Skip to content

Studies & Degrees in Agribusiness

Agribusiness is the business of food and farming. It covers the companies that supply farms with seed, machinery, feed and finance, the farms themselves, and the firms that process, trade and sell what farms produce. Northeast Community College in the United States sums the subject up as a combination of business, economics and agriculture applied to managing resources, production and markets in a global food system.

Students take the core subjects of a business degree, such as accounting, finance, marketing and management, and apply them to agriculture. Typical specialised subjects are agricultural economics, farm management, commodity markets and trading, agricultural law and policy, supply chain logistics, and sales. Most programmes add some crop and animal science, and many have a teaching farm or an internship in a company.

Qualifications and levels

  • Two-year degrees. Community colleges in the United States teach agribusiness as an associate degree. The Associate of Applied Science in Agribusiness at Northeast Community College takes two years (63-64 credits), can be completed in person or remotely, and includes topics such as commodity trading, agricultural law and supply chain logistics.
  • Bachelor's degrees. In the United States a bachelor's degree normally takes four years; the Agricultural Business Management degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for example, requires 120 credits. At Penn State, Agribusiness Management students take marketing, management, finance and accounting courses in the university's business school. The Ohio State University offers an Agribusiness and Applied Economics major with pathways in agribusiness management, agricultural finance, agricultural commodities, sales and marketing, and applied economics. Tennessee Tech University teaches Agribusiness Management as a concentration of its Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, on campus, online or in a hybrid format. In the United Kingdom, Newcastle University lists a three-year BSc in Agriculture with Farm Business Management, with the option of a 9 to 12 month work placement.
  • Spain. Official bachelor's degrees (grados) have 240 ECTS credits and official master's degrees 60, 90 or 120. The subject is usually approached from agricultural engineering or business degrees, with agri-food management as a specialisation or a master's. In vocational training (FP), the agriculture family has 2,000-hour qualifications such as Técnico en Producción Agropecuaria (intermediate level) and Técnico Superior en Paisajismo y Medio Rural (higher level), which focus on production rather than on business.
  • Latin America. The usual name is agronegocios. The Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires lists a degree in Administración y Gestión de Agronegocios. The Universidad de la Empresa (UDE) in Montevideo has a Faculty of Agricultural Sciences that goes back to an institute founded in 1976; it offers a Licenciatura en Gestión Agropecuaria and a fully online postgraduate programme in Administración de Agronegocios.
  • Postgraduate study. Master's programmes in agribusiness or agricultural economics are open to graduates in business, economics or agricultural science, and some graduates go on to an MBA.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 35 active schools for agribusiness. Twenty-one are in the United States, where the subject is a standard offer of the land-grant universities and of community colleges in farming regions. Spain, the United Kingdom and Argentina have two each, and Canada, New Zealand, Greece, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Slovenia and Germany one each.

Examples in the United States are The Ohio State University, Penn State, Purdue University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Illinois State University and Tennessee Tech University, and community colleges such as Northeast Community College in Nebraska and the College of Southern Idaho. Elsewhere the list includes Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, Massey University in New Zealand, McGill University in Canada, the Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico, the Universidade Federal de Viçosa in Brazil, the Universidad de Belgrano in Argentina and UDE in Uruguay. In Spain it includes the Universidad de Cádiz and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.

Programmes are taught in English in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand, in Spanish in Spain, Argentina, Mexico and Uruguay, and in Portuguese in Brazil. Ask each school what recognition its qualification has in the country where you plan to work.

Careers

Agribusiness graduates work in management, sales, marketing and finance for the companies around farming. Illinois State University describes careers in agribusiness marketing, management and finance; Penn State names agricultural businesses, banks, insurance companies and government as employers; and the University of Wisconsin-Madison adds business analysis, commodities trading, consulting, food companies and co-operatives. Others manage a farm, often a family one.

Farm management itself is a large but shrinking occupation in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers held about 788,700 jobs in 2025, and 67 percent were self-employed. Employment is projected to decline 3 percent from 2025 to 2035, but about 70,800 openings a year are expected as people leave the occupation. These managers typically need at least a high school diploma and work experience in a related occupation.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between agribusiness and agriculture?

An agriculture or agronomy degree concentrates on production: soils, crops, livestock and technology. Agribusiness concentrates on economics, management, markets and finance in the food and farming sector, with a smaller share of science.

Do I need a farming background to study agribusiness?

No programme consulted for this page asks for one. Much of the work is in sales, finance, trading and management, and schools provide practical contact with the sector through teaching farms and internships.

How long does an agribusiness degree take?

The associate degree at Northeast Community College takes two years, a bachelor's degree in the United States normally four years (120 credits at the University of Wisconsin-Madison), and the BSc at Newcastle University three years. Official Spanish bachelor's degrees have 240 ECTS credits.

Can I study agribusiness online?

Some schools offer it. Tennessee Tech University teaches its Agribusiness Management concentration on campus, online or in hybrid format, Northeast Community College's associate degree can be completed remotely, and UDE in Uruguay offers its postgraduate programme in Administración de Agronegocios fully online.