CANTON, Mo. — Culver-Stockton College’s Division of Business, Education and Law will launch a new undergraduate major for agribusiness management during the Fall 2021 semester.
The agribusiness management major is designed to prepare a student for employment in fields such as agribusiness finance, international agriculture, agricultural marketing, resource economics, rural development and agricultural lending.
“There will soon be 9 billion people in the world, and food and water will be as important in this century as oil was in the last,” said Dr. Douglas B. Palmer, president of Culver-Stockton College. “This new major is part of our mission to prepare students to lead with a sense of values in a dynamic world while also serving the needs of our local and regional business community.”
Students will learn principles associated with best practices for agricultural product development, profit maximization and investment planning. They will become familiar with accounting tools like balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements to analyze and improve agricultural operations. They will be taught to use quantitative tools such as statistics, accounting methods, computer programs and investment analysis to solve management and planning problems.
The curriculum for the agribusiness management major has been created by Culver-Stockton’s business faculty — Maria Berhorst, lecturer in business; James Cosgrove, professor in business administration; Tammy Ellison, director of institutional technology and design; Dr. Dell Ann Janney, professor of accounting and associate dean of experiential education and external relations; Jeanne Johnson, senior lecturer in management information systems; Eric Larson, senior lecturer in business; Dr. Matthew Osborn, assistant professor of business; John Reinhardt, lecturer in accounting; and Julie Straus, associate professor of accounting.
“Agribusiness management is a natural fit for us, given our location and our already outstanding business programs,” said Dr. Lauren Schellenberger, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college. “Our unique 12+3 academic calendar and experiential curriculum will allow our students to have multiple hands-on experiences in the agriculture industry, particularly through internships and travel study, that will make them exceptionally attractive to employers.”
Culver-Stockton also is seeking qualified applicants for the position of assistant professor of agricultural business, a full-time position.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that farmers will have to produce more than 70 percent of the world’s food needs by 2050 to meet the needs of a population expected to surpass 9 million people. Well-known examples of agribusiness companies in the United States are Deere & Company, Cargill Corporation and Archer Daniels Midland Company.
A 2019 report by USA Today listed five agricultural and natural resources programs at colleges across the nation among the top 25 majors for employability. Culver-Stockton has been ranked as the top college or university in Missouri for job placement in 2019 and 2020, according to Zippia, Inc., a California-based national resource website with career information for job seekers.
With an enrollment of more than 1,000 students, Culver-Stockton now offers 44 undergraduate programs with the addition of the agribusiness management major.
Contact Straus, chair of the Business, Education and Law Division, at jstraus@culver.edu or 573-288-6314 to learn more about the agribusiness management major at Culver-Stockton.
Contact the Marketing & Public Relations Office, at pr@culver.edu or 573-288-6000 ext. 6728 for more information.
NOTE: A number that appears immediately after a person’s name (i.e. Jane Doe ’18) is a reference to the year that person earned their bachelor’s degree from Culver-Stockton.