Major Requirements

Students in the Agribusiness concentration have the option of choosing a field of study three (3) courses that include coursework at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. If you are planning on taking any business-related courses as part of your field of study, we recommend that you choose the Agribusiness concentration. Be sure to consult the Agribusiness 4-year plan.

Requirements for the Agribusiness concentration:

- Six (6) benchmark courses completed with a C- or better.

- Five (5) upper-level AREC courses at the 400-level (note: AREC 306 and AREC 380 can also count as upper-level AREC courses)

- Three (3) courses (9 credits minimum) in one of the following fields of study:

Business Management

Offers courses in accounting, business finance, marketing, management and law at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Choose three (3) courses from the following list:

BMGT 340N: Business Finance*
BMGT 350N: Marketing Principles
BMGT 364N: Management and Organization
BMGT 380N: Business Law I

Other 300–level BMGT courses may be substituted, with advisor permission.  Agribusiness concentrators can enroll in any BMGT course ending in ‘N,’ as these are sections reserved for AREC majors.

*While BMGT 220 (Principles of Accounting I) and BMGT 221 (Principles of Accounting II) are no longer options for the Business Management field of study, they are pre-requisites for BMGT340. We recommend that students take both courses (6 credits) as electives.

Farm Management and Entrepreneurship

Offers courses focusing on entrepreneurship and small business management practices from Engineering Science, the Institute of Applied Agriculture, and the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Choose 3 courses (9 credits minimum) from the following list:

ENES 140 Discovering New Ventures
ENES 461 Advanced Entrepreneurial Opportunity Analysis in Technology Ventures
ENES 471 Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship
INAG 103 Agricultural Marketing
INAG 201 Agricultural Human Resources Management
INAG 204 Agricultural Business Management
INAG 205 Analyzing Alternative Enterprises
One of the following can also be selected: BMGT 289E Entrepreneurial Thinking for Non-Business Majors: How Not to Miss Great Opportunities Your Life Throws At You / ENES 210 Entrepreneurial Opportunity Analysis and Decision-Making / INAG 102 Agricultural Entrepreneurship

The Agricultural and Resource Economics (Ag-Econ) concentration provides students with the flexibility to select a field of study that fits their career interests. Students can also customize their degree program by declaring a Student-Designed field of study in consultation with an advisor. Be sure to consult the Ag-Econ 4-year plan.

Requirements for the Ag-Econ concentration:

- Six (6) benchmark courses completed with a C- or better.

- Five (5) upper-level AREC courses at the 400-level (note: AREC 306 and AREC 380 can also count as upper-level AREC courses).

- Three (3) courses (9 credits minimum) in a field of study of your choice (see more information below).

The fields of study recommended under the Ag-Econ concentration are as follows:

Agricultural Science

Three (3) courses (minimum 9 credits) required. The following list is of the approved courses, and other courses in agricultural science can be chosen in consultation with an advisor:

PLSC 204 Fundamentals of Agricultural Mechanics
PLSC 100 or 101 Intro to Horticulture or Intro to Crop Science.
ANSC 101 Principles of Animal Science
ENST 105 Soil and Environmental Quality

Advanced Degree Preparation

Three (3) courses (minimum 9 credits) from the following list:

ECON 414 Game Theory*

ECON 415: Market Design*

ECON 422 Econometrics I* (Note: credit only granted for AREC 422 or ECON 422)

ECON 423 Econometrics II*

MATH 141 Calculus II

MATH 240 Introduction to Linear Algebra

MATH 241 Calculus III

STAT 401: Applied Statistics & Probability II

STAT 410: Intro to Probability Theory

STAT 420: Introduction to Statistics

STAT 430: Introduction to Statistical Computing with SAS

Other courses in mathematics, statistics, or econometrics may be substituted with advisor permission. Please note that economics majors get first priority on many upper-level ECON courses. AREC students must obtain permission directly from the Economics department on the first day of class, pending space availability.

Environmental and Resource Policy 

Three (3) courses (minimum 9 credits) from the following list. Other courses not on this approved list can be submitted to the Assistant Director for approval:

ANTH 450 Theory and Practice of Environ Anthropology
HIST 405 Environmental History     
GEOG 372 Remote Sensing 
Econ 481 Theory and Policy in Environ Economics
GEOG 373 Geographic Information Systems
GVPT 273 Introduction to Environmental Politics
GVPT 306 Global Ecopolitics

Other courses can be substituted with advisor permission.

