New Data: How Many Farmers Are Buying Inputs Online?
For the past six years, Farm Journal has conducted an e-mail survey to gauge farmer use of online crop input purchasing tools. This year’s survey was conducted in September and asked farmers if they bought any of their crop inputs online.
This data is unique in that it goes back six years (not resulting from the exact same farmers answering the questions, however the survey opportunity is sent to a similar pool of farmers), and it’s the only study of its kind focusing exclusively on crop inputs and those subcategories.
The respondents in 2023 had the following age groups: 23% 70+ years old, 41% 60 to 69, 19% 50 to 59, 15%
35 to 49, and 2% under 35 years old. Their average acreages were 568 acres of corn, 486 acres of soybeans and 260 acres of wheat.
Six years ago, there were more online marketplaces than grower portals hosted by ag retailers. In this short time frame, more of the traditional ag retail channel has invested in their own digitization.
As such, our study asked non-online buyers why they don’t buy online.
We asked what it means to buy online. And we had respondents tell us what drives their crop input purchase.
With product availability as the top ranked factor in purchasing, could the supply chain struggles since 2020 be lingering and fostering more farmers to buy via traditional methods? Additionally, could ag retailers’ enhanced effort to plan with farmers for the year ahead be encouraging farmers to perceive purchases as being in-line with their traditional methods even if digitally augmented?
In addition to why and how farmers buy online, we ask what product categories they purchase online. Every year since 2018, herbicides have been the top categories bought online.
