The acreage question is the right place to start, because profitability is tied directly to volume. In central and west Michigan, the operators I've spoken with typically spray anywhere between 3,500 and 12,000 acres per season depending on how aggressively they market and whether they work with co-ops.

Cover crop demand has also been climbing, most report 400–1,000 acres of cover crop application annually, depending on how many mid-sized farms they serve.

The biggest gap I see with new operators isn't equipment, it's visibility. Farmers won't hire you if they can't find you or verify that you're licensed. When I set up my own operation, I worked with Fortress to build a proper digital footprint (SEO, service pages, and local ranking for agricultural keywords)