Closing the Readiness Gap: Why Optimizing the Farm Business Matters More Than Ever

In 2026 and beyond, U.S. agriculture must adopt a focus that is not only defined by optimizing production but by how well we manage the business behind production.

For decades, success in farming was measured in bushels and yield. Today, those metrics tell only part of the story. Compounding risk and tightening margins have made business optimization the new imperative. This imperative is necessitated in part by current ag economic conditions and the structural changes impacting global commodities that we have outlined in our previously published Future State of Ag report. A 2025 ABA/Farmer Mac Agricultural Survey expected only half of U.S. farmers to be profitable in 2025, with many farmers entering a third year of profitability pressures.

The numbers around producer sentiment speak for themselves. In the fall of 2025, Idealyst Innovation conducted surveys with hundreds of farmers across the country.

Less than half of producers (45%) believe their operations will remain profitable over the next five years. And risk perceptions are climbing, with 41% of farmers expecting risk levels to increase in the next year.

Yet, surprisingly, nearly half of farmers still anticipate better conditions. This paradox underscores the need for better planning and control. Most producers lack the systems and strategies to manage the business side of farming with confidence.

The Readiness Gap

We define readiness as a combination of access to resources, knowledge, understanding, and the ability to respond effectively.

And the gaps remain stark. Only 50% of producers rate business management systems as highly relevant to their operations, and just 56% say they have the ability to implement them. Technology readiness is another blind spot. Only 24% report access to adequate resources to help them address this area, representing the largest resourcing gap among all operational risks. Strategic changes like succession planning are often deferred indefinitely, leaving farms vulnerable to leadership and continuity challenges.

Risks that are unpredictable and largely out of the farmer's control like weather, market swings, and market access, tend to receive the most attention from producers, while simultaneously receiving the lowest readiness scores.

Business Optimization: The Differentiator for Success

Closing the readiness gap is becoming increasingly vital for the success of both farm enterprises and the organizations that support them. We need to empower farmers to address the readiness gap, putting more factors into their control, and that is accomplished through business optimization. Improving business management systems is the best way to address the gap, helping producers be more proactive and resilient, even in the face of volatility and unpredictable risks.

Producers confident in profitability overwhelmingly credit strong business management systems as the key factor.

Our research shows that producers who feel equipped to address business management challenges are far more likely to reduce operational risk and maintain a positive outlook.

Among those producers who perceive they have the capability to manage business fundamentals, 51% expect reduced operational risk, compared to just 11% among those who don’t. 

Mastering internal systems like recordkeeping, analysis, and data-driven decision-making creates more agency than reacting to external factors. Producers who demonstrate a focus on business optimization consistently show higher indicators of growth, profit, and resilience.

Closing the Readiness Gap

When it comes to the business of farming, a fragmented solutions landscape is contributing to the readiness gap, hindering farmer adoption. The work we’re doing at Idealyst Innovation is focused on closing the readiness gap in partnership with farmers and the organizations they trust. We are addressing the gap in three primary ways:

Maximum Farm Potential

Our Maximum Farm Potential (MFP) tool directly solves for the knowledge, understanding and access to resources barriers to improve readiness.

Delivered in partnership with their most trusted advisors, MFP delivers farmers a personalized assessment of the farm business, prioritized recommendations, and access to tailored solutions that address their most pressing challenges.

The Idealyst Innovation Foundry

The Idealyst Innovation Foundry discovers and builds solutions that improve a farmer’s business beyond production, providing a forum for collaborative and dedicated solutioning for ag businesses that prioritize customer success.

Idealyst's Artificial Intelligence Platform

Our artificial intelligence platform utilizes a cohort of agents to identify the gaps that exist between the farm business and the tools that they need to succeed, helping agribusinesses bring innovative solutions to their customers. 

Join us in closing the Readiness Gap.

If you are:

• An ag business that wants to continue to grow alongside your customers. You ultimately believe what's best for the customer is what's best for your business.

• A solution provider working to help farmers strengthen the business aspects of their operations.

• A farmer who is interested in learning more about our solutions.

  
  

Send us a note to learn more about ways we can work together.