Increasing opportunities exist for agricultural graduates to enter managerial positions in business. These businesses may be large or small and may be organized as proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, or cooperatives. They include meat, dairy, and poultry processing industries, grain handling, feed manufacturing, and seed and fertilizer firms; transportation and storage concerns; and wholesale and retail food businesses.

The Department of Agricultural Economics B.S. in Agricultural Business curriculum gives special emphasis to agriculturally related businesses; however, its requirements are broad enough to allow adequate preparation for nonagricultural businesses. This option also has enough flexibility to permit you to prepare for an international career in agricultural business and can serve as a foundation for graduate school.

Students seeking an Agricultural Business degree have the option to create their own path by specializing in management, finance, marketing, commodity marketing, or food marketing.

After graduation, many students move on to jobs in agricultural lending, agricultural commodity trading, sales, marketing, farm ownership, agribusiness management, cooperative extension, or continue on to graduate school.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS Purdue Course Catalog

• Agribusiness: Agribusiness Management Concentration, BS
• Agribusiness: Agricultural Finance Concentration, BS
• Agribusiness: Agricultural Marketing Concentration, BS
• Agribusiness: Commodity Marketing Concentration, BS
• Agribusiness: Food Marketing Concentration, BS

The bachelor of science in agricultural economics is for students looking to understand the innerworkings of the food, fiber, and fuel industries. Students learn how to apply economic and business principles in understanding trends for banks, farm credit institutions, feed companies, farm equipment and fertilizer manufacturers, and food processing firms.

Students seeking an Agricultural Economics degree have the option to create their own path by concentrating in applied agricultural economics, quantitative analysis, or commodity marketing.

Students graduate prepared for careers in business, public policy analysis, economic development, finance, banking, sales, marketing, management, natural resources and environmental economics, cooperative extension, or continue on to graduate school.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS Purdue Course Catalog

• Agricultural Economics: Applied Agricultural Economics Concentration, BS
• Agricultural Economics: Commodity Marketing Concentration, BS
• Agricultural Economics: Quantitative Analysis Concentration, BS

Farm Management prepares students for managing the home farm, professional farm management, or understanding the challenge of managing a farm. Emphasis is placed on production, finance, marketing, and management strategies.

Students seeking a Farm Management degree have the option to create their own path by concentrating in farm management-business or production agriculture.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS Purdue Course Catalog

• Farm Management, BS

The Agricultural Economics B.S. in Sales and Marketing not only emphasizes sales, marketing, and management, it allows students to develop an area of specialization to prepare them for entry into an agriculture-related industry of their choice. A wide spectrum of farm supply industries, service firms, agricultural marketing organizations, and food manufacturing companies are marketing-oriented and depend extensively on agricultural graduates who are well-trained in marketing tools and concepts.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS Purdue Course Catalog

• Sales and Marketing, BS

Students who study agricultural economics at Purdue University come from a wide-range of backgrounds. Learn more about the endeavors of our current students.

Success Stories

Senior Spotlights - with their academic careers nearly complete, top graduating seniors share highlights from their time at Purdue University.

Senior spotlights

Learn about the many student organizations within the College of Agriculture and across campus!

BoilerLink: Student Organizations

Yes! There are a number of study abroad opportunities both in the College of Agriculture and the Department of Agricultural Economics! Visit the Purdue Agriculture Study Abroad site to learn more, apply, and prepare for your experience abroad.

International Opportunities from the Agricultural Economics Department:

AGEC: Colombia Maymester: This course provides an international and multidisciplinary perspective on food security and resources. The focus will be on case studies that represent different regions of the world with special emphasis on the changing conditions for tropical agriculture.

AGEC: China Maymester: This is a 3-credit, Purdue faculty led course where students spend 15 days in China during the second half of May. We travel to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Chongqing, Yichang, Langfang, and Shaoxing.