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Empowering Future Agribusiness Professionals
Agribusiness encompasses the business and management aspects of agricultural operations, ensuring profitability, safety, and sustainability. Gain a competitive edge in the agriculture and food systems job market with CTAHR’s Agribusiness Certificate program. Apply business management and accounting principles to agribusinesses, and discover what sets agriculture and related products/services apart. This program offers essential business literacy, benefiting all CTAHR and life sciences graduates, regardless of their field, interests, or career paths.
Certificate Program Objectives
1.
Entrepreneurial skills essential for starting and managing a successful, sustainable agricultural business.
2.
Opportunities for hands-on experience with modern management science techniques that assist agribusiness managers and industry analysts to make sound business decisions.
3.
Increased proficiency in formulating and implementing problems using computer models, with emphasis on spreadsheets.
4.
Real-world opportunities to evaluate information from a variety of sources in making crucial business decisions.
5.
Improved management and economic decision-making ability.
6.
Better understanding of business law, management, marketing, and accounting and finance, including the ways traditional business-school approaches must be modified for perishable plant and animal products raised on land or in the water.
Program Overview
The program, based in CTAHR’s Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, is open to all undergraduate students. To receive a Certificate in Agribusiness Management students are required to take three 300-level courses, as well as the agribusinesses core courses for a total of 9 credits. A passing grade in all three courses is required to complete the certificate.
Required Courses
Each course is offered once a year, with two courses scheduled in the Fall semester and one in the Spring semester and the three courses can be taken in any sequence. All the courses have the prerequisites
- ECON 130 – Principles of Economics (or its equivalent)
- or NREM 220 – Agricultural and Resource Economics
- BLAW 200 – Business Law (or its equivalent)
Core Courses (9 credits)
- TPSS 322 – Farm and Food Marketing
- or BUS 312 – Principles of Marketing
- TPSS/NREM 341 – Managerial Accounting
- TPSS/NREM 351 – Enterprise Management
Course Descriptions
TPSS 322 Farm and Food Marketing
Explains marketing and markets; the differences between agriculture and other businesses; market structure, conduct, and performance; adding value; the functional/utility approach; niche marketing; product positioning and market segmentation; product pricing; futures and hedging; the role of market information; market and consumer research; strategic marketing; and marketing plans (Fall semester).
TPSS/NREM 341 Accounting & Financial Analysis
Focuses on the application of analytical managerial decision-making techniques to identify and solve common agribusiness problems. Familiarizes students with the principles and methods of agricultural accounting. Helps to develop skills in preparing and interpreting financial statements. Acquaints students with sources and cost of credit, tax management, and estate planning. Provides opportunities to evaluate capital budget projects (Fall semester).
TPSS 351 Enterprise Management
Gives an overview of financial tools essential for developing new enterprises, analyzing business performance, obtaining bank financing, improving profitability, and reducing risk. The course helps students learn to identify financial and economic problems and causes and to evaluate and select possible solutions through financial and economic analyses. Other topics include personnel management, taxation, and business plans (Spring semester).
Contact
If you feel you have completed the required courses please contact: