Agribusiness Economics Courses

[IAI course: AG 901] (University Core Curriculum Course) An introduction to the economics and policies underlying food and fiber production, distribution, and consumption as well as the use of environmental and natural resources.

Credit Hours: 3

Credit for on-campus work experience through a cooperative program developed between the program and the Office of Student Work and Financial Assistance. Special approval needed from the chair. Mandatory Pass/Fail.

Credit Hours: 1-10

Credit for career related employment based on the evaluation of the documentation of this experience by the program. No grade for past work experience. Special approval needed from the chair.

Credit Hours: 1-30

(Same as AGRI/LAC 300I) (University Core Curriculum) Case studies (e.g., rural village in developing nation; small town in the U.S.; city in developing nation) are used to learn how different societies and groups deal with their specific environmental issues, and how culture and economic factors affect their perspectives and actions.

Credit Hours: 3

Managing a small acreage as an avocation. Types of decision problems and sources of information.

Credit Hours: 2

Statistical methods applied to agribusiness economics, including survey design, sampling, graphic presentation of data, index numbers, statistical inference, basic linear regression and correlation.

Credit Hours: 3

The student will enhance their understanding of and ability to apply the principles of economics to the unique problems of the agricultural sector. The course covers the theory of resource allocation with a rural emphasis. The following topics are taken up in a case study framework: production of food and fiber, the agribusiness sector and markets, rural community development, and environmental and natural resource use and conservation. The roles of governmental policy, international trade organizations, and treaties are included throughout the course. Prerequisite: ABE 204.

Credit Hours: 3

Focuses on professional Agri-selling and the sales process. Topics include different methods of selling, steps and techniques in the selling process, customer service, sales ethics, consumer behavior concepts and sales management. Critical skills of self-management, communication, and interpersonal values are examined. Opportunities of a career in Agri-selling are surveyed.

Credit Hours: 3

Examination of domestic and international policies that affect the production of food products. Topics will include a review of existing and former policies designed for American producers (e.g., commodity programs to support farm income, risk management and conservation of resources). Food safety policies will be examined. In addition, aspects of international trade including policies (NAFTA), practices, and institutions (WTO, World Bank, etc.,) as they relate to access to foreign markets will be reviewed. Prerequisite: ABE 204 or consent of instructor.

Credit Hours: 3

Efficient organization and management of a farming operation. Emphasis on crop and livestock selection, management of farm resources, farm budgets and records analysis, and farm leases. Prerequisite: ABE 204 or one course in economics. Student will incur field trip expenses not to exceed $5.

Credit Hours: 3

Analysis of the capital structure of agriculture and sources of capital. Credit analysis of agribusiness firms using financial statements, firm growth, capital budgeting, and tax considerations. Prerequisite: ABE 204 or equivalent.

Credit Hours: 3

Supervised work experience program in either an agricultural agency of the government or agribusiness. Restricted to junior standing or consent. Mandatory Pass/Fail.

Credit Hours: 1-6

Problems and practices in agribusiness operations including management practices, decision-making tools, financial analysis, economic considerations in managing land, labor and capital, and the impact of alternative organizational forms are emphasized. The focus is on applications to real world problems. Students are provided an opportunity to interact with business managers through a series of guest speakers. Prerequisite: ABE 204 or equivalent.

Credit Hours: 3

An overview of marketing practices and strategies employed by agribusiness product and service firms. Market research, market segmentation and product mix development are among the topics reviewed. Students participate in case analysis and marketing plan development projects. Prerequisite: ABE 204 or equivalent.

Credit Hours: 3

Institutional arrangements in marketing agricultural products. Market structure, marketing costs, and alternative methods of pricing agricultural products are also examined. Prerequisite: ABE 204 or equivalent.

Credit Hours: 3

The focus is on the use of financial instruments, including futures and options, to manage price risk in modern agribusiness. Topics covered include: commodity futures and options, cash forward and other over-the-counter contracts, hedging, spreading, basis risk and basis trading. Applications and examples are provided for commodity producers, end-users, and the processors. The mechanics of futures trading and speculation are considered. Students are given the opportunity to observe and participate in futures market transactions.

Credit Hours: 3

Discussion of special topics and/or problems in the field of agribusiness economics. Restricted to junior standing. Special approval needed from the program.

Credit Hours: 1

Course work undertaken as a part of an approved University residential study program abroad. May be taken for a maximum of eight semester hours per semester and may be repeated for a maximum of 16 semester hours. Special approval needed from the program.

Credit Hours: 1-8

Assignments involving research and individual problems. Field trips. Special approval needed from the chair.

Credit Hours: 1-6

Completion of honors paper or comparable project under the supervision of one or more faculty members. Subject matter depends upon the needs and interests of the student. Restricted to junior standing, GPA 3.0 with a 3.25 in major. Special approval needed from the school director.

Credit Hours: 1-4

Relations of common-law principles and statutory law to land tenure, farm tenancy, farm labor, farm management, taxation, and other problems involving agriculture. Restricted to junior standing or consent of instructor.

Credit Hours: 3

Designed to improve the techniques of agribusiness economics workers through discussion, assignment, and special workshops on problems related to their field. Emphasis will be placed on new innovative and currently developed techniques for the field. Special approval needed from the chair.

Credit Hours: 1-6

This course is offered in cooperation with the National Corn-to-Ethanol Laboratory and provides a comprehensive introduction to the management and operation of an ethanol facility as well as overview of today's biofuels industry. Topics include: ethanol industry trends and bio-fuels future, corn-to-ethanol production processes, operations control and management, products and co-products, and environmental topics.

