Minors

The minor in Agricultural Business Management is offered to undergraduate majors in all departments except the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Students learn the business and economic principles that are useful in careers in agricultural and related industries.

Students should review the requirements and add the minor prior to their final semester. Please reach out to Colleen Hembree with questions about the Agricultural Business Management and the Agricultural Entrepreneurship minors.

Students can now submit applications to add a minor via MyPack Portal. To determine course requirements and eligibility for the minors listed below prior to adding it to their degree program, students may go to the Degree Audit section of their account in the MyPack Portal and under the “What If” option select the ABM/ Agricultural Entrepreneurship minor.

Adding a Minor

ABM Minor - On Campus

The ABM Minor is only available to students enrolled in a degree program (other than Agricultural Business Management) at North