Agribusiness Degree Program

Explore the Agribusiness degree program

Agriculture is the foundation of the economy in the Midwest. It plays a crucial role in feeding the world and supporting rural economies. By studying agribusiness, you could be part of this important work and make a positive impact in people’s lives.

Agribusiness encompasses any operation related to farming that extends beyond the gate. It focuses on the business aspects of agriculture, including management, marketing, finance, and economics. Having knowledge of all aspects of agribusiness will help you succeed in any ag-related career you choose to pursue.

In the Agribusiness degree program at Wayne State, you will learn how to successfully manage and optimize a farming operation, or work in other agribusiness-related careers such as sales, logistics, or marketing. You’ll also build a solid understanding of how global and domestic agricultural policies impact the entire agriculture industry. With an Agribusiness degree, you could work for a farm, food processing company, or any organization involved in the agricultural supply chain. Set right in the heart of Nebraska’s farm country, Wayne State College is the perfect location for studying in the Agribusiness degree program.

View program courses Download program fact sheet (PDF)

Fast facts

Degree options:

B.A. or B.S. in Business Administration / Agribusiness
Minor in Business Administration

Delivery format: On campus (Wayne)

Program credit hours: 69

Business foundation (21 credit hours)
Business core (27 credit hours)
Agribusiness concentration (21 credit hours)

Note: Students must also take 30 credit hours of General Studies courses. A total of 120 credit hours are needed to graduate from WSC. Additional majors or minors can be added to help meet graduation requirements.

School: Business and Technology

Department: Business and Economics

Prepare for your future

Opportunities and outcomes

Agribusiness topics covered

Concepts and principles in farm and ranch management
Agricultural commodity structure and pricing
Marketing commodities through supply chains
Economic analysis of agribusiness supply chain
Analysis of current policies in agriculture

Student learning outcomes

Demonstrate an understanding of the core areas of business, which includes accounting, economics, management, quantitative business, finance, marketing, legal environment, information systems, and international
Demonstrate effective skills in written and oral communication in business settings
Work effectively in a team environment
Apply ethical frameworks to formulate management decision alternatives

Career Scholars Program

Students majoring in Agribusiness are eligible to take part in the Career Scholars Program. The Career Scholars Program offers a generous scholarship package while you embark on a unique cooperative education journey starting your freshman year at Wayne State. During your time here, you’ll participate in career readiness activities, job site visits, job shadowing, and more - all while learning the fundamentals of professional practice. After three years on campus, you’ll complete your senior year by working at a paid job in your chosen field. Job locations include Norfolk or Grand Island, Neb., where you'll live in community housing with fellow Career Scholars students.

Career Scholars Program

Agribusiness internships

Our outstanding Career Services Office is available to help you find agribusiness internships and career opportunities. Students recently completed internships at the following locations:

AgVenture, Inc.
Becker Farms, Inc.
Central Valley Ag
CHS, Inc.
Farmers Pride
Helena Chemical Company
Northeast Ag Consulting

Career services and internships

Graduates of the Agribusiness degree program work in their chosen field using the skills they learned while at Wayne State College. Each year, eager employers welcome WSC graduates into their organizations.

Jobs of recent graduates:

Agriculture Sales – AgriVision (Lawton, Iowa)
Agronomist – Farmers Pride (Newman, Neb.)
Claims Adjuster – Farmers Mutual (Omaha, Neb.)
Crop Adjuster – Rain & Hail (Omaha, Neb.)
Custom Applicator – Helena Chemical Co. (Albion, Neb.)
Field Sales Agronomist – Central Valley Ag (O’Neill, Neb.)
Loan Administrative Assistant – Great Plains State Bank (O’Neill, Neb.)
Loan Analyst – Boone County Bank (Albion, Neb.)
Outdoor Education Instructor – YMCA of the Rockies (Estes Park, Colo.)
Risk Monitor – First National Bank of Omaha (Omaha, Neb.)

Public disclosure of student achievement

job or grad school placement rate
within six months of graduation
Data based on most recent
employment outcomes survey

After graduating from Wayne State College, recent grads pursued advanced degrees at the following schools:

Business Administration (MBA) – Wayne State College (Wayne, Neb.)
Graphic Design (MFA) – University of South Dakota (Vermillion, S.D.)

Cost of attendance

Most Affordable College in Nebraska

- College Affordability Guide, 2024

Wayne State is considered the most affordable four-year college or university in Nebraska. With same rates for in- and out-of-state students, our tuition guarantee, and our generous scholarship packages, it is clear to see how WSC earned the title. In fact, the average remaining annual cost of attendance for 2024-25 is $2,268 for undergraduate students after financial aid and scholarships.