Credit Hours: 3

Students will understand the importance of entrepreneurs to the food, agriculture, and rural economies; learn characteristics common to successful entrepreneurs; prepare a business plan; use information resources to support a business plan; and become proficient in developing professional reports using information technology software. Prerequisite: ABE 350 or 351 or 360.

Credit Hours: 3

Students will study the application of socioeconomic principles to problems related to natural and environmental resources. The course covers the policy context within which policies related to natural and environmental resources are developed and implemented as well as the range of policy tools available for addressing environmental/natural resource problems. The institutional setting for dealing with natural and environmental resources is presented along with the role of property rights and entitlements. Contemporary resource problems are used as examples. Prerequisite: six hours of agribusiness economics, economics, or geography; graduate status; or consent of instructor.

Credit Hours: 3

Economics principles and methods are used to examine economic and policy issues relevant to energy production and use. Topics include: key aspects of energy supply, demand, markets, and regulation; environmental externalities of fuel production and use; the relationships among energy use, economic growth and the environment; alternative energy sources. Prerequisite: 6 hours of agribusiness or general economics, geography, or consent of instructor.

Credit Hours: 3

Students are introduced to economic growth and development theory at an intermediate level. Topics include trends in development in North America and study of theories. The economic theories covered address how growth occurs in developed economies including classical and neoclassical, central place and endogenous growth theories among others. Prerequisite: 6 hours of agribusiness or general economics, geography, or consent of instructor.

Credit Hours: 3

Students are introduced to regional economic methods at an intermediate level. Students will learn concepts and tools commonly used in regional and community economic analysis. Students will learn to use regional input-output analysis and more technical regional economic models designed to capture spatial economic variables. Prerequisite: ABE 204 or equivalent.

Credit Hours: 3

Application of production economic principles and modern decision-making techniques to farm management problems. The importance of information, sources of agricultural risk and management of risk in farm planning will be integrated. Prerequisite: ABE 350 or equivalent and University Core Curriculum mathematics required.

Credit Hours: 3

Principles and practices of rural and farm appraisal. Applications of sales comparison, income capitalization and cost approaches for estimating market value. Consequences of environmental liabilities and regulations on appraisal practices. Understanding of special valuation methods for buildings, insurance, assessments, loans and condemnations. Prerequisite: ABE 350 or consent of instructor. Field trips not to exceed $10.

Credit Hours: 3

Advanced topics on small agricultural business management accounting practices and financial management are taught to gain knowledge on advanced financial record keeping and financial business management. Financial statements are analyzed with an emphasis on managerial accounting. This is a three credit-hour course taught on a 50-minute lecture format on three days each week. In addition, students would learn advanced record keeping in Quickbooks, an accounting software installed in the labs. Prerequisite: ABE 351 with a grade of C or better.

Credit Hours: 3

Application of mathematical programming to agribusiness and farm planning, including enterprise selection, resource allocation, least cost ration formulation, decision making under risk and uncertainty, transportation and location problems. Emphasis placed on modeling problems and interpretation of results. Restricted to junior standing or consent of instructor.

Credit Hours: 3

The focus is on the measurement and interpretation of factors affecting agricultural prices. Methods to analyze the seasonal, cyclical, and trend components of commodity prices are presented. Formal forecasting techniques, including an introduction to statistical and regression methods, are used and explained. Emphasis is placed on the presentation, communication, and evaluation of forecasts in a business environment. Students are given an opportunity to perform applied price analysis and present the results. Prerequisite: ABE 318, 362 or equivalent.

Credit Hours: 3

Examination of agribusiness firm management with emphasis on the management and control of financial resources and the interrelationship between the agribusiness firm and human resource management. Other topics in agribusiness will include effective communication in the management process, business ethics, and workable credit programs for customers. Prerequisite: ABE 351 and 360 or equivalent.

Credit Hours: 3

Advanced treatment of marketing issues from both theoretical and practical decision-making perspectives. Marketing margins, intertemporal, and spatial price relationships are reviewed in detail. Historical and current grain and livestock price series are utilized in decision-making exercises. Prerequisite: ABE 362 or equivalent.

Credit Hours: 3

Application of Industrial Organization and Strategic Management (Competitive Strategy) principles to address economic and managerial issues related to agriculture and food industries. Particular emphasis on applying those principles to explain structural changes taking place in the agriculture and food supply chain in the United States. Prerequisite: ABE 204, 350 or 360, ECON 240.

Credit Hours: 3

Application of concepts from the biological, physical and social sciences, economics, humanities and law, used to understand the interdisciplinary complexities of environmental issues. Students will develop and demonstrate problem-solving skills as part of a team analyzing a regional environmental issue. Team-taught seminar style discussions. Prerequisite: PLB 301I and admission to Environmental Studies minor program.

Credit Hours: 3

An examination of resource allocation in the agribusiness firm. Production decisions, agricultural product price analysis and decision making models are considered. Student cannot receive credit for ABE 471 if credit has been received for ABE 571. Prerequisite: six hours of agricultural economics or economics. Special approval needed from the instructor.

Credit Hours: 3

An analytical survey of agricultural policy issues including agricultural price and income stabilization; international trade, capital and credit, the structure of agriculture and the quality of life in rural areas. Student cannot receive credit for ABE 472 if credit has been received for ABE 572. Prerequisite: six hours of agricultural economics or economics or instructor approval.

Credit Hours: 3