ORIGINAL RESEARCH · VOLUME 01 · FALL 2026
The State of
Ag Businesses
Small and Mid-Sized Edition
Original research from People Spark® Consulting examining how small and midsize agricultural businesses are structured, led, and prepared for what's next.
THE GAP
How do we compare to our peers?
Across the ag industry we have deep, science-based research to make better decisions in agronomy, feed, grain, and animal nutrition. When it comes to operating the business itself, that same depth doesn't exist.
Larger organizations can lean on consulting-firm benchmark studies. Single- and few-location retailers and cooperatives have had no reliable way to answer a basic question. This study starts closing that gap, and we expect it to be the first of ongoing research supporting these businesses.
WHAT THE STUDY MEASURES
Multiple views of how your business runs and where it goes next.
From the shape of your organization to the pay and benefits you offer, the study captures the operating picture no one has benchmarked for businesses your size.
Revenue, headcount, locations, and business model
The firmographic baseline that makes every other comparison meaningful, so you are measured against businesses genuinely like yours.
What it takes to attract and keep people right now
Types of benefits offered, and the hiring and retention pressures showing up across the industry.
Where the business is headed, and who knows it
How direction is set, how decisions get made, and how clearly that direction reaches the people expected to carry it out.
How the business is built to run beyond senior leadership
Are decisions made at the appropriate level, are decision makers equipped for that responsibility, or does too much still run through senior leadership?
WHO SHOULD TAKE IT
Leaders with a clear view of how the business actually runs.
Designed for GMs, CEOs, presidents, and owners with enough visibility to answer questions about strategy and structure.
Retailers, cooperatives, and family-owned agribusinesses, one response per business.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS RECEIVE
Research that serves small and mid-sized businesses in the ag industry.
This is research, not a sales funnel. Your responses are used for benchmarking and aggregate insight, and nothing you share is published in an identifiable form.
Individual responses remain confidential and are never shared with other participants. Findings are reported only in aggregate when minimum response thresholds are met.
Your Full Report
A concise, two-page view of your results, where you stand, and the areas you can act on.
Your Peer Benchmark
How you scored, how peers scored, and your delta across every area measured.
Your Personalized Review
A walkthrough of what your results mean, plus the broader study white paper once published.
TIMELINE
What happens after you hit submit.
SEPT 21
Survey opens
Shared with ag business owners and leaders through our network and industry partners.
OCT 16
Survey closes
Reminders go out through the field window; the survey closes to new responses on October 16.
OCTOBER
Data analysis
Responses scored, anomalies cleaned, and results checked against the intended audience.
BY DECEMEBER
Reports delivered
Individual summaries to participants, alongside the overall study findings.