| One
of every six jobs in the American economy are related to
agricultural and food businesses. The curriculum in
Agricultural Business is designed to provide students with the
technical and business skills necessary to be successful in our
nation's largest industry. Career opportunities in
agribusiness range from managing a farm business to working in
the banking or farm credit industries. Ample opportunities
are available in the management of farm supply stores or
cooperatives, agricultural input sales, working in the insurance
or real estate areas, and a number of agricultural processing
and manufacturing industries.
The
Agricultural Business major is designed to allow students to
custom-tailor their educational program to fit their own
personal wants and desires. The major is divided into three
tracks to aid in this design process.
- The
Business Option
allows students to prepare for careers in agricultural
business by emphasizing training in accounting, marketing,
management, and business organization. By placing more
emphasis in these areas, students are encouraged to develop
the management skills required to be successful in the
business environment of agriculture, today and into the
future.
- The
Technology Option
allows students to specialize in a particular discipline,
including animal science, crop production/agronomy, and
agricultural engineering. Each of these disciplines
allow the students to develop technical in a specific area
while developing the business skills required to effectively
manage that technology.
- The
Transfer Option
provides a general curriculum which allows students to
fulfill basic requirements in science, mathematics, and
English before transferring to a four-year school to finish
a Bachelor of Science degree. Elective classes may be taken
in the Agricultural Business area.
One
of the common misconceptions about agricultural business is that
all of the career opportunities are directly related to
farming. While one of every six jobs in the American
economy is in the agribusiness sector, only about 10% of these
jobs involve working on farms or dealing directly with farmers.
Classes
in the Agricultural Business major cover a wide range of subject
matters. Agricultural Economics, AGBS 100, gives students a
basic background in the micro- and macro-economic relationships
that exist within agriculture as well as how agriculture relates
and contributes to the other sectors of the U.S. economy.
Students may then choose to develop additional economic skills
in marketing agricultural products (AGBS 200), agricultural
business management (AGBS 230), farm management (AGBS 210),
and/or agricultural finance (AGBS 220).
Students
who choose the Agricultural Business curriculum generally choose
careers in the following general areas:
- Farm
management
- Agricultural
retail store management
- Agricultural
finance
- Farm
input sales (seed, fertilizer, chemicals, feed)
- Agricultural
processing or manufacturing
- Retail
food buyer
- Transfer
to obtain a Bachelor Degree
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