Department of Agricultural Business
The Ag Business Major
Quicklinks: General Catalog | 4-Year Roadmap (PDF) | GE Requirements (PDF) | Minor
The Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Business combines core undergraduate courses in agricultural economics with basic business management and agricultural science foundation courses. This undergraduate major allows the student to develop an understanding of agribusiness management, agricultural finance, agricultural marketing, farm management, and food industry management.
The Department of Agricultural Business offers a baccalaureate degree in agricultural business with a minimum of 120 units. The general education component is a minimum of 51 units. The major includes 61 or 62 units depending upon the excess units due to additional requirements for the major. In addition to the general educations requirements, the major includes DS 71 or Math 75, and Agricultural Business 1. These additional requirements can be used to satisfy categories B4 and D3 respectively, of the General Education Requirements. However, if these categories of GE are satisfied with other course, the student must still complete the additional requirements. The remainder of the 120 units is comprised on 7-8 units depending on how the undergraduate writing requirement is satisfied. The major is sectioned into four major areas: agricultural foundation, business management base, agricultural economics core, and career specialty.
Agricultural Foundation: The agricultural foundation includes nine units with a maximum of three units from Agricultural Business (AGBS) and six units from any one agricultural science area. Students can take courses from animal science, food science/nutrition, mechanized agriculture, plant science, soils/water, and viticulture/enology. (See the General Catalog.)
Business Management Base: The business management base includes 18 units designed to be prerequisites to the upper division agricultural business core. Each of the requirements in the business management base can be satisfied by a lower division agricultural business course or an alternate course from economics, business administration, decision sciences, or information systems. The base includes microeconomics and macroeconomics: note, microeconomics (Agricultural Business 1 or Economics 40) is shown in Area D of the General Education requirements. The base also includes a course in business law, six units of accounting, introductory statistics, and microcomputer applications. The General Catalog shows the agricultural business courses and their alternates for each of the requirements.
Agricultural Business Core: The agricultural economics core includes 21 units of upper division courses from various areas of agricultural economics and business. The core begins with Agricultural Business 100, intermediate agricultural economics. Agricultural Business 100 is considered a prerequisite to the other upper division core courses. This is followed by courses in farm management, agribusiness management, agricultural finance, agricultural & food policy, global agribusiness, and agricultural market analysis (See the General Catalog.). The Agricultural Business core is completed by Agricultural Business 170S, Advanced Agribusiness Applications, which is considered the capstone experience for the majors.
Major Electives: Nine units of upper division major (AGBS) electives must be agricultural business courses. Majors can choose from courses that cover different specialty areas such as agricultural labor management, agricultural property appraisal, food supply chain management, wholesaling and retailing, agricultural leadership, product marketing, industry relations, and so forth. See a faculty adviser for suggested courses suitable for agribusiness majors.
Curricula: Students are expected and advised to complete the agricultural science foundation and agricultural business management base—consisting of lower division courses—by the end of the sophomore year (for Fresno State freshman intake) or by the middle or the junior year (for community college transfers). Most of these courses are articulated across the state with agricultural business programs in Fresno State’s feeder colleges. The timely completion of these courses is important, as most are prerequisites to one or more upper division courses in the agricultural economics core and career specialty electives. See the four year course roadmap (PDF file) for successful and timely completion of all requirements.