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Ag retail is at a crossroads. Every season, growers are faced with more complexity, tighter margins, and rising expectations from the partners they choose to trust. Yet despite all of this pressure, a surprising portion of retailers are still leaving one of their most powerful differentiators on the table:
Product recommendations.
According to 2024–2025 research from Stratus Ag Research, up to 30% of ag retailers do not recommend any of the crop protection products they sell — across pre-emergence herbicides, post programs, soybean pre’s, and fungicides. Some wait for the grower to decide. Others simply outline options and stop short of taking a position.
On the surface, this may feel “safe.” In reality, it’s a missed opportunity with real consequences for retailers and growers.
In a survey of 800 U.S. farmers, 78% said recommendations are important when choosing a retailer. Even more striking: “Advice and recommendations about which products are best suited to my farm” ranked among the top factors influencing which retailer they stay loyal to.
When growers don’t receive timely, tailored recommendations, they don’t just lose confidence. They look elsewhere.
Stratus found that when retailers highly recommend a product, customers choose that product 45% of the time. But when retailers do not recommend anything, adoption drops to just 15%.
That is a 30-point swing based solely on whether the retailer takes a stand.
Retailers who recommend products:
Retailers who don’t recommend products risk:
The research shows that roughly one-quarter to one-third of retailers avoid making recommendations—not because they don’t care, but because they don’t feel confident.
According to the data:
When a retailer doesn’t feel confident, they won’t put their reputation on the line.
When a grower doesn’t see confidence from their retailer, they won’t put their acres on the line.
This is where Taranis changes the dynamic entirely.
The days of “gut feel” scouting and generic product lists are over.
Growers want timely, accurate, field-specific recommendations tied to real data — and they will reward the retailers who deliver them.
Taranis gives retailers the tools to make that shift with certainty.
Taranis captures leaf-level imagery across entire fields, detecting:
This level of detail gives retailers undeniable evidence to support product choice and timing. No guessing. No assumptions. No “maybe next pass.”
It’s the difference between saying:
“Here are your herbicide options…”
and
“Here’s the weed pressure in your north field — and here’s exactly why this product fits.”
Confidence goes up. Sales go up. Outcomes go up.
Even knowledgeable teams are stretched thin. Ag Assistant provides:
Ag Assistant ensures your team can recommend with precision—even during the busiest weeks of the season.
It turns data into decisions.
Insights into action.
Pressure into performance.
The Stratus research makes it clear:
Retailers who don’t recommend products often lack confidence.
Retailers who recommend products regularly are the ones with knowledge, clarity, and understanding.
Taranis empowers every advisor, agronomist and sales rep to:
Confidence is no longer a barrier.
It becomes a competitive advantage.
Based on the research:
Taranis gives retailers the proof, the timing, and the confidence needed to recommend the right products at the right time — every time.
When retailers take a stand, everyone wins.
Growers get better outcomes.
Retailers grow revenue.
Relationships strengthen.
Acres stay loyal.
See how Taranis helps ag retailers and agronomists boost ROI through efficiency — saving time, cutting costs, and adding value with every grower visit.
“The difference between crop scouting and crop intelligence can be related to having a basket of berries or having a baked berry pie, sliced and ready-to-eat on a plate in front of you,” says Mark Bradke, Iowa-based Taranis Regional Account Manager. “I would rather have the pie.”
