Masters of Agribusiness
Where Business Meets Agriculture.
Combine your business skills with your agricultural knowledge.
You will focus on the food and agribusiness sector with emphasis on integrating economic, quantitative, and business analysis methods for decision making. Case-based instruction and research are emphasized with a capstone course in strategic management and financial analysis. Our agribusiness program will enhance your skills and broaden your business knowledge. You will learn how to address issues in personnel management, investments, firm acquisitions, food and fiber international marketing, and commodity trading. This professional, non-thesis degree will allow you to explore a wide variety of courses and make industry contacts leading to exciting career opportunities.
Enhance your skills and broaden your business knowledge with the Master of Agribusiness degree at the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and address issues in personnel management, investments, firm acquisitions, international marketing, and commodity trading.
Requirements
Agribusiness Management and Quantitative Requirements (24 hours)
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Economic Tools for Business Decisions examine and explore decisions business managers face in food and fiber industries Develop an understanding of economic analysis used to guide decision making.
Through this course, students will develop and apply decision making tools from managerial economics with specific focus on agricultural, food, and fiber industries.
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In Quantitative Tools for Business Decisions, students gain a fundamental understanding of multivariate regression analysis and forecasting techniques, including measures of model performance and robustness, interpretation of model results, and the consequences of model misspecification. They also gain familiarity and understanding of basic procedures and commands for data management and analysis in SAS, as well as linear and non-linear programming, multi-criteria decision analysis and simulation models, including model design, data requirements, and sensitivity analysis.
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Accounting for Agribusiness covers concepts of accounting through a more detailed presentation and discussion of important elements of financial statements. The course devotes ample time to discuss, understand, solving problems, and analyzing cases to better grasp the understanding of the major components of the balance sheet, income and cash flow statements.
This course introduces students to the accounting framework and induce them to adopt a more analytical approach to business situations and problems that may involve accounting principles.
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Agribusiness Financial Management teaches students how to think like a financial manager. The course focuses on how to apply financial theory and tools, and students are presented with a conceptual framework for understanding and addressing problems commonly faced by financial decision makers.
Students will develop an appreciation for past and present financial conditions in the agricultural sector of the economy, understand the relationships between firm growth and financial leverage, financial liquidity and business and financial risk, understand the time value of money concepts and be able to conduct capital investment analysis, learn how the different financial institutions serving agriculture acquire funds for loans and to understand their farm loan programs, lending procedures, loan terms, and the costs paid by borrowers for loan funds.
Concentration Course Electives (12 hours)
You can choose courses from below or other 6000-level or above courses approved by the student's advisory committee:
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In Rural Economic Development and Growth, students will use economic theory to analyze problems of rural and regional development, familiarize tools that are useful in the analysis of rural and regional development, and understand the role and ability of government policies to influence rural and regional growth and development.
Graduate students are required to write a term paper.
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Futures and Options Markets is designed to explain the foundational principles of futures and options markets, including their terminology and mechanics, and their role in price discovery and risk management. Students will analyze and evaluate hedging strategies, implement a trading strategy, and assess the pricing and valuation of futures, forward, and options contracts using fundamental economic principles and quantitative methods.
Graduate students are required to write a research paper relevant to futures and options trading, heding, or regulatory changes, and the topic must be approved by the instructor.
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Agriculture and Extension Administration will discuss administration and management of programs and people, communications, supervision, leadership, volunteerism, partnerships, and youth development.
Graduate students will serve as discussion leaders, write an additional research paper, conduct an interview with an Extension Agent, and participate in a qualitative observation project.
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This course examines the issues affecting the international agricultural industry, how agriculture fits into and affects societal, social, political, and economic forces that drive agriculture, and ethics, issues, and policies that drive agriculture.
Graduate students will prepare a research paper on a topic related to a comtemporary issue in global agriculture and make a presentation to the class.
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This course addresses the foundation concepts of engagement, outreach, and extension. Students will learn the definition of extension and its mission to the public by understanding the role of outreach and engagement practices in solving community problems.
Graduate students will develop a paper analyzing one of the following general models of adult education: postsecondary education, andragogic education, transformative education, and appreciative education.
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Principles of Resource Economics explores basic theoretical concepts and analytical tools necessary to evaluate resource use, allocation, and policy.
Graduate students will complete additional reading, two referree reports of published or working papers in the natural resource economics literature, and a term paper.
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Water Resource Economics and Management covers economic concepts and tools relevant to water allocation and use and connections between hydrologic cycle, economic activity and ecological health.
Graduate students will complete extended readings focused on technical aspects of theoretical and empirical models and do a directed research project through individual meetings with the professor.
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Natural Resource Law provides students with a foundation in natural resources law by focusing on the American judicial system, major state and federal law issues in natural resources, and identifying and addressing emerging issues and potential areas of litigation and/or legislation in natural resources law.
Graduate students will complete a PowerPoint presentation or paper addressing a natural resource issue.
A technical paper based on the student's work in AAEC 7310
The technical paper is required in lieu of a thesis. The subject and structure of the technical paper will be developed in consultation with the student's advisory committee. This paper must be approved by the student's advisory committee and a report of satisfactory achievement must be filed with the Graduate School.
Successful Completion of the Institutional Review Board online training module
Students must complete the Institutional Review Board online training module related to Social and Behavioral Research before the end of their first academic semester.
