Agricultural Business, A.A.S.

The curriculum is intended for anyone interested in obtaining an agriculturally oriented business education. The skills and knowledge obtained can be applied in numerous areas of the nation’s largest industry, all the way from managing modern farm operations to retail sales of agricultural commodities.

The Agricultural Business major allows the student to tailor his or her curriculum beyond a basic core of required courses. The Marketing option consists of a strong core of agriculturally oriented and marketing courses. The Technology option provides a basic core of agribusiness courses as well as the opportunity for the student to choose a number of courses in an agricultural technical area. A strength of this option is that the student not only will acquire a degree of knowledge in a technical area, but will also acquire good business skills to manage technology. The Transfer option is intended for students that desire to transfer into a bachelor degree program at a later date. It provides for a more generalized curriculum.  Career opportunities exist within farm management, farm credit, farm services, banking, agricultural retail store management, farm insurance, agricultural sales, and marketing. One can also transfer into our bachelor degree program in Agricultural Business Development.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Understand consumers’ behavior and the determination of demand for agricultural commodities and food products;
• Gain an understanding of the United States and the world food marketing system from the point of initial agricultural production until the finished product is in the hands of the consumer;
• Utilize the tools of financial analysis, management, and planning to solve problems in agriculture and in their own personal lives. These tools include budgeting, financial feasibility analysis, financial statements, and methods of risk analysis and management.

SUNY General Education Requirements:  All SUNY Morrisville AAS degree programs require completion of at least 20 credits of SUNY GE, a minimum of four (out of ten) knowledge and skills areas (including the four required knowledge and skills areas as indicated below), and completion of the two core competencies. The specific courses required within each knowledge and skills area/core competency for this degree program are outlined below.

Knowledge and Skills Areas:

Core Competencies:

Curriculum Requirements

A minimum of 60 credits is required for degree completion in the Marketing and Technology Options. A minimum of 61 credits is required for degree completion in the Transfer Option.

Marketing Option

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Students transferring into Agricultural Business who have  completed AGBS 240 Farm Management and Finance are not required to enroll in AGBS 110 Intro to Food and Agribusiness.

Technology Option

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Students transferring into Agricultural Business who have  completed AGBS 240 Farm Management and Finance are not required to enroll in AGBS 110 Intro to Food and Agribusiness.

Transfer Option

This option meets the needs of students interested in agricultural education, cooperative extension, business or general agriculture. Proper selection of elective courses allows this option to address a wide variety of student interest areas.

Sample Course Sequence