Agribusiness
Take your ideas to market. Unleash your inner entrepreneur. Learn the tricks of global trade. Add value to your education. Manage your business for profit. These are just a few of the opportunities available to you when you choose to major in Agribusiness at the University of Saskatchewan.
What is Agribusiness?
With an industry worth more than $95 billion annually in Canada alone, agribusiness is big business. It is a business of local and global importance, encompassing a huge range of activities that all contribute to our supply of food and natural fibres. Agribusiness comes into play at every stage in the food chain, from primary production, to the packaging of your favourite snack food. It is also a dynamic business that must respond to sweeping advances in technology, to major changes in trade and policy, and to an ever-changing, consumer-driven marketplace.
The Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness combines science, economics, agricultural economics and business courses. Students learn about business management, marketing, finance and sales, as well as the legal and institutional environment that characterize agribusiness. Moreover, graduates will understand the structure and organization of the agri-food sector and possess business skills relevent to farm input, on-farm businesses, processing, transportation, credit and marketing.
Career Opportunities
The transformation of Canadian agriculture has created new demands for knowledge and education. Consumers and the food service industry are demanding a wide variety of high quality, safe foods that are convenient to prepare. Agribusiness prepares students to become agricultural entrepreneurs; provide support to the production sector; become sales professionals, business managers, business consultants; and agricultural lenders.
A Bachelor of Science (Agribusiness) will open up opportunities in business management as consultants, sales managers, and as production managers; in the financial sector as account managers, credit advisors, customer relations officers and financial managers.
Students with a sound knowledge of production agriculture and business practices are actively recruited in the job market, finding positions locally, nationally and internationally in areas of business management, marketing, agricultural chemical, grain handling, seed production and distribution, communications and public relations.
Graduates from the Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness degree are eligible for membership in the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists, allowing them to engage in the practice of Agrology.
The U of S Advantage
The College of Agriculture & Bioresources at the U of S provides a learning environment with an innovative, hands-on approach to education, offered in world-class teaching facilities. Here, students learn from top-notch faculty, some who are teacher-scholars, teacher-practitioners and world-class researchers. Being located at a research-intensive institution also means that you benefit from professors who are leading experts in their fields, involved in the latest research and at the forefront of life sciences and agribusiness.
In addition to outstanding technical instruction, students will receive essential leadership and professional training including computer skills, business writing skills and public speaking experience. A growing demand for scientists and professionals in the agricultural and related industries means a wide range of career choices for graduates. As well, the College’s strong ties with industry and reputation for producing well-rounded, quality graduates means that many businesses turn here first when recruiting employees.
The College offers a setting that combines the advantages of a full-scale university with the benefits of a small, specialized program. The small class sizes and supportive atmosphere allows students to get to know their instructors and fellow students well. They will be your personal and business contacts and associates for the rest of your life. The networks you develop here will serve you well throughout your career.
This degree gives me the combination of business and agriculture courses I was looking for, and it allows me to study in the College of Agriculture & Bioresources where you always feel part of the team. New courses in marketing, sales and entrepreneurship will help me meet my career goals in the agricultural finance and sales field.—Tyler Wilson,
Third-year Student,
Hometown: Kindersley
A Major in Agribusiness
Students specializing in Agribusiness can earn the following degree:
Students who begin their studies in other colleges or schools, such as the Edwards School of Business or Arts & Science, may also enter this program by transferring to Agriculture & Bioresources.
A Stepping Stone
A B.Sc. (Agbus) is also highly useful and marketable for studies in other areas such as communications, politics, education, journalism and law.
Outstanding Students & Faculty
Professor Tom Allen, CIBC Scholar in Agricultural Entrepreneurship, spent six months at Massey University in New Zealand studying Indigenous entrepreneurship among the Maori people. In February 2006 Professor Allen will lead a study tour to New Zealand, providing young Aboriginal students with an opportunity to study viable Maori agri-ventures.
The Indigenous Peoples Resource Management Certificate Program is a program unique in Canada that enhances the capacity of indigenous peoples to deal with resource management and environmental issues.
Each year Farm Credit Canada’s AgriSuccess program awards up to $6,000 to students with the best business plans in an agribusiness venture management course. AgriSuccess, an FCC initiative dedicated to agribusiness and farm management training, is managed in Saskatchewan by Lindsay Folk, B.S.A. ’88.
Professors Bill Brown and Tom Allen offer entrepreneurship and management training designed for producers, manufacturers, venture capitalists, lenders, entrepreneurs, consultants, and the public sector in the Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program held each January.
Members of the student chapter of the Canadian Agri Marketing Association attend an international marketing competition and conference each year to present a marketing plan they have developed working with a client for a Saskatchewan product.
Professors Rob Roy and Ken Rossasen collaborate in the coordination of
Market Prospects, a television series that offers intereviews with leading experts from Saskatchewan and around the globe to deliver market situation and outlook information on the major prairie crops and livestock.
Research in the College of Agriculture & Bioresources has always had a strong agribusiness focus and the B.Sc. (Agbus) really helps to solidify that connection with industry. In turn, the relationships we develop with our students are maintained when they graduate and start their careers in agribusiness. This connection is critical as good teaching and research requires an engagement between industry and the University.—Tom Allen,
CIBC Scholar in Entrepreneurship
Scholarships & Bursaries
As the College’s contribution to the local and global demand for agricultural professionals and entrepreneurs, we offer prospective students an outstanding awards program: six renewable entrance scholarships and up to twenty one-time $1,000 entrance scholarships offered to students directly from high school, four renewable transfer scholarships to students transferring from another college or university, and awards to students of Aboriginal descent who are entering studies in the College of Agriculture & Bioresources.
Agribusiness students are eligible for a number of scholarships and bursaries available for students in the College of Agriculture & Bioresources based on both academic merit and financial need.
Laboratory & Research Facilties
As Agribusiness students, your home-base is the state-of-the-art Agriculture building, a prominent feature of the beautiful U of S campus. Housed within the Department of Bioresource Policy, Business & Economics you have access to excellent computer facilities, learning resource centres and the Department’s library and reading room.
C-RERL is a state-of-the-art research facility designed to study Canada’s rural economy, quality of life, and environment utilizing the latest GIS software and statistical packages.
Getting Involved
As a College of Agriculture & Bioresources student, you can participate in one of the most active and recognized student bodies on campus. You can liven up your time at university by joining one of the many college-based student clubs such as the Agriculture Students’ Association (A.S.A.) and the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association Student Chapter (CAMA). Activities include everything from campus recreation sports, to fund-raising, to industry tours and marketing competitions.
Admission Requirements
The following is a list of high school subjects required for admission. Please select the province/territory where you completed high school.
Additional Information
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