.

Geographic concentration

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaOklahomaPennsylvaniaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaHawaiiKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandNorth DakotaSouth DakotaIowa

North Dakota, Iowa and South Dakota — custom application and agronomy concentrate where farms are largest, because scale is exactly what makes owning the equipment uneconomic.

North DakotaIowaSouth Dakota

U.S. Census Bureau — 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses (firms by state), NAICS 115111/115112/115113/115114/115115/115116/115210. Concentration shown by location quotient.

M&A deal context

Deal activityModerate

Who’s acquiring

  • Farm-management & agronomy platforms
  • Ag-services consolidators
  • Precision-ag-integrated providers

What’s driving deals

  • Consolidation of farm-management and agronomy.
  • Labor-scarcity-driven outsourcing.
  • Precision-ag and data-service integration.

Verticals in this segment

Find Agricultural Services & Consulting acquisition targets

Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Agricultural Services & Consulting (7.1.6) and build a targeted deal pipeline.

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