Credits: 3
Description: Development of critical communication skills used in business and industry. Emphasis on assisting Business students to become more effective and efficient writers. Includes instructions, reports, memos, and letters.
Prerequisite: ENG 102 Composition Skills
Credits: 3
Description: Introduction to the study of law, the law of contracts, agency and employment, negotiable instruments, personal property and bailments, and the laws governing the sale of goods.
Credits: 3
Description: A study of the following statistical tools as applied to the business and economic milieu: collection and presentation of data, distributional measurements, probability and sampling, statistical inferences, linear regression and correlation, analysis of variance, and selected nonparametric statistics.
Prerequisite: MAT 105 Intermediate Algebra, or General Studies math requirement
Credits: 3
Description: A study of the role of accounting in the business environment. Emphasis is on applying basic terminology, concepts, processes, and outputs of the modern accounting system; development of an understanding of the nature and purpose of the major financial statements; and development of the ability to evaluate financial accounting information in problem-solving and decision making.
Credits: 3
Description: Continuation of BUS 240 Accounting I. Emphasis is on further study of items reported within major financial statements and development of the ability to evaluate managerial accounting information in problem-solving and decision making.
Prerequisite: BUS 240 Accounting I
Credits: 3
Description: In this course, the principal macroeconomic measurements of national production; unemployment and inflation will be introduced. Theories of how these measures interact and how they are influenced by activity in households, businesses, the federal government, and the Federal Reserve System, as well as the impact of international trade, will also be studied.
Credits: 3
Description: In this course, the principal microeconomic market model of supply and demand will be studied. Additional topics introduced to add to our understanding of the basic model will include resource allocation concepts, production and cost theory, consumer theory, and market structure conditions.

Business core courses (27 credits)

Credits: 3
Description: Develops the management art and science of planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling through people to make ideas materialize within economic constraints of a business enterprise. Develops ability to construct policy, to make scientifically sound decisions within that policy, and to establish ethical procedures to insure organized productive effort to intended objectives. Develops a management attitude, outlook, and ability.
Credits: 3
Description: Survey of the problems and opportunities involved in conducting business operations across national boundaries. Analysis of the concepts, tools, institutions, and environmental factors controlling international flows of money, personnel, information, goods, and services.
Credits: 3
Description: This course facilitates students in conquering the essential concepts of product, price, promotion, distribution, segmentation, ethics, and social responsibility, while addressing the evolving digital and social media influences. The fundamentals will be stressed allowing for useful decision processes by managers while encouraging the development of the marketing specialist as one of the key decision makers in a firm. Marketing is critical to implementing strategy, gaining competitive advantages, and ensuring positive organizational results.
Credits: 3
Description: A study of the financial function within a business enterprise. Areas addressed include financial analysis, working capital management, capital budgeting, sources and forms of long-term financing, financial structure, and cost of capital.
Prerequisites: BUS 226 Business Statistics, and BUS 241 Accounting II or BUS 142 Survey of Accounting
Credits: 3
Description: Successfully managing operations is vital to the long-term viability of every type of organization. This course provides a broad overview of issues in operations and supply chain management emphasizing a strategic orientation toward design and improvement issues. Specific topics include competitiveness; operations strategy; quality management; statistical process control; design of products, services, processes, and facilities; forecasting; supply chain management; logistics; project management; inventory management; lean production; and scheduling.
Credits: 3
Description: This course will examine theoretical structures that shape or influence Western thought and review specific professional codes of ethics relevant to business majors. Students will learn a decision-making framework for examining and articulating well-reasoned positions on ethical issues in business.
Credits: 3
Description: This course focuses on public, administrative, and regulatory law, and the relationship of business to the legal structure. Topics include employee and consumer protection, environmental regulation, labor law, monopolies, price-fixing, and the regulation of domestic and international trade.
Credits: 3
Description: Involves analysis of cases in which knowledge from basic courses in marketing, accounting, finance, management, and economics is integrated and applied. Demonstrated interrelationship between the functions of business, complexities of business problems, and strategic management models are addressed.
Prerequisites: BUS 270 Principles of Marketing, BUS 322 Managerial Finance, BUS 352 Operations and Supply Chain Management, or instructor approval; and completion of 105 semester credit hours
Credits: 0
Description: This course requires students to demonstrate or report their level of achievement of the student learning objectives developed for the Business Administration major foundation, core, and concentration courses. Various assessment measures such as surveys, comprehensive exams, and capstone projects will be used to gather student data. Completion of this course is a graduation requirement. Graded S/N.
Prerequisite: Completion of 100 semester credit hours
Credits: 3
Description: Emphasis is on providing breadth of knowledge in the organizational concepts and considerations surrounding the use of information systems technologies such as computer systems and communications systems. Topics include role of information systems in managerial functions, general systems theory, design and implementation of Management Information Systems (MIS), decision support systems, expert systems, and artificial intelligence.