International Agriculture 

Three (3) courses (minimum 9 credits) from the following list:

ECON 305 Intermediate Macroeconomics
ECON 315 Econ Development of Underdeveloped Areas
ECON 340 International Economics
GVPT 200 International Political Relations
GVPT 350 International Relations in the Third World
PLSC 303 International Crop Production
ENST 440 Crops Soils and Civilization

Other related courses can be substituted with advisor permission.

Food Production 

Three (3) courses (minimum 9 credits) from the following list:

PHYS 117 (or PHYS 121) Introduction to Physics
BSCI 170 (formerly BSCI105) Principles of Biology
BSCI 223 General Microbiology
NFSC 100 Elements of Nutrition
NFSC 112 Food Science and Technology
NFSC 430 Food Microbiology
NFSC 431 Food Quality control

Other related courses can be substituted with advisor permission.

Political Process 

Any three (3) courses (minimum 9 credits) in government and politics (GVPT).

Student-Designed Field of Study

Requires submission of a written proposal for advisor approval listing at least three courses totaling at least 9 credits.

Beginning in Fall 2018, the AREC department will offer an Environmental and Resource Economics (EREC) concentration in the AREC major. The EREC concentration focuses on the application of economic concepts across a variety of issues related to natural resources, such as water quality, global warming, and the development of world economies. Be sure to consult the sample EREC 4-year plan.

The requirements for the Environmental and Resource Economics concentration are as follows:

Six (6) benchmark courses completed with a C- or better.

Five (5) upper-level AREC courses from the following list:

AREC 380: Data Science for Environmental and Resource Economics

AREC 382: Computer-Based Analysis in Agricultural and Resource Economics

AREC 405: Economics of Production

AREC 422:  Applied Econometrics

AREC 445: Agricultural Development, Population Growth, and Environment

AREC 446:  Sustainable Development

AREC 453: Natural Resources and Public Policy

AREC 454: The Economics of Climate Change

AREC 455: Economics of Land Use

AREC 456: Energy & Environmental Economics

AREC 431 (formerly AREC 489L): Agricultural Water Quality, Policy, and Legal Issues

AREC 481: Environmental Economics

Three (3) courses from one of the following fields of study:

 

Social Sciences

ANTH 222: Introduction to Ecological and Evolutionary Anthropology

ANTH 266: Changing Climate, Changing Cultures

ANTH 305: Archaeological Methods and Practice

ANTH 322: Method and Theory in Ecological Anthropology

GVPT 273: Introduction to Environmental Politics

GVPT 306: Global Environmental Politics

SOCY 200: Human Societies

SOCY 405: Scarcity in Modern Society

SOCY 406: Globalization

SOCY 415: Environmental Sociology

PUAF 301 / AGNR 301: Sustainability

or any higher social sciences course chosen in consultation with advisor.

 

Natural Sciences

AOSC 200/201: Weather and Climate

BSCI 160/161: Principles of Ecology and Evolution

CHEM 131/132: Chemistry I

ENST 200: Fundamentals of Soil Science

ENST 214: Introduction to Fish and Wildlife Science

GEOG 201/211: Geography of Environmental Systems

PHYS 121/122: Fundamentals of Physics I

Or any higher-level lab science course.

 

Advanced Degree Prep

ECON 414 Game Theory*

ECON 415: Market Design*

ECON 422 Econometrics I* (Note: credit only granted for AREC 422 or ECON 422)

ECON 423 Econometrics II*

MATH 141 Calculus II

MATH 240 Introduction to Linear Algebra

MATH 241 Calculus III

STAT 401: Applied Statistics & Probability II

STAT 410: Intro to Probability Theory

STAT 420: Introduction to Statistics

STAT 430: Introduction to Statistical Computing with SAS

*Other courses in mathematics, statistics, or econometrics may be substituted with advisor permission. Please note that economics majors get first priority on many upper-level ECON courses. AREC students must obtain permission directly from the Economics department on the first day of class, pending space availability.