Undergraduate Programs
Agricultural Business Program
How does a successful feed sales representative guarantee good customer relations? Why is the computer an important tool for solving challenges in farming? How can farmers and other agribusinesses best use market information in forecasting commodity prices? In what ways do macropolicy, the world economy, and international trade affect U.S. agriculture? If you have a knack for numbers and a love of the land, consider majoring in agricultural business. Iowa State's program offers you the chance to study with internationally-renowned faculty members while you prepare for career options that could take you around the world--or back to your own front porch.
Learning from the best--globally
When you choose agricultural business, you choose a program that prepares you for both the bean fields and the boardroom. You will learn alternative ways of buying and selling agricultural commodities, like corn and hogs, using futures contracts, options, and cash markets. You work side-by-side with economists who are helping to rebuild eastern European economies; you take notes from experts of feed and seed sales. You hear firsthand, behind-the-scenes stories of farm policies in the making, and you examine how hometown banks survive in struggling economies. You will have a chance to follow in the footsteps of celebrated scientists like the late Elizabeth Hoyt, who created the Consumer Price Index, now used to measure inflation and the cost of living.
Our program offers you one-on-one relationships with some of the university's most distinguished teachers and researchers. Many students have gained undergraduate research experience by working with extension economists to calcuate pricing information, determine commodity production levels, estimate land values, and predict interest rates. Get to know some of the world's most acclaimed economists located in the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), known worldwide for its contributions to agricultural policy. Talk with scientists who forged the first-of-a-kind, five-year agricultural exchange with Russia in 1988. Share in the excitement of the team establishing food and nutrition policies now shaping the future of our world.
Exploring new territories--and building a career.
Some of the best agricultural business training you receive might happen outside the classroom. Field trips expose you to farm implement manufacturers, food prcessors, grocery warehouses, grain elevators, livestock processing plants, and seed-corn plants. You might spend a day "shadowing" a professional sales representative to test out the techniques you learned during lecture. You could land an internship that might find you drafting agricultural policies for the National Pork Producers Associaion, or scouting crops for an agricultural cooperative like Growmark, or selling agricultural chemicals for American Cyanamid.
One student spend a summer in Russia monitoring popcorn for a U.S. company. Several Iowa Staters have interned a Disney World's Epcot Center, working on crop production projects for "The Land" exhibit.
Expanding your horizons--with a new group of friends.
Back on campus, you don't have to worry about being just another Social Security number to your adviser. During your first semester, you'll have a chance to visit his or her home and family, and discuss your new life at Iowa state. Then it's off to a meeting of the Agricultural Business Club and an opportunity to meet fellow "ag biz" majors. Ours isn't just any departmental club--in 1992, it was named the nation's Outstanding Student Agricultural Business Club, and one of our members was elected president of the student section of the American Agricultural Economics Association. You can be a leader within the club; more than 30 such positions are available. As a member, you can help organize agriculture's biggest university Career Day in the nation. Make arrangements for and mingle with more than 120 potential employers; participate in mock interviews with these same company representatives and receive valuable career preparation tips.
Challenging yourself--now and in the future.
Our department offers a bachelor of science degree in agricultural business from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. You may select from several areas of emphasis: economics analysis, farm management, agribusiness management, agricultural finance, agicultural sales and marketing, natural resources, agricultural accounting, or foreign agriculture. Minimum high school course requirement for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences include four years of English, three years of math (including one year each of algebra, geometry, and advanced algebra), three years of science (including one year each of two of the following: biology, chemistry, and physics), and two years of social studies (including one year of U.S. history and one semester of U.S.government).
Iowa State's agricultural businss majors succeed in the real world because they combine training in business, management, and economics with solid technical knowledge in production agriculture and skills in communication and problem-solving. The department boasts a 90 percent job placement reate, and a number of alumni go on to graduate school in business, economics,and law. About 75 percent of our graduate find jobs in Iowa, with the rest landing employment in surrounding states.
Our department has a strong tradition of turning out agriculture's leaders for Iowa, the nation, and the world. If you want to join in that tradition, or obtain more information about course requirements and how a degree in agricultural business can satisfy your particular interests, please write or visit the Department of Economics (Agricultural Business), 174 Heady Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011-1070. Or, call the department at (515) 294-5436 or the Office of Admissions at (800) 262-3810.