Agricultural Business Operations

Types of Degrees Agricultural Business Operations Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many agribusiness/agricultural business operations graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	2,164
Associate Degree	676
Basic Certificate	153
Undergraduate Certificate	84
Master’s Degree	31

What Agricultural Business Operations Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, agribusiness majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Agribusiness Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in agribusiness should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills for Agribusiness Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to agribusiness:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Abilities for Agribusiness Majors

A major in agribusiness will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Business Operations?

This major attracts more men than women. About 61% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of agribusiness majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	20
Black or African American	38
Hispanic or Latino	214
White	1,748
International Students	32
Other Races/Ethnicities	112

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Agribusiness, too. About 1.5% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Agricultural Business Operations Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $79,940 to $90,890 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to agribusiness. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Agricultural Business Operations

Some degrees associated with agribusiness may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to agribusiness have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	1.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	14.4%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	10.7%
Some College Courses	5.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	10.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	30.9%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.2%
Master’s Degree	3.6%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.2%
Doctoral Degree	14.0%
Post-Doctoral Training	6.8%

Online Agricultural Business Operations Programs

In 2020-2021, 173 schools offered a agribusiness program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	29	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	94	6
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	8	2
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Agricultural Business Operations Worth It?

The median salary for a agribusiness grad is $79,940 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 100% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $800,800 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Agricultural Business Operations

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to agribusiness.

Major	Number of Grads
Agricultural Business	2,150
Agricultural Economics	1,912
Farm/Farm & Ranch Management	537
Agricultural/Farm Supplies Retailing and Wholesaling	204
Agricultural Business & Management	139
Agricultural Business Technology	48

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By {} under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.