Denver, June 18, 2025 (Globe Newswire) – New artificial intelligence technologies enable farm retailers and farm supply cooperatives to strengthen extremely important customer relationships while optimizing operational performance. In addition to the extensive AI platform that can be utilized to simplify everyday business operations, farm suppliers now have access to AI apps specifically designed to support field agriculture and crop production.
According to a new research overview from Cobank's Knowledge Exchange, AI Technology offers AG retailers a new set of tools to optimize workflows, inventory management, employee performance and other key business features. Farm supply businesses that tackle the challenge of adopting AI can also enhance their position as trusted advisors and key partners in the AG supply chain.
“Agriculture AI is available in the company's back office, front office, and in the operational sectors of the agriculture and supply chain,” said Jacqui Fatka, biofuel economist at Cobank. “Early recruiting and trustworthy partnerships offer benefits for those willing to test the AI landscape. AG retailers should look into research companies, understand agriculture, and choose AI partners that promise value beyond the noble ROI.”
Agricultural cooperatives and retailers serve as important bridges of relationships between farmers and input providers. The potential erosion of these relationships through alternative distribution models, disruptive technologies, or other competing forces is one of the biggest challenges AG retailers can advance. Early adoption of AI will help the AG retailer sector stay ahead of its competitors while maintaining and strengthening customer relationships.
Fatka suggested that AG retailers start with easy-to-implement, low-stake AI applications, such as email, presentation assistance, and customer interaction summary, before tackling more complex tasks. “Testing different pathways to gain internal acceptance can lead to greater long-term success. For example, a simple initial test can record a virtual meeting with Copilot. Within minutes, you can provide AI-generated summary of important takeouts, immediate action items, and meetings with future tasks.”
AG retailers can also begin leveraging AI to optimize workflows for standard business functions such as HR, accounting, operations, and sales. Using AI to evaluate and streamline these features provides a higher return on investment compared to the efforts required to build or implement such tools. However, Fatka emphasizes that businesses need to establish Guardrails to use their customer information and use AI tools to understand privacy changes.
AI is unlikely to eliminate AG retail jobs, but it can help simplify tasks and reduce human error and bias. Furthermore, the workforce continues to be a challenge for many rural businesses, which can provide continuity of labor sales. AI also helps agriculture scholars and other staff to cover more acres or customers. Apps like Agpilot allow agriculologists to interact with AI verbally between clients while traveling, enter crop protection recommendations and smooth out potential sales from one stage to another.
“The interests of agribusinesses operating in tight margins are high,” Fatka said. “However, AG retailers need to ensure that AI costs do not outweigh the profits. The cost of experiments is minimal, and delaying the adoption of these promising tools could potentially miss out on growth opportunities.”
Read our research overview to see how AI empowers agricultural retailers.
About Cobank
Cobank is a cooperative bank that serves important industries in rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusiness and rural electricity, water and communications providers to all 50 states. The bank also offers wholesale loans and other financial services to related farm credit associations that serve more than 78,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states nationwide. Cobank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a national network of bank and retail lending associations that are chartered to support the borrowing needs of US agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside of Denver, Colorado, Cobank serves regional banking centers across the United States and maintains an international representative office in Singapore.
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