The State of Global Agribusiness: A Great Start of a Somewhat Better Year  

Renee Targos By Renee Targos|13 January 2025

You may ask why I chose “somewhat better” to describe 2025. It doesn’t capture that excitement that we normally try to start the year with, but this description came from our readers.  

At the end of last year, we sent out a survey and found that 34% of respondents said the global economy in 2025 would be getting somewhat better (with 28% at barely better,15% at much worse and the 8% optimistic at much better). 

Surprisingly, after what I like to call “Tough Twenty Twenty-Four” came to an end, most of our respondents said their companies kept their heads above water.  

More than 60% of our surveyed readers said their companies met or exceeded budget, while 39% did not. The ratio of 60-40 is not great. It’s been evident the industry has taken some hard hits in 2024 — but there is hope.  

Companies are diversifying portfolios, looking for niche markets, and doing whatever they need to survive (see chart 1 in the slideshow above). This year, 83% of our respondents said they believed their company will do 1% to 11% higher revenue than last year (see chart 2).

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This is possible when companies have good intel and can pivot when tough times come. The wisdom that comes from a community sharing its perspectives helps all of us make better decisions.  

We hope you’ll join us on LinkedIn, so we can keep you updated on all the issues covered in 2025.  

We may be starting at somewhat better—but together we can end this year in a much better place.  

Renee Targos, as Editor of AgriBusiness GlobalTM Direct magazine, leads in content development, event programming, and managing the ABG Board of Advisors and strategic growth of the magazine. Renee’s professional experience covers more than two decades of national and international digital and print content development, editing, and journalism. She received a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University and continued her education with master’s level courses in business administration and behavioral analysis. Renee has served as a board member for several Arizona-based non-profits and government commissions. See all author stories here.

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