Centrol Crop Consulting

What Centrol Crop Consulting does

Centrol Crop Consulting is a privately held, independent crop consulting firm founded in 1979 and headquartered in Marshall, Minnesota. The company serves approximately 2,400 agricultural growers across Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa, providing agronomic advice across 2.6 million acres through a 55-consultant, 35-technician field force plus 10 administrative staff. Its defining structural feature is a "services-only" model: consultants do not sell any agricultural inputs, which the company positions as the source of its recommendation independence relative to ag retail competitors. Services are organized into five departments — Agronomy, Precision Ag, Environmental Services, Crop Insurance, and Contract Research — that together cover in-season crop monitoring, soil testing, variable rate prescriptions, NRCS-aligned permitting and planning, multi-peril crop insurance, and third-party field trial research.

The core technical offering sits in Precision Ag, where Centrol combines GPS-guided grid soil sampling, soil electrical conductivity mapping, multi-year yield data, and high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery to build management zones and generate variable rate fertilizer, planting, and nitrogen prescriptions. Contract Research, based in Iroquois, South Dakota, runs fee-for-service field trials for herbicide, insecticide, fungicide, and biological products across corn, soybeans, and wheat. Centrol's revenue model is a professional services model — growers are billed per acre for agronomy and precision ag services, with additional revenue from insurance commissions, environmental compliance work, and contract research fees. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed.

The company is led by CEO Bryan Smith (since 2004) and operates as an independent, non-VC-backed corporation incorporated in Minnesota. It has grown organically over 46 years from a single Morris, MN office to a multi-department Midwest platform, with the most recent material moves being the 2019 launch of Contract Research, the 2020 launch of Crop Insurance, and the 2025 milestone of 2.6 million acres under management. Centrol is not capitalized through institutional funding, has no public M&A or acquisition history, and is differentiated primarily by talent depth (600+ combined years of consultant experience), longevity, and the no-product-sales positioning reinforced by NAICC and ARCPACS ethical codes.

Name

Centrol Crop Consulting

Legal name

Centrol Crop Consulting, Inc.

Website

https://centrolcrop.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Centrol Crop Consulting is a privately held, services-only crop consulting firm serving 2,400 growers across 2.6 million acres in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa via five departments (Agronomy, Precision Ag, Environmental Services, Crop Insurance, Contract Research) with 55 consultants and 35 technicians.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Crop Consulting

NAICS

Farm Management Services (115116), Support Activities for Crop Production (11511), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Yield Optimization & Crop Performance Consulting (AFACABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Crop Scouting & Field Monitoring Services (AFACABAD), Plant Tissue, Soil & Water Sampling Coordination (Agronomy-Focused) (AFACABAH), Nutrient Management Planning & Fertility Programs (AFACABAB), Carbon, Sustainability & Farm Certification Support (Agro-Environmental Advisory) (AFACABAL)

Keywords

• Crop consulting services
• Agronomy services
• Precision agriculture
• Environmental compliance services
• Crop insurance services

Headquarters

HQ city

Marshall

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Crop Consulting Services: Professional agronomic consulting fees charged to growers for services including crop monitoring, soil testing, pest management recommendations, and precision agriculture services. Services are billed based on acres managed and specific service packages.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Centrol Crop Consulting is a privately held crop consulting company that delivers unbiased agronomic recommendations, precision agriculture, environmental compliance, crop insurance, and agricultural contract research services directly to growers. The company employs roughly 55 consultants and 35 technicians who manage approximately 2.6 million acres across Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa, charging professional service fees for in-season crop monitoring, soil testing, variable rate prescriptions, and field-level agronomic advice.

Product overview

Centrol Crop Consulting is a crop consulting company offering a unified portfolio of agronomic services delivered through five integrated departments. The core offering is Agronomy Services, which provides crop planning, in-season monitoring, and soil testing. This is supported by four specialized departments: Precision Ag Services (variable rate technology, imagery, nitrogen management), Environmental Services (manure management, permitting, NRCS programs), Crop Insurance (multi-peril, wind, hail coverage), and Contract Research (field trials for ag products). The company emphasizes unbiased recommendations without product sales, with 55 consultants and 35 technicians serving approximately 2.6 million acres across Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Agronomy Services Core crop consulting service providing crop planning, in-season monitoring, and soil testing designed to maximize grower ROI. Includes 50 full-time consultants serving approximately 2,400 customers across 2.5 million acres in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa.
• Precision Ag Services Data-driven precision agriculture services including GPS-guided soil sampling, variable rate fertilizer prescriptions, management zone creation, variable rate planting, nitrogen management, and high-resolution satellite/aerial imagery for field health analysis.
• Environmental Services Environmental consulting covering livestock and facility permitting, manure management planning, NRCS technical service for CSP and EQIP programs, SWCD technical assistance, GIS mapping, and fertility management planning for agricultural operations.
• Crop Insurance Crop insurance agency offering multi-peril federal crop insurance, crop wind insurance covering green snap, EHE, and ears on ground, crop hail insurance, and private products including Added Price Option and replant coverage for growers.
• Contract Research Agricultural contract research services conducting field trials for herbicide, insecticide, fungicide, and biological testing across corn, soybeans, wheat, and other crops, based in Iroquois, SD and serving agricultural input companies.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2.6 million acres under management
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves16 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Granular (Corteva): Farm management and analytics software business owned by Corteva, offering digital agronomy, financial tracking, and operational planning tools that partially substitute for traditional crop-consulting services.
• Climate LLC (Bayer FieldView): Digital agriculture platform owned by Bayer that delivers satellite imagery, variable-rate scripting, and agronomic insights to growers. A technology-driven emerging alternative to traditional scouting services like Centrol's.

Direct peers

• Servi-Tech: Independent crop consulting and contract research organization serving Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Operates a similar network of CCA-certified consultants serving row-crop growers without selling inputs.
• Premier Crop Systems: Iowa-based independent agronomy and precision-ag services firm that sells advice — not products — to corn and soybean growers. Closest analog to Centrol's unbundled, fee-for-service model in the Upper Midwest.
• Advanced Agrilytics: Independent precision agronomy provider using soil EC, yield, and satellite data to deliver zone-based prescriptions. Overlaps with Centrol's Precision Ag department in technology stack and grower target customer.

Broad incumbents

• Wilbur-Ellis: Privately held ag services and inputs company with retail branches and agronomy teams across the Western and Midwestern U.S. Provides consulting-style services bundled with chemical/fertilizer sales.
• Nutrien Ag Solutions: World's largest ag retailer, distributing crop nutrients, crop protection, and seed alongside agronomic services. Competes with Centrol via bundled retailer agronomy at scale across the same Midwest geography.
• WinField United (Land O'Lakes): Ag retail and crop-input brand of Land O'Lakes; offers Answer Plot insights, agronomy services, and proprietary crop protection products to growers across the Midwest. Bundled-advisor competitor to Centrol.
• CHS Inc. Farmer-owned ag co-op with energy, agronomy, and grain operations across the Upper Midwest. Provides field scouting and agronomic recommendations to grower-owners, competing directly with Centrol's core service.
• Helena Agri-Enterprises: National ag distributor offering crop inputs together with agronomic advice and prescription services. Competes for the same Midwest corn/soybean grower accounts as Centrol via bundled offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CentrolCropConsulting
• Instagraminstagram.com/centrolcropconsulting/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/centrol-crop-consulting

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Centrol Crop Consulting