7.1.11Segment

Row Crops & Grain Farming

Crop farming operations growing corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and other commodity grains and field crops.

4
Verticals

Overview

Row Crops & Grain Farming covers the production of corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and other field crops — the largest category of U.S. agricultural production, spread across hundreds of thousands of farms in the Corn Belt, Plains, and beyond. It is the foundation of the grain, feed, food, and biofuel value chains.

Demand is driven by food, feed, ethanol, and export markets, with profitability swinging on crop prices, input costs, and weather. It is highly fragmented (a vast base of family and commercial farms) yet increasingly capital- and technology-intensive, with precision agriculture, farmland consolidation, and farmland investment as key trends; production is tracked by the USDA, not the Economic Census.

Market snapshot

FragmentationFragmented
Federal indicators
Field-crop cash receipts
~$150B (2024); corn + soybeans alone ~$112.7B — 46% of all U.S. crop receipts
USDA Economic Research Service, 2024

Crop production (NAICS 111) is covered by the USDA Census of Agriculture, not the Economic Census, so it is not sized here; U.S. crop cash receipts run on the order of ~$250B+ annually.

Business model & economics

Revenue model
Crop sales (food, feed, ethanol, and export)
Recurring revenue
Low — annual, price- and weather-dependent harvests
EBITDA margin
Cyclical with crop prices and input costs
Capex intensity
High
  • Largest category of U.S. agricultural production.
  • Foundation of grain, feed, food, and biofuel chains.
  • Precision ag, farmland consolidation, and investment trends.

M&A deal context

Moderate deal activity

Who’s acquiring

Farmland investors & operatorsConsolidating commercial farmsVertically-integrating agribusinesses

What’s driving deals

  • Farmland consolidation and investment.
  • Precision-agriculture adoption.
  • Crop-price and input-cost cycles.

Verticals in this segment

  • 7.1.11.1Corn & Soybean Farming Operations

    Row crop operations specializing in corn and soybean production.

  • 7.1.11.2Cotton & Fiber Crop Farming

    Commercial cotton producers in the southern and western US.

  • 7.1.11.3Farmland Ownership & Management

    Companies owning and managing agricultural land portfolios.

  • 7.1.11.4Wheat & Small Grain Farming

    Commercial wheat, barley, and small grain crop producers.

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