25 Best Bachelor’s in Agriculture and Agribusiness

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illinois’s Agri­cul­tur­al Con­sumer Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences Col­lege is the #1 school for an agri­cul­ture and agribusi­ness bach­e­lor’s degree.
• Best agri­cul­ture and agribusi­ness bach­e­lor’s offer a vari­ety of spe­cial­iza­tions includ­ing crop sci­ences, ani­mal sci­ences, and envi­ron­men­tal sci­ences.
• Grad­u­ates can pur­sue careers in farm­ing, agri­cul­tur­al sci­ence, and agribusi­ness man­age­ment.

Once the idea of get­ting a degree in agri­cul­ture would have got­ten you laughed out of the trac­tor sup­ply store, but farm­ing is a lot more sophis­ti­cat­ed than it was 50 years ago. Today big pieces of equip­ment are used, very detailed sci­ence is con­sid­ered, and you need a lot of knowl­edge, with com­put­ers to be suc­cess­ful at farm­ing. For some­one who grew up on a farm and has hands-on expe­ri­ence, a degree would help them become an even bet­ter farmer. Farm­ing is the main rea­son peo­ple get a degree in agri­cul­ture, but there are oth­er rea­sons to find out what a degree in agri­cul­ture is worth.

The key to pick­ing out the right degree is under­stand­ing what you real­ly want and under­stand­ing the types of agri­cul­ture degrees. Agri­cul­ture is often asso­ci­at­ed with farm­ing, but it has many aspects and sub-cat­e­gories. As to where can I get a degree in agri­cul­ture, almost any of the large state uni­ver­si­ties have degrees in agri­cul­ture. The best col­leges for agri­cul­ture degrees could be debat­ed, but uni­ver­si­ties in states with a lot of farm­ing should be at or near the top of the list.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Agriculture Degree Programs

For the Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter rank­ing of the best tra­di­tion­al, on-cam­pus agri­cul­ture degrees, edi­tors con­sid­ered only accred­it­ed, rep­utable col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties. Pro­grams are ranked by prac­ti­cal fac­tors includ­ing tuition cost, stu­dent sat­is­fac­tion, and salary potential.

1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illinois’s Agri­cul­tur­al Con­sumer Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences Col­lege offers more than a dozen of the best agri­cul­tur­al degrees in Illi­nois. Stu­dents inter­est­ed in study­ing for one of Illi­nois ACE’s best agri­cul­ture degrees can select from under­grad­u­ate, grad­u­ate, and dou­ble majors with­in the col­lege. In addi­tion, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois offers online and pro­fes­sion­al master’s degree pro­grams and study abroad oppor­tu­ni­ties. Majors include crop sci­ences, ani­mal sci­ences, bio­log­i­cal engi­neer­ing, food sci­ence, plant biol­o­gy, and nat­ur­al resources/environmental sci­ences, among others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois (UIUC) was found­ed as an indus­tri­al uni­ver­si­ty in the mid-1860s. UIUC is a land, space, and sea-grant school that serves more than 51,450 stu­dents year­ly. In addi­tion, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois is ranked as a pub­lic ivy insti­tu­tion of high­er education.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois holds the dis­tinc­tion of hav­ing the fast­ing super­com­put­er on any cam­pus in the nation.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Uni­ver­si­ty of Illinois’s Agri­cul­tur­al Con­sumer Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences College

2. Virginia Tech

Vir­ginia Tech’s Agri­cul­ture & Life Sci­ences Col­lege offers a vari­ety of Virginia’s best agri­cul­tur­al degrees that are avail­able from the asso­ciate to doc­tor­al lev­el. Addi­tion­al­ly, V Tech offers stu­dents study abroad oppor­tu­ni­ties while study for Vir­ginia Tech’s best agri­cul­ture degrees. Vir­ginia Tech’s Agri­cul­ture & Life Sci­ences Col­lege also offers a vari­ety of con­cen­tra­tions for its online master’s degree that includes applied nutrition/physical activ­i­ty, pest man­age­ment, plant sci­ence, food safe­ty, and biose­cu­ri­ty, envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence, and lead­er­ship studies.

Found­ed in 1872 as a mechanical/agricultural col­lege, Vir­ginia Tech now oper­ates as a sea, land, & space-grant insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing with a stu­dent body with more than 36,250 grad­u­ate & under­grad­u­ate stu­dents, vying for the more than 250 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate degree offered.

