7.1Industry

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
Firms by employee count

85.7% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 21,905 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe3,655 firms with 20+ employees
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

recurring seasonal input and service demand

EBITDA margin
Thin pass-through trade; richer services/agtech
Capex intensity
Moderate

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

AlabamaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaOklahomaPennsylvaniaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaHawaiiIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandAlaskaNorth DakotaSouth Dakota

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.

AlaskaNorth DakotaSouth Dakota

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

Deal activityHigh

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

Find Agriculture & Agribusiness acquisition targets

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