Achieving agricultural and rural modernization is the fundamental goal of the rural revitalization strategy. Scientific assessment of the development level and obstacles of agricultural and rural modernization make up for the short boards of development and is of great theoretical and practical significance for exploring the realistic path of innovation and development of China’s agricultural and rural modernization in the new era. This paper elaborates on the five construction principles of the evaluation index system for the development level of agricultural and rural modernization. It proposes the measurement methods of entropy weight method and multiple weighted comprehensive evaluation methods for the development level of agricultural and rural modernization, as well as the obstacle degree model for assessing the obstacle factors to the development of agricultural and rural modernization. Henan Province’s agricultural and rural modernization development status from 2014 to 2023 is examined as an example. The overall development of agricultural and rural modernization in the sample within the study area shows an upward trend, but the enhancement effect is not evident in terms of economic development, social development, and grassroots governance. The main obstacle factors affecting the development of agricultural and rural modernization in Henan include the agricultural output growth rate, the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress, and the education level of the agricultural labor force. The obstacle degree of agricultural output growth rate is 0.1745, 0.3327, and 0.4294 in 2014, 2018, and 2023, respectively. At present, it should be based on the task of promoting high-quality development in China’s new stage of development and closely grasp the main aspects of the development of modernization of agriculture and rural areas in accordance with the requirements of the political direction, industrial integration, the main driving force, the ideological leadership, and the digital and intellectual empowerment. Moreover, solidly promotes the development process of modernization of agriculture and rural areas.