What We Like: Vir­ginia Tech is rec­og­nized to be the 2nd largest, in terms of stu­dent enroll­ment, of any pub­lic insti­tu­tion in the Com­mon­wealth of Virginia.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Vir­ginia Tech’s Agri­cul­ture & Life Sci­ences College

3. Texas A&M University-College Station

Texas A&M University’s Agri­cul­ture & Life Sci­ences Col­lege offers thir­ty of the Lone Star State’s best agri­cul­ture degrees. The under­grad­u­ate best agri­cul­tur­al degrees offered by A&M include the fol­low­ing – agribusi­ness, agri­cul­tur­al eco­nom­ics, bioen­vi­ron­men­tal sci­ences, food sci­ence & tech­nol­o­gy, plant & envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence, or bioen­vi­ron­men­tal sci­ences, to name a few. In addi­tion, Texas A&M offers a vari­ety of cer­tifi­cate pro­grams in agri­cul­ture, includ­ing an online cer­tifi­cate in poul­try meat production.

Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed under the 1862 Mor­rill Land Grant Act in 1871. The university’s stu­dent enroll­ment nears 70,000 stu­dents, which makes it the sec­ond largest stu­dent enroll­ment in the country.

What We Like: Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the first high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion in the Lone Star State and the only uni­ver­si­ty to hold three des­ig­na­tions as a land, space, and sea-grant school.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Texas A&M University’s Agri­cul­ture & Life Sci­ences College

4. University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Col­lege of Agri­cul­tur­al & Life Sci­ences at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin offers a vari­ety of aca­d­e­m­ic degree and cer­tifi­cate pro­grams at the bac­calau­re­ate lev­el. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wisconsin’s best agri­cul­ture degrees include plat pathol­o­gy, soil sci­ence, for­est sci­ence, agri­cul­tur­al and applied eco­nom­ics, agron­o­my, and dairy sci­ence, to name a few. In addi­tion, these best agri­cul­tur­al degrees from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin offer stu­dents var­i­ous inter­na­tion­al study abroad expe­ri­ences in the areas of sus­tain­able devel­op­ment, agri­cul­ture, and bio­sciences, among others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin is the offi­cial high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that was estab­lished under the Mor­rill Act in 1848. In addi­tion, this flag­ship cam­pus of the state’s uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem is home to more than 45,450 students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin is rec­og­nized as a pub­lic ivy, with its main cam­pus in the state’s cap­i­tal on the Lake Men­do­ta shores.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Col­lege of Agri­cul­tur­al & Life Sci­ences at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wisconsin

5. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Minnesota’s Food, Agri­cul­tur­al & Nat­ur­al Resource Sci­ences Col­lege is rec­og­nized to offer some of Minnesota’s best agri­cul­ture degrees across four­teen majors and more than two dozen minors. Among the best agri­cul­tur­al degrees offered by the Uni­ver­si­ty of Min­neso­ta are agri­cul­tur­al edu­ca­tion, food sci­ence, envi­ron­men­tal sci­ences poli­cies, plat sci­ence, and agri­cul­tur­al com­mu­ni­ca­tion and mar­ket­ing, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Min­neso­ta was estab­lished as a land-grant school in 1851 but is now ranked as a pub­lic ivy high­er Learn­ing insti­tu­tion. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Minnesota’s Twin Cities’ cam­pus­es are rec­og­nized as the old­est in the uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem of Min­neso­ta, with a stu­dent body of more than 51,50 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The dual cam­pus­es in St Paul and Min­neapo­lis are sit­u­at­ed a few miles from each oth­er and offer degrees from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Minnesota’s nine­teen colleges/schools.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Uni­ver­si­ty of Minnesota’s Food, Agri­cul­tur­al & Nat­ur­al Resource Sci­ences College

6. University of Maryland-College Park

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Maryland’s Agri­cul­ture & Nat­ur­al Resources Col­lege offers a vari­ety of the best agri­cul­ture degrees and pro­grams of study in the state of Mary­land. The avail­able best agri­cul­tur­al degrees options from UM include agri­cul­tur­al and resource eco­nom­ics, inter­na­tion­al agri­cul­ture & nat­ur­al resources, nutri­tion & food sci­ence, and envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence & pol­i­cy, to name a few. In addi­tion, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mary­land offers a vet­eri­nary med­ical sci­ence and turf grass/golf course man­age­ment degree option.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mary­land is rec­og­nized as a pub­lic ivy, with a stu­dent enroll­ment of more than 41,050 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate stu­dents. In addi­tion, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mary­land is a land, space, and sea-grant school that is the flag­ship school of the state’s uni­ver­si­ty system.

What We Like: Estab­lished as an agri­cul­tur­al col­lege and was an all-male col­lege until 1916, when the first female stu­dents attend­ed classes.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Uni­ver­si­ty of Maryland’s Agri­cul­ture & Nat­ur­al Resources College

7. Cal Poly

Cal Poly’s Agri­cul­ture, Food & Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences Col­lege offers some of California’s best agri­cul­tur­al degrees with more than fif­teen aca­d­e­m­ic under­grad­u­ate majors and anoth­er 22 aca­d­e­m­ic minors. Among these best agri­cul­ture degrees are unique options like wine & viti­cul­ture, crop sci­ence, food sci­ence & nutri­tion, biore­source & agri­cul­tur­al engi­neer­ing, agri­cul­tur­al edu­ca­tion & com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and agribusi­ness, among oth­ers. Cal Poly’s Agri­cul­ture, Food & Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences Col­lege is rec­og­nized to be among the five top col­leges offer­ing agri­cul­ture degrees to His­pan­ic students.

