Agricultural Business

Types of Degrees Agricultural Business Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many agricultural economics & business graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	4,791
Associate Degree	1,617
Basic Certificate	825
Undergraduate Certificate	497
Master’s Degree	309
Doctor’s Degree	46

What Agricultural Business Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to agricultural business were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Agricultural Business Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in agricultural business should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Agricultural Business Majors

When studying agricultural business, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Agricultural Business Majors

As you progress with your agricultural business degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Agricultural Business Major?

People with a agricultural business degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Agricultural Sciences Professors	7.9%	$84,640
Computer User Support Specialists	11.3%	$50,980
Economists	6.1%	$104,340
Environmental Economists	6.1%	$104,340
Farm and Home Management Advisors	7.7%	$49,840
First-Line Supervisors of Agricultural Crop and Horticultural Workers	2.1%	$46,960
First-Line Supervisors of Animal Husbandry and Animal Care Workers	2.1%	$46,960
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	3.4%	$55,810

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Business?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 5,097 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics & business in 2021, making it rank #81 in popularity. This major attracts more men than women. About 61% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of agricultural business majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	103
Black or African American	131
Hispanic or Latino	497
White	3,725
International Students	123
Other Races/Ethnicities	212

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Agricultural Business. About 2.6% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Agricultural Business

Some degrees associated with agricultural business may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for agricultural business careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	3.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	15.8%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	8.3%
Some College Courses	9.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	8.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	27.7%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.6%
Master’s Degree	10.3%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.2%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.3%
Doctoral Degree	12.9%
Post-Doctoral Training	2.1%

Online Agricultural Business Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	94	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	10	0
Associate’s Degree	252	15
Bachelor’s Degree	7	4
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	54	7
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	19	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Agricultural Business

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to agricultural business.

Major	Number of Grads
Animal Science	8,396
Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians	8,257
Horticulture	3,932
Veterinary Medicine	3,555
Agricultural Production	3,522
Plant Sciences	3,307
General Agriculture	3,256
Food Science Technology	2,181
Agricultural Mechanization	1,402
Animal Services	1,217
Veterinary Biomedical and Clinical Sciences	954
Agricultural Public Services	866
Other Agriculture	700
Agriculture/Veterinary Preparatory Programs	486
Soil Sciences	439
International Agriculture	215
Food Processing	198
Veterinary Administrative Services	113

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By {} under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.