Agribusiness concentration courses (21 credit hours)

Credits: 3
Description: The application of economic concepts and business principles involved in the decision-making process of managing a farm or ranch.
Credits: 3
Description: Application of quantitative and analytical approaches to management problems within a theoretical framework and behavioral background.
Prerequisite: BUS 226 Business Statistics
Credits: 3
Description: The structure of pricing and output decisions are explored within the context of agricultural commodity markets. The marketing of commodities through supply chains will be analyzed. Topics to be discussed will include futures markets, options markets, and risk analysis.
Prerequisite: ECO 203 Principles of Microeconomics or permission from the instructor
Credits: 3
Description: An examination and analysis of the current policies related to the agricultural sector.
Prerequisite: ECO 365 Economics of Agriculture, ECO 375 Natural Resource Economics, or permission from the instructor
Credits: 3
Description: Evaluation of factors that affect demand and supply for food markets, price behavior, structure of markets, and marketing channels within the agriculture industry. Economic implications of public policies on agriculture markets are explored.
Prerequisite: 3 hours of economics or permission from the instructor
Credits: 3
Description: Economic application of natural resource markets, impacts of resource use as an input, pricing of renewable and non-renewable resource, and an exploration of policy implications on natural resource markets. Specific markets discussed may include energy, water, forestry, and fisheries.
Prerequisite: 3 hours of economics or permission from the instructor
Choose one of the following courses:
- BUS 327 Principles of Real Estate (3) – A study of the character of land, real estate markets, ownership, interests, legal instruments, contracts, closing transfers, financing, brokerage, and management. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
- BUS 372 Selling and Sales Management (3) – The philosophy and tools of relationship selling are stressed in this course. Use of current sales research with interactive direct sales techniques and training will develop the student's fundamental sales skills while providing the foundation for career advancement as a sales executive. The sales executive's duties and responsibilities include planning, recruiting, and training of the sales force. Prerequisite: BUS 270 Principles of Marketing
- BUS 497 Internship (3 credits) – The internship program provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to integrate career-related work experience with classroom learning. Work experiences occur in positions relevant to Management. Internships generally require 40-50 work hours for each 1 hour of credit. Contact WSC Career Services, your academic advisor, or department chair for specific details.
- ECO 305 Economics for Managers (3) – The application of economic concepts to decision-making problems faced by managers in private or public sector organizations. The strategic nature of pricing and output decisions is explored in the context of product demand, production and cost, market structure conditions, and public policy. Prerequisite: ECO 203 Principles of Microeconomics
- ECO 310 Money and Banking (3) – A study of the historical evolution of the United States money and financial institutions, their current status, regulation, and its impact on the whole economy. Topics include regulatory functions of the Central Bank and their relationships to sectoral, regional, and aggregate output; price level and employment; and an introduction to monetary theory and policies. Prerequisite: ECO 202 Principles of Macroeconomics

Popular pairings

Many students at Wayne State will add a second major or a minor to complement their program of study or to focus their studies on a specific topic. Students who recently majored in Agribusiness at Wayne State also paired this major with one or more of the following programs:

Economics (major or minor)
Finance (major)
Marketing (major)
Management (major)

View all majors and minors

Related programs

Students interested in the Agribusiness program may also be interested in:

Agricultural Communication and Leadership (B.A. or B.S.)
Agricultural Engineering (B.S.)
Applied Science (Agriculture + Biology) (B.S.)
Economics (B.A. or B.S.)

Coming into my freshman year, I wanted to major in Agribusiness and Marketing. I was paired with an adviser in the Department of Business who created a personal connection with me and genuinely wanted me to succeed. My degree program has exposed me to a wide variety of business concepts, practices, and theories.

Taylor Ference

Loup City, Nebraska

Agribusiness, Management, Marketing

Taylor Ference

Loup City, Nebraska

Agribusiness, Management, Marketing

Meet the professors

Business and Economics Department faculty

Explore the Agribusiness degree program

Fast facts

Opportunities and outcomes

Agribusiness topics covered

Student learning outcomes

Career Scholars Program

Agribusiness internships

Jobs of recent graduates:

2024-25 Estimated Annual Cost of Attendance

Most Affordable College in Nebraska