Cal Poly is one of two poly­tech­nic schools in the Gold­en State uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem that was estab­lished in 1901. This space-grant school’s cam­pus in San Luis Obis­po is home to more than 22,050 under­grad­u­ate and post­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Cal Poly offers aca­d­e­m­ic pro­grams that com­bine pro­fes­sion­al and tech­ni­cal cur­ricu­lums with­in the arts/humanities realm.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Cal Poly’s Agri­cul­ture, Food & Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences College

8. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Rut­gers University’s Envi­ron­men­tal and Bio­log­i­cal Sci­ences School offers some of the Gar­den State’s best agri­cul­tur­al degrees through its Agri­cul­ture & Food Sys­tems (A&FS) Under­grad­u­ate pro­gram. Stu­dents enrolled in Rut­gers University’s best agri­cul­ture degrees have the option of tai­lor­ing the degree to meet their spe­cif­ic inter­ests and may select from many sum­mer intern­ships at the Rut­gers Gar­dens. The avail­able majors from Rut­gers include biotech­nol­o­gy, plant biol­o­gy, and agri­cul­ture, and food sys­tems, plus entre­pre­neur­ial agri­cul­ture and hor­ti­cul­ture ther­a­py programs.

Rut­gers Uni­ver­si­ty is rec­og­nized to be the state uni­ver­si­ty of the Gar­den State with mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es through­out New Jer­sey. Found­ed in 1766, Rut­gers is one of the nation’s colo­nial col­leges that is also a land, sea, and space-grant school with more than 68,450 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Rut­gers Uni­ver­si­ty is rec­og­nized to be a pub­lic ivy insti­tu­tion of high­er education.

Degree: Agri­cul­ture and Food Systems

Rut­gers University’s Envi­ron­men­tal and Bio­log­i­cal Sci­ences School

9. University of California, Davis

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Davis’s Agri­cul­tur­al & Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences Col­lege offers near­ly 30 of the Gold­en State’s best agri­cul­tur­al degrees, includ­ing forty addi­tion­al minors. Among the avail­able best agri­cul­ture degrees from UC Davis are ani­mal biol­o­gy, food sci­ence, hydrol­o­gy, biotech­nol­o­gy, envi­ron­men­tal hor­ti­cul­ture & urban forestry, atmos­pher­ic sci­ence, eco­log­i­cal man­age­ment & restora­tion, marine & coastal sci­ence, or sus­tain­able agri­cul­ture and food sys­tems to name a few. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia also offers inter­na­tion­al study opportunities.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Davis was estab­lished in 1905 as a farm and agri­cul­ture school. UC Davis is also a pub­lic ivy and is one of ten mem­ber schools of the UC sys­tem with a stu­dent enroll­ment that nears 40,000 students.

What We Like: The vet school at UC is ranked as the best pro­gram in the world and the largest of vet­eri­nary school of its kind in the Unit­ed States.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Davis’s Agri­cul­tur­al & Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences College

10. Cornell University

Cor­nell University’s Agri­cul­ture & Life Sci­ences Col­lege offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Agri­cul­tur­al Sci­ences that is rec­og­nized as one of the Empire State’s best agri­cul­tur­al degrees. Cor­nell University’s best agri­cul­ture degrees offer degree can­di­dates five aca­d­e­m­ic con­cen­tra­tions that include organ­ic agri­cul­ture, sus­tain­able crop­ping sys­tems, ani­mal sci­ence, edu­ca­tion & soci­ety, and busi­ness man­age­ment & pol­i­cy, plus the option of dou­ble majors. In addi­tion, stu­dents enrolled in Cor­nell University’s agri­cul­tur­al under­grad­u­ate degree are required to com­plete a rel­e­vant internship.

Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty is a mul­ti-cam­pus school that was estab­lished in 1865. This pri­vate school is also a sea, space, and land grant insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing with a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 23,950 stu­dents vying for the degrees and cer­tifi­cate pro­grams offered by the school’s four­teen under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate college/schools.

What We Like: Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty, as an Ivy League school, has three pri­ma­ry cam­pus­es in Itha­ca, New York City, and Qatar.

