Raven Industries Inc.
09/16/2026 | News release | Archived content
What Farm Progress Show 2026 Got Right About Ag Tech in a Tight Margin Year
Walking the grounds at Farm Progress Show 2026, one theme kept surfacing in our team's conversations with growers, dealers, and industry partners: precision technology only matters if it delivers measurable value and a return on investment.
There was no shortage of impressive equipment and innovation on display, but what stood out most wasn't technology on the latest iron. It was the industry's focus on helping growers understand how technology fits into their operation, solves real challenges, and ultimately improves farmer profitability.
In 2026, the Farm Progress Show felt less like a showcase of what's new and more like a demonstration of what's worth investing in.
hat focus makes sense given the realities facing agriculture today. With the USDA forecasting relatively flat net farm income, input costs continuing to pressure margins, and equipment sales declining compared to last year, growers are evaluating every investment through the lens of real-world ROI. In an environment where every dollar counts, technology has to do more than promise potential; it needs to prove its impact.
In 2026, the Farm Progress Show felt less like a showcase of what's new and more like a demonstration of what's worth investing in.
Here are my top takeaways from the show.
Retrofit and Upgrades Find a Spot in the Headlines
Many growers, ag retailers, and industry leaders attend Farm Progress to get the pulse on the new and exciting iron and tech hitting the fields, and it's a great opportunity to learn and explore what's new. However, one interesting note from 2026 is the presence of retrofit and upgrade opportunities right alongside new. With the focus on tight margins and high input costs, many OEM displays leaned into the story of upgrading existing fleets with technology solutions.
At CNH, our Case IH team showcased a 1989 Boxcar Magnum with a Raven CR12+ kit, and the New Holland team showed upgrades to a 1994 Genesis tractor. Both machines drew a crowd with growers asking not if the technology worked, but how they can put the technology on equipment they already have in the shed.
The fastest path to new capability runs through the equipment growers already own and the market backdrop explains why.
AEM's July data had U.S. tractor sales down 13.1% year to date and combine sales down 10.2%, and USDA is forecasting net farm income essentially flat at $153.4 billion for 2026. When new iron is hard to justify, the upgrade conversation becomes the upgrade path for some growers.
Backed up by CNH's recent Farmer Pulse survey, 56% of farmers named cost as the single biggest barrier to adopting new technology. Forty-three percent of those interested in precision tools said they'd rather wait for a new machine with factory-fit technology.
Retrofit options help close that gap and this is exactly the space that Raven technology solutions are built for. Whether it's a CR12+ display going into a three-decade-old Magnum, an AccuFlow upgrade on an existing NH3 toolbar, or a trade-in on aging components, the goal is the same. Modernize the fleet you have instead of waiting to make an investment in new iron.
Automation is Layering into Technology Already in the Field
Automation and autonomy aren't a new concept the way it was three to five years ago. In 2026, the conversation shifted with more autonomous systems taking the field. Growers are watching their neighbors and friends run these systems and prove that they hold up throughout the growing season with a real ROI.
Carbon Robotics opened its autonomy retrofit program to implement manufacturers. AGCO's PTx team demonstrated OutRun for grain cart operations. Multiple exhibitors described the same inflection point. Growers are no longer asking whether it works; they're asking what it costs and how fast it pays.
The same growers nodding along at autonomy demos told us something more specific in the Farmer Pulse survey. What they want is technology that's easier to use, delivers reliable data, and shows real-world ROI. Only 14% currently use any form of AI-assisted automation, the lowest adoption number in the survey. Meanwhile, 36% said they simply aren't sure new technology delivers enough value to justify the investment.
The autonomy applications gaining the most traction right now are the ones solving challenges facing growers. Labor at harvest is the clearest example. Raven Cart Automation puts the grain cart on a synchronized path with the combine, letting one operator cover work that used to require a second experienced hand during the tightest window of the year.
Growers are Evaluating Tech on Functionality and ROI, Not Endless Feature Sets
The growers I talked to at Farm Progress this year weren't asking what else can precision technology do? They were asking, does it work, every time, without a fight? That shift showed up across the show with multiple OEMs and brands. John Deere's new AI assistant lets operators ask Operations Center a direct question instead of digging through dashboards. New Holland's ForageCam puts a quality score in front of the operator instead of data to interpret later. Both help growers remove steps in their decision-making process and stay efficient in their work.
The Farmer Pulse Survey backs this up, too. Cost leads adoption barriers at 56%, but 36% of farmers say they're simply not convinced new technology delivers enough value, and 21% cite the learning curve. That's not a capability problem; it's a friction point.
This is the same standard Raven technology is built upon. Whether it's a rate controller or field data moving through Slingshot, the question isn't how much the system can do, but how much value does that system provide a grower, ag retailer, or application professional.
Growers Want Ag Tech to "Prove It"
Every takeaway from this year's show led back to the same idea. Retrofit and upgrades stood shoulder to shoulder with new iron. Automation moved from a demo to something growers can run and trust in their operations. Across every booth, the standard shifted from what a system can do to whether it actually works, every time.
The Farmer Pulse data backs up what we saw on the ground. Growers aren't chasing more features. They're chasing proof that an investment pays off on the equipment already in the field. That's the exact space Raven technology is built for, whether it's a CR12+ kit going into a decades-old Magnum, an AccuFlow upgrade on an existing toolbar, Cart Automation solving a real labor gap at harvest, or field data moving through Slingshot without adding a step.
If there's one thing to take away from Farm Progress 2026, it's this. The future of ag tech isn't about starting over. It's about what you can add to what's already running.
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Raven Industries Inc. published this content on September 16, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 28, 2026 at 12:50 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]