Top 7 Precision Agriculture Companies to Watch in 2022
We all know that agriculture is one of the most important industries in the world as it creates around 22 million jobs for Americans, which is around 11% of the total employment in the US. According to the World Bank, development in agriculture is one of the main tools we have to end extreme poverty while providing at least the basic nutrition to an ever-growing global population which is expected to reach nearly 9.7 billion by 2050.
Agricultural companies have a large impact on global food production and have dominant positions in all industries that are involved in the food production process, from planting seeds distribution, to using fertilizers and pesticides.
These companies earn billions in revenue each year while the biggest agricultural company in the US has a revenue of over $100 billion, whereas the lowest company earns over $4 billion in revenue. So who are the top 7 precision agricultural companies in the United States?
Without further ado, let’s take a look at these companies responsible in some way or the other, for the food on your table, starting with number 1:
1. Cargill
Ranking number 1 on our list of top 7 precision agricultural companies, Cargill is an American privately held global food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865, it is the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue.
This agricultural company operates in 70 countries across six regions around the world.
Some of its major businesses are trading, purchasing and distributing grain and other agricultural commodities, such as: palm oil; trading in energy, steel and transport; the raising of livestock and production of feed; and producing food ingredients such as starch and glucose syrup, vegetable oils and fats for application in processed foods and industrial use.
2. John Deere
John Deere is the brand name of Deere & Company, an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, and lawn care equipment.
The company's slogan is "Nothing Runs Like a Deere", and its logo is a leaping deer, with the words 'JOHN DEERE' under it.
This company manufactures a wide range of products, with several models of each in many cases. Agricultural products include, among others, tractors, combine harvesters, cotton harvesters, balers, planters/seeders, silage machines, and sprayers.
3. Tyson Food
Tyson Foods, Inc. is a multinational corporation based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. and annually exports the largest percentage of beef out of the United States. Together with its subsidiaries, it operates major food brands, including Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright Brand, Aidells, and State Fair.
The company makes a wide variety of animal-based, prepared foods and plant-based products at its 123 food processing plants. It produces many different products, including Buffalo wings, boneless Buffalo wings, chicken nuggets, and tenders. Its plants slaughter approximately 155,000 cattle, 461,000 pigs, and 45,000,000 chickens every week. Their largest meat packing facility is their beef production plant in Dakota City, Nebraska. Other plants include feed mills, hatcheries, farms and tanneries.
4. CHS Inc.
CHS Inc. is owned by United States agricultural cooperatives, farmers, ranchers, and thousands of preferred stock holders whose purpose is to create connections that empower agriculture. Based in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, it owns and operates various food processing and wholesale, farm supply, financial services and retail businesses. It also distributes Cenex brand fuel in 19 Midwestern and Western states, which is one of the largest c-store networks in North America. It is a co-owner (alongside Mitsui & Co.) of Ventura Foods, a vegetable oil processor. It is ranked 1st on the National Cooperative Bank Co-op 100 list of mutual and cooperatives (ranked by 2012 revenue), and 96th (by 2017 revenue) in the Fortune 500 2018 list of United States corporations.
First organized in 1929, CHS employs more than 10,000 dedicated people around the globe who provide its owners and customers with a strong, efficient supply chain, access to global markets, and products and services for agricultural businesses and rural communities.
5. ADM Agriculture Products
The Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, commonly known as ADM, is a multinational food processing and commodities trading corporation founded in 1902 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company operates more than 270 plants and 420 crop procurement facilities worldwide, where cereal grains and oilseeds are processed into products used in food, beverage, nutraceutical, industrial, and animal feed markets worldwide.
The company also provides agricultural storage and transportation services. The American River Transportation Company along with ADM Trucking, Inc., are subsidiaries of ADM.
Long known as a food and ingredients company, it has also invested in fuel production.
6. FMC Corporation
FMC Corporation (Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation) is a chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which originated as an insecticide producer and later diversified into other industries. In 1941 at the beginning of WWII, the company received a contract to design and build amphibious tracked landing vehicles for the United States Department of War, and afterwards the company continued to diversify its products. FMC employs 7,000 people worldwide, and had gross revenues of US$2.8 billion in 2017.
As a leading agricultural sciences company, FMC is committed to responding to customers' evolving needs. The company is investing significant resources in discovering new active ingredients, developing innovative formulations and biologicals in addition to advancing precision agriculture technologies that support sustainable agriculture around the world.
7. CNH Industrial
CNH Industrial N.V. is an American-Italian multinational corporation with global headquarters in Basildon, United Kingdom but controlled and mostly owned by the Dutch-Italian investment company Exor, which in turn is controlled by the Agnelli family. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and on Borsa Italiana: it is a constituent of the FTSE MIB index. The company is incorporated in the Netherlands. The seat of the company is in Amsterdam, Netherlands with a principal office in London, England.
Through its various businesses, CNH Industrial designs, produces, and sells agricultural machinery and construction equipment (Case IH and New Holland brand families), trucks, commercial vehicles, buses, and special vehicles (Iveco), in addition to powertrains for industrial and marine applications (FPT Industrial). Present in all major markets worldwide, CNH Industrial is focused on expanding its presence in high-growth markets, including through joint ventures.
The agriculture industry has remained the most crucial industry for human survival as it provides most of the world’s food and fabrics , and plays a huge role in the economy of developing countries.
There are three major types of agricultural company: Landholding companies whose purpose is to create or preserve one or more farms; Farm management or running companies whose aim is to manage or run a farm or to undertake joint work (sometimes under conditions comparable to those of a family farm, particularly in terms of social benefits) and lastly Commercial companies.
Improvements in agriculture and land use are fundamental to achieving food security, poverty alleviation as well as overall sustainable development; agricultural companies play a key role in this process.