I am pleased to welcome you to the Homepage of the Department of Agribusiness Economics. At the undergraduate and graduate level, we offer a range of programs preparing students for challenging careers in the private sector as well as with an extensive number of public agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Our faculty members are engaged in a range of scholarly activities encompassing a diverse portfolio of research areas and outreach/service activities in the region, state, and nation.

 

Agribusiness economics is a program in applied economics and policy analysis preparing students for employment in a broad range of fields related to agribusinesses, sales, marketing, and finance; energy, environmental and natural resources; rural development; and food processing, distribution and retailing. It is a field of study which equips its graduates with the abilities, skills and knowledge for handling demanding managerial and analytical positions, and also instills a commitment to succeed ethically in an increasingly competitive environment. While preparing students for the jobs of today, our programs provide the foundation for lifelong learning so students will be equipped for the jobs of the future. Our programs our designed to give the student working with his or her faculty advisor the greatest possible flexibility in crafting a program of study that meets the student’s interests and needs while fulfilling the requirements of the university and the department.

 

Career opportunities are excellent for graduates in agribusiness economics. Over the near term, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture there are more job openings projected in the field than there will be qualified college graduates to fill them. Examples of some of the types of positions open to graduates from our department are: loan officer, financial analyst, management specialist, food store manager, market adviser, grain merchandiser, food broker, commodity broker, seed and chemical sales person, risk manager, insurance agent/adjuster, agricultural statistician, transportation manager, farm manager for large commercial farm operations, professional farm manager for a bank, energy analyst, resource economist, policy analyst, land-use planner, environmental impact analyst, environmental planner and rural development advisor.

 

The scholarly and outreach activities of the departmental faculty cover a range of topics including risk management using futures markets, accuracy of commodity forecasts, the ecosystem services (multifunctionality) of working agricultural landscapes, consumer acceptance of foods with different attributes, the sourcing of raw materials for ethanol plants, watershed planning and management, mediation services for agricultural producers, economics of recreational leasing, regional economic impacts of biofuel plants.

 

Within our Homepages, you can find more information about our instructional programs and majors, our graduate programs, our scholarly activities and areas of research, and outreach/service.

 

Sincerely,

Steven E. Kraft

Chairman,

Department of Agribusiness Economics