Major: Agricultural Business
USDA/Ken Hammond
Agricultural business majors learn how food gets from the field to the table. They examine the financing, marketing, and management of food production. By studying economic theory, they come to understand the many factors behind the buying and selling of food.
They don’t stop there, though. They use their understanding of economics and business to confront real-life situations, from financing catfish farms in Georgia to making micro-loans to water buffalo farmers in India.
Agricultural business students learn the business and economic principles behind running agricultural businesses.
“Always try to find a connection between the economic theory and the real world. The concepts are much easier to learn if you break them down into layman's terms.”
Joe, senior, agricultural business, Iowa State University
Are You Ready To...?
- Learn how to use accounting tools such as balance sheets, income statements, and cash-flow statements
- Put together a PowerPoint presentation as part of a group project
- Complete an internship in which you take on a special project, such as a five-page marketing plan for tomatoes
- Spend a semester abroad studying, for example, how farms are financed in another country
It Helps to Be...
Able to communicate your ideas to others. While math skills are important in agricultural business, good communication skills are just as important.
College Checklist
- What specialties, such as farm and ranch management, does the college emphasize?
- If you’re interested in a special area, such as international trade, does the program offer classes in that area?
- What are the prerequisites for a combination degree, such as agribusiness and agricultural law?
- What internship opportunities will be available to you?
- Is there an agricultural business club on campus or a chapter of a national organization such as the National Agri-Marketing Association?
Did You Know?
- The fact that food production, and therefore food prices, are affected by weather, pests, and other unpredictable factors, makes this an exciting field of study.
Course Spotlight
In agribusiness marketing, a core class for agricultural business majors, you’ll get a taste of what real-world marketing is like. For example, you may work with a group to come up with a marketing plan for an agricultural product, which you pitch in front of your classmates and professor. Your plan would answer such questions as, What group do we want to encourage to buy the product? What product image do we want to create? What advertising methods will we use?
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