Degree: BS in Agri­cul­tur­al Sciences

Cor­nell University’s Agri­cul­ture & Life Sci­ences College

11. Ohio State University

The Col­lege of Food, Agri­cul­tur­al & Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences at Ohio State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a vari­ety of Ohio’s best agri­cul­ture degrees that include asso­ciate and bac­calau­re­ate degree pro­grams. The avail­able best agri­cul­tur­al degrees from Ohio State Uni­ver­si­ty include options in agribusi­ness & applied eco­nom­ics, con­struc­tion sys­tems man­age­ment, agri­science edu­ca­tion, ani­mal sci­ences, food busi­ness man­age­ment, food sci­ence & tech­nol­o­gy, and plant health man­age­ment, to name a few.

Ohio State Uni­ver­si­ty (OSU) was estab­lished under the Mor­rill Land Grant Act in 1870 and is the state’s flag­ship insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing. In addi­tion, this space, sea, and land-grant school oper­ates mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es with a stu­dent enroll­ment of more than 61,150 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Ohio State Uni­ver­si­ty is rec­og­nized to be a pub­lic ivy school that is ranked among the top pub­lic post­sec­ondary schools in the nation, accord­ing to US News and World Report.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Col­lege of Food, Agri­cul­tur­al & Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences at Ohio State University

12. Clemson University

Clem­son University’s Depart­ment of Agri­cul­tur­al Sci­ences (CU AS) offers two of South Carolina’s best agri­cul­ture degrees with its BS in Agri­cul­tur­al Edu­ca­tion or BS degree in Agribusi­ness. These best agri­cul­tur­al degrees help sup­port one of South Carolina’s lead­ing indus­tries, which impacts the econ­o­my with a val­ue worth more than $41 bil­lion. Core course­work for these bachelor’s degree pro­grams includes agri­cul­ture & soci­ety, the eco­nom­ics of farm man­age­ment, and quan­ti­ta­tive agribusi­ness analy­sis. The agri­cul­tur­al edu­ca­tion degree offers three empha­sis areas – teach­ing, com­mu­ni­ca­tions, or leadership.

Clem­son Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in the late 1880s and now oper­ates as a pub­lic space and land-grant insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing sit­u­at­ed near Lake Hartwell, South Car­oli­na. Clem­son University’s sub­ur­ban cam­pus cov­ers more than 1,400 acres and serves about 25,550 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Clem­son is divid­ed into sev­en colleges/schools which offer pro­grams in busi­ness, health/behavioral sci­ences, agri­cul­ture, forestry, archi­tec­ture, applied sci­ences, engi­neer­ing, edu­ca­tion, and science.

Degree: BS in Agribusi­ness or Agri­cul­tur­al Education

Clem­son Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Agribusi­ness or Agri­cul­tur­al Education

13. University of Missouri

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Missouri’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­ture, Food & Nat­ur­al Resources offers more than two dozen of Missouri’s best agri­cul­tur­al degrees, plus a vari­ety of under­grad­u­ate-lev­el cer­tifi­cate pro­grams from which to choose. In addi­tion, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Missouri’s best agri­cul­ture degrees offers degree can­di­dates study abroad pro­grams that help stu­dents explore glob­al resources, plus a vari­ety of grad­u­ate degree pro­grams for stu­dents inter­est­ed in pur­su­ing a more advanced degree.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mis­souri (Miz­zou) was estab­lished in the late 1830s as the first pub­lic high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion to the west of the mighty Mis­sis­sip­pi Riv­er. The school’s Colum­bia cam­pus is home to more than 29,850 stu­dents who are study­ing for the more than 290 aca­d­e­m­ic degree pro­grams offered by the school’s thir­teen aca­d­e­m­ic divisions.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Missouri’s cam­pus is home to sev­er­al build­ings that have been list­ed as a his­toric place under a fed­er­al gov­ern­ment designation.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Uni­ver­si­ty of Missouri’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­ture, Food & Nat­ur­al Resources

14. Washington State University

Wash­ing­ton State University’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­tur­al, Human, & Nat­ur­al Resource Sci­ences offers four­teen of Wash­ing­ton state’s best agri­cul­tur­al degrees that cov­er a wide cross-sec­tion of rel­e­vant study areas. Among these best agri­cul­ture degrees from Wash­ing­ton State Uni­ver­si­ty are agri­cul­tur­al biotech­nol­o­gy, agri­cul­tur­al tech­nol­o­gy & pro­duc­tion man­age­ment, field crop man­age­ment, organ­ic and sus­tain­able agri­cul­ture, food sci­ence, agri­cul­ture & food secu­ri­ty, and agri­cul­tur­al and food busi­ness eco­nom­ics, to name a few. Near­ly 3,000 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate stu­dents are study­ing for degree and cer­tifi­cate pro­grams offered by Wash­ing­ton State University’s agri­cul­tur­al college.

Wash­ing­ton State Uni­ver­si­ty is a mul­ti­ple cam­pus insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was estab­lished as an agri­cul­tur­al col­lege in 1890. In addi­tion, Wash­ing­ton State Uni­ver­si­ty main­tains mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es in Wash­ing­ton that serve more than 30,450 under­grad­u­ate, grad­u­ate, and doc­tor­al students.

What We Like: The school is con­tin­u­al­ly devel­op­ing both a Botan­i­cal Gar­den and Arbore­tum on a hill­top over­look­ing the alum­ni cen­ter on the campus.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Wash­ing­ton State University’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­tur­al, Human, & Nat­ur­al Resource Sciences

15. Kansas State University

Kansas State University’s Agri­cul­ture Col­lege offers some of the best agri­cul­ture degrees in the Mid­west­ern Unit­ed States. These best agri­cul­tur­al degrees from Kansas State Uni­ver­si­ty include vary­ing degrees with­in study areas that include agri­cul­tur­al eco­nom­ics, agri­cul­tur­al edu­ca­tion, agribusi­ness, agri­cul­tur­al tech­nol­o­gy man­age­ment, feed sci­ence and man­age­ment, and food sci­ence and indus­try, plus sec­ondary majors that include nat­ur­al resource & envi­ron­men­tal sci­ences, and glob­al food sys­tems leadership.

Kansas State Uni­ver­si­ty (Kansas State) was estab­lished under the Mor­rill Act in the mid-1860s as an agri­cul­tur­al col­lege and holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the first high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion in Kansas. The uni­ver­si­ty is sit­u­at­ed in Man­hat­tan and offers its 21,850 stu­dents a col­lege-town cam­pus, with his­tor­i­cal fea­tures that cov­er more than 500 acres.

What We Like: Kansas State Uni­ver­si­ty is orga­nized into nine colleges/schools that offer more than 60 pro­grams in engi­neer­ing, human ecol­o­gy, tech­nol­o­gy, vet­eri­nary med­i­cine, busi­ness, arts/sciences, and agri­cul­ture, among others.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Kansas State University’s Agri­cul­ture College

16. University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The Agri­cul­tur­al Sci­ences & Nat­ur­al Resources Col­lege at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka offers 2.5 dozen degree pro­grams that are ranked among the best agri­cul­tur­al degrees in Nebras­ka. UNL’s best agri­cul­ture degrees include agribusi­ness, agri­cul­tur­al eco­nom­ics, envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence, agri­cul­tur­al & envi­ron­men­tal sci­ences com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and agri­cul­tur­al edu­ca­tion, to name a few. Stu­dents enrolled in these UNL bac­calau­re­ates degrees can par­tic­i­pate in the Rur­al Fel­lows pro­gram offered by Rur­al Pros­per­i­ty Nebras­ka, plus the insti­tute of Agri­cul­ture and Nat­ur­al Resources (IANR).

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka (NU) was estab­lished as a land-grant uni­ver­si­ty in the late 1860s and is rec­og­nized to be the old­est insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion in Nebras­ka. Nebraska’s flag­ship school is home to more than 25,650 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The school’s foot­ball team has sold out every game for the past fifty years, with a sta­di­um that holds more than the pop­u­la­tion of Belle­vue – the state’s 3rd largest city.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Agri­cul­tur­al Sci­ences & Nat­ur­al Resources Col­lege — Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebraska

17. Mississippi State University

Mis­sis­sip­pi State University’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­ture & Life Sci­ences offers more than a dozen of Mississippi’s best agri­cul­tur­al degrees. Among the best agri­cul­ture degrees avail­able from M State are envi­ron­men­tal eco­nom­ics & man­age­ment, food sci­ence, nutri­tion & health pro­mo­tion, envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence in agri­cul­tur­al sys­tems, and agri­cul­tur­al sci­ence, to name a few. In addi­tion, Mis­sis­sip­pi State Uni­ver­si­ty offers var­i­ous schol­ar­ships and study abroad oppor­tu­ni­ties in the sum­mer or spring term.

Mis­sis­sip­pi State Uni­ver­si­ty (MSU) was found­ed as a land-grant school in the lat­er 1870s and now oper­ates as a sea and space grant school, with the largest R&D bud­get of any school in Mis­sis­sip­pi. Mis­sis­sip­pi State University’s rur­al cam­pus­es serve approx­i­mate­ly 22,550 grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Mis­sis­sip­pi State Uni­ver­si­ty offers the state’s only vet­eri­nary med­i­cine and archi­tec­ture programs.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Mis­sis­sip­pi State University’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­ture & Life Sciences

18. University of Massachusetts-Amherst

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Massachusetts’s Stock­bridge School of Agri­cul­ture, in part­ner­ship with the Col­lege of Nat­ur­al Sci­ences (UMass), offers a vari­ety of both asso­ciate and bac­calau­re­ate degrees that are avail­able online or on-cam­pus. UMass’s best agri­cul­tur­al degrees that are avail­able online include a BS and an AS in Sus­tain­able Food & Farm­ing. The oth­er best agri­cul­ture degrees offered by the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts – Amherst include hor­ti­cul­tur­al sci­ence, and plant/soil sci­ences, and tur­f­grass sci­ence & management.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts (UMass Amherst) was found­ed in 1863 as an agri­cul­tur­al insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion. The Amherst cam­pus of UMass is the largest of the state’s uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem and the old­est, with more than 40,150 stu­dents attend­ing class­es online and, on the school’s, 1,300+ urban campus.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts @ Amherst is a mem­ber of the Five School Con­sor­tium, includ­ing five insti­tu­tions of high­er edu­ca­tion locat­ed near each oth­er in West­ern Massachusetts.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts’ Stock­bridge School of Agriculture

19. Pennsylvania State University

Penn­syl­va­nia State University’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­tur­al Sci­ences offers a vari­ety of the best agri­cul­tur­al degrees that can be com­plet­ed on the university’s cam­pus or through the school’s dis­tance learn­ing plat­form. PSU offers sev­en­teen of the best agri­cul­ture degrees at the under­grad­u­ate lev­el that includes agribusi­ness man­age­ment, agri­cul­tur­al sci­ence, agri­cul­tur­al and exten­sion edu­ca­tion, bio-renew­able sys­tems, and envi­ron­men­tal resource man­age­ment, to name a few. The Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) in Agribusi­ness Man­age­ment can be com­plet­ed 100% online.

Penn­syl­va­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty (Penn­syl­va­nia State) is a state school that was estab­lished in 1855 as a high school for farm­ers. Penn­syl­va­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty is one of only four schools in the nation with four-des­ig­na­tion research con­sor­tia that include land, space, sea, and sun grants. In addi­tion, Penn­syl­va­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty is rec­og­nized to be a pub­lic ivy with a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 46,550 grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Penn­syl­va­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty is orga­nized into eigh­teen colleges/schools.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Penn­syl­va­nia State University’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­tur­al Sciences

20. Auburn University

Auburn University’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­ture offers fif­teen of Alabama’s best agri­cul­ture degrees cov­er­ing a vari­ety of relat­ed study top­ics. Among Auburn’s best agri­cul­tur­al degrees include agri­cul­tur­al busi­ness & eco­nom­ics, Agri­cul­ture Sci­ence, Agri­cul­ture com­mu­ni­ca­tions, applied biotech­nol­o­gy, agri­science edu­ca­tion, biosys­tems engi­neer­ing, bio­log­i­cal & agri­cul­tur­al tech­nol­o­gy man­age­ment, and crop & soil sci­ences, to name a few. Stu­dents enrolled in Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty have the option of becom­ing one of Auburn’s AG Ambassadors.

Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty (Auburn) was estab­lished as an all-male col­lege in the mid-1850s as a pri­vate school but became Alabama’s first land grant school about a decade and one-half lat­er. Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty now oper­ates as a space, sea, and land grant school with more than 30,350 stu­dents on its 1,800+ acre campus.

What We Like: Auburn Uni­ver­si­ty has been ranked among the top 40 pub­lic high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tions in the country.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Auburn University’s Col­lege of Agriculture

21. University of Arizona

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Arizona’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­ture & Life Sci­ences offers some of the best agri­cul­ture degrees in Ari­zona, across a vari­ety of rel­e­vant study areas. Among the twen­ty best agri­cul­tur­al degrees from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ari­zona includes agribusi­ness eco­nom­ics & man­age­ment, applied biotech­nol­o­gy, agri­cul­tur­al tech­nol­o­gy man­age­ment & edu­ca­tion, envi­ron­men­tal and water resource eco­nom­ics, sus­tain­able plant sys­tems, biosys­tems engi­neer­ing, nutri­tion & food sys­tems, plant sci­ences, and nat­ur­al resources, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Ari­zona (Ari­zona) is the state’s flag­ship school that was found­ed as the first uni­ver­si­ty pri­or to Ari­zona reach­ing state­hood. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Ari­zona is a land and space grant school that serves near­ly 46,000 stu­dents who are vying for degrees offered by UA’s 19 schools/colleges.

What We Like: Stu­dents enrolled in the Uni­ver­si­ty of Arizona’s pro­grams, and class­es hail from every state in the nation.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Uni­ver­si­ty of Arizona’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­ture & Life Sciences

22. Colorado State University

Col­orado State University’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­tur­al Sci­ences offers two of Colorado’s best agri­cul­ture degrees. These best agri­cul­tur­al degrees from Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty include a bachelor’s degree in agri­cul­tur­al busi­ness with two con­cen­tra­tions in farm/ranch man­age­ment and agri­cul­tur­al eco­nom­ics. In addi­tion, Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a bachelor’s degree in agri­cul­tur­al edu­ca­tion with two aca­d­e­m­ic emphases in agri­cul­tur­al lit­er­a­cy and teacher devel­op­ment. It is not­ed that Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a minor in agri­cul­tur­al busi­ness and agri­cul­tur­al literacy.

Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty (CSU) is the flag­ship school of the state’s uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem that was estab­lished in 1870 as an agri­cul­ture col­lege. In addi­tion to hav­ing been estab­lished as a land grant insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion, Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty now oper­ates as a space-grant school with a stu­dent enroll­ment of approx­i­mate­ly 34,050 stu­dents study­ing online and on-campus.

What We Like: The MBA pro­gram offered by Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty is ranked among the ten best in the nation by the Prince­ton Review.

Degree: Agri­cul­tur­al Busi­ness or Education

Col­orado State University’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­tur­al Sciences

23. University of Vermont

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Vermont’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­ture & Life Sci­ences offers sev­en­teen of Vermont’s best agri­cul­ture degrees, empha­siz­ing agri­cul­ture & food sys­tems, life sci­ences, and the development/preservation of health­ful com­mu­ni­ties. These best agri­cul­tur­al degrees at the bac­calau­re­ate lev­el include agroe­col­o­gy, food sys­tems, envi­ron­men­tal sciences/studies, bio­log­i­cal sci­ences, inter­na­tion­al devel­op­ment, ani­mal sci­ence, nutri­tion & food sci­ences, and dietet­ics, nutri­tion, and food sci­ences, among others.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Ver­mont (Ver­mont) was estab­lished ini­tial­ly estab­lished as a pri­vate school in 1791 but a land grant school sub­se­quent­ly. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Ver­mont is rec­og­nized as one of the orig­i­nal pub­lic ivy schools and one of the old­est uni­ver­si­ties in the coun­try. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Ver­mont is also a space and sea-grant school with a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 12,550 grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: UVM’s hos­pi­tal on the Burling­ton cam­pus in Vermont’s largest hos­pi­tal facility.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Uni­ver­si­ty of Vermont’s Col­lege of Agri­cul­ture & Life Sciences

24. Oregon State University

Ore­gon State University’s Depart­ment of Agri­cul­tur­al Edu­ca­tion & Agri­cul­tur­al Sci­ences offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree pro­gram in Agri­cul­tur­al Sci­ences that can be com­plet­ed online or on the La Grande and Cor­val­lis cam­pus­es. These best agri­cul­ture degrees from Ore­gon State Uni­ver­si­ty offer aca­d­e­m­ic tracks in edu­ca­tion, agri­cul­tur­al sci­ences & nat­ur­al resources, com­mu­ni­ca­tions, com­par­a­tive inter­na­tion­al, lead­er­ship, or a cus­tomized option. Stu­dents grad­u­at­ing from these best agri­cul­tur­al degrees find a reward­ing career as an agri­cul­tur­al teacher, a lit­er­a­cy coor­di­na­tor, or a crop health technician.

Ore­gon State Uni­ver­si­ty (OSU) is a pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty that was found­ed as a land-grant school in 1868. Addi­tion­al­ly, Ore­gon State Uni­ver­si­ty is a sea, sun, and space-grant uni­ver­si­ty, one of only four in the nation with all four des­ig­na­tions. More than 26,050 attend class­es online and on the school’s col­lege-town campus.

What We Like: near­ly ¼ of one mil­lion stu­dents have grad­u­at­ed from Ore­gon State Uni­ver­si­ty since its inception.

Degree: Agri­cul­ture Sciences

Ore­gon State University’s Depart­ment of Agri­cul­tur­al Edu­ca­tion & Agri­cul­tur­al Sciences

25. University of Kentucky

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Kentucky’s Agri­cul­ture, Food & Envi­ron­ment Col­lege offers a vari­ety of Kentucky’s best agri­cul­ture degrees. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Kentucky’s best agri­cul­tur­al degrees include agri­cul­tur­al & med­ical biotech­nol­o­gy, food sci­ence, agri­cul­tur­al eco­nom­ics, sus­tain­able agri­cul­ture & com­mu­ni­ty food sys­tems, and agri­cul­ture ecosys­tem sci­ences, to name a few. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Ken­tucky offers in-state tuition rates for those stu­dents from Delaware, Geor­gia, West Vir­ginia, Ten­nessee, Louisiana, and Mary­land – through the Aca­d­e­m­ic Com­mon Market.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Ken­tucky (UKY) was found­ed in 1865 as a land-grant school, one of Kentucky’s two schools estab­lished under the Mor­rill Act. More than 30,450 stu­dents attend class­es online and the Uni­ver­si­ty of Kentucky’s Lex­ing­ton campus.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Kentucky’s cam­pus is home to fif­teen libraries.

Degree: Mul­ti­ple Majors

Uni­ver­si­ty of Kentucky’s Agri­cul­ture, Food & Envi­ron­ment College

Why Should I Get a Degree in Agriculture

A degree in agri­cul­ture is not just valu­able on the farm. Beyond arm­ing agri­cul­ture is the sci­ence of tak­ing care of plants and animals.

Some oth­er jobs that could result from a degree in agriculture:

• Bio­chemist
• Food sci­en­tist
• Envi­ron­men­tal engineer
• Com­bined with a law degree, to be an agri­cul­ture lawyer
• Farm vet­eri­nar­i­an
• Agri­cul­tur­al engineer
• Agri­cul­ture economist
• Coun­ty exten­sion agent
• Any kind of farm-relat­ed sales

Your only lim­it is your imag­i­na­tion as to what you could do with a degree in agri­cul­ture. Still, farm­ing is the main thing. Farm­ers try to get all they can out of their crops, and most farm­ers are respon­si­ble about the envi­ron­ment. A degree in agri­cul­ture brings the lat­est sci­ence and tech­nol­o­gy to the farm, and many farms are advanced already.

What is Agribusiness?

Agribusi­ness is basi­cal­ly any busi­ness that relates to agri­cul­ture, to answer the ques­tion of what is the mean­ing of agribusi­ness. Farms are most often an agribusi­ness, but what is the mean­ing of agribusi­ness is the larg­er ques­tion. The trac­tor makes and sales­men are in agribusi­ness, as are chemists or veterinarians.

Under­stand­ing more about agri­cul­ture is the start­ing point to under­stand what is agribusi­ness man­age­ment. Agri­cul­ture is the sci­ence of help­ing plants and ani­mals grow and stay healthy. Agri­cul­ture is often relat­ed to farm­ing, but it involves a lot more than farm­ing. Agribusi­ness could also be seen as the entire busi­ness of farm­ing — from plant­i­ng to har­vest­ing to distribution.

Agribusi­ness is the big pic­ture, and there are many pieces to the pic­ture. It is sort of inte­gra­tion of all the steps involved in pro­duc­ing and dis­trib­ut­ing food. Agribusi­ness uses sophis­ti­cat­ed tools and tech­nol­o­gy to get the best pos­si­ble results from what is grown.

Agribusi­ness is a huge indus­try but has many aspects. Farms can be a small fam­i­ly oper­a­tion or a huge oper­a­tion grow­ing thou­sands of acres of wheat.

Some­times agribusi­ness is asso­ci­at­ed with huge farms and is seen as the oppo­site of the small fam­i­ly organ­ic farm. But even a small oper­a­tion needs a busi­ness plan, and that is what agribusi­ness is about.

How Do I Choose the Right Agriculture Degree?

There are lev­els of degrees. You can get a cer­tifi­cate in a cer­tain area of agri­cul­ture from a junior col­lege that will take a year or two. Many four-year schools have this as well. Beyond that is a BS or BA, which is a basic four-year col­lege edu­ca­tion. Master’s degrees are avail­able in one of the aspects of agri­cul­ture, and you can get a Ph.D. in agriculture.

Asso­ciate degrees or cer­tifi­cates focus more on farm­ing tech­niques. Some class­es may involve.

• Mar­ket­ing
• Soil man­age­ment
• Crop sci­ence
• Live­stock management
• Sus­tain­abil­i­ty
• Agri­cul­tur­al production
• agri­cul­ture industry

A Bach­e­lors’s degree is more involved with man­age­ment, and with many more areas of agri­cul­ture than just farm­ing. Some empha­size the busi­ness side, while oth­ers empha­size the man­age­ment of farm­ing operations.

Some class­es could involve:

• Micro­eco­nom­ics
• Live­stock management
• Food and marketing
• Research and statistics

Master’s degrees are for those that want to get into man­age­ment or teach­ing agri­cul­ture. There is also more of a focus on a spe­cif­ic area, and there may be an internship.

Some class­es you might take include:

• Agri­cul­ture leadership
• Agri­cul­ture technology
• Edu­ca­tion techniques

Ph.D. degrees are for peo­ple want­i­ng to take high-lev­el posi­tions in agri­cul­tur­al busi­ness­es or inter­na­tion­al stud­ies. They also pre­pare and qual­i­fy a per­son to teach at the col­lege level.

Some class­es involve

• Demand and production
• Agri­cul­ture mar­ket­ing theory
• Strate­gic management
• Mar­ket theory

There are many more career paths in agri­cul­ture than most peo­ple real­ize, as the Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics shows. Food pro­duc­tion, live­stock pro­duc­tion, crop pro­duc­tion, and oth­er kinds of farm prod­ucts are key to the econ­o­my. Agri­cul­ture stu­dents can use their agri­cul­ture cours­es to choose a spe­cial­iza­tion, increas­ing their career options.

Relat­ed Rankings:

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Agri­cul­ture and Agribusiness

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Agri­cul­ture and Agribusiness

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Agri­cul­ture and Agribusiness