Why Major in Agricultural Business?
Agricultural Business majors at Northwest gain the knowledge and experiences of agriculture as well as business foundations. Faculty focus on four core areas: agriculture finance, agricultural marketing, agricultural policy and economics of agricultural production.
Agricultural finance teaches students tools to plan expenditures on assets that extend beyond one year; agricultural marketing provides a method of determining the value for land in order to ensure a profitable investment; agricultural policy, students are exposed to tools the government uses to modify free market outcomes associated with the production and marketing of specific crops and livestock; and economics of agricultural production describes the importance of farmers and agribusinesses reliance on factors and events that occur internationally and determine price.
Minor in Agricultural Business
A minor in agricultural business teaches students the fundamentals of agricultural economics, marketing and pricing. After taking the required courses, students can customize their minor from a list of approved electives. For a list of required courses, visit the academic catalog. This minor requires the completion of 24 credit hours.
Career Ready. Day One.
Northwest ensures students are career ready, day one through internships, field experiences and networking opportunities. Read Ben's story »
Career Opportunities
98%
placement rate
More than 98% of students who graduated with a degree in agriculture science obtained employment or continued their education within six months after graduation.
The following is a listing of common positions for graduates with an agricultural business major
- Agricultural Sales
- Marketing
- Grain Merchandising
- Agricultural Finance
- Agricultural Lender
- Soil Conservationist
- Precision Ag Specialist
For a list of job placements by year, view the placement reports »
*Based on self-reported data in recent years.
Learning Resources
R.T. Wright University Laboratory Farm is a 448-acre facility that provides profession-based learning experience with livestock and crops.
New in 2021, the 29,000 square-foot Agricultural Learning Center (ALC) houses classrooms, laboratories, exposition and office spaces.
Profession-Based Learning Experiences
Study Abroad is an opportunity for students to apply hands-on international experience to their own academic development. Faculty members supervise short-term study abroad programs that prepare students before, during and after the program. Two types of study abroad programs are available – faculty-led and traditional study abroad.
The traditional program may be a semester, summer or year-long program and is taught by Northwest’s international partner institutions. Students of from the agriculture school have studied in Puerto Rico, Ireland and Germany.
Internships
Also, I was able to help work on the planes and taking orders from hundreds of farmers who needed our help to better their crops. Fungicide is the new product on the market for farmers' crops. We help the farmers crop feed the world. I really enjoyed this internship and plan on returning to help them, help our farmers. Jacob Kaullen
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The best part of the internship? Sydney Lawrence
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The Northwest Difference
Founded in 1905, Northwest is a traditional campus with more than 7,200 undergraduate and graduate students. Located in the middle of everywhere, Maryville is two hours from Omaha, Nebraska and Kansas City, Missouri and 2 ½ hours from Des Moines, Iowa.
The Bearcat Advantage provides out-of-state students the opportunity to earn in-state tuition rates that can save more than $7,500. With the average undergraduate financial aid award of $3,588 for in-state students and $9,804 for out-of-state students, Northwest offers a quality education at an affordable price.
At Northwest, the American Dream Grant covers 100% of the tuition and fees for Pell-eligible students.

Save more than $6,800 over four years through our textbooks and laptop program.
Laptop Program Information
Nearly $25 Million in scholarships and grants awarded annually.
Scholarship Information
Students organizations, internships and profession-based learning experiences ensure students are Career Ready, Day One.
Read student stories
Graduation Rate: 90th percentile of Northwest's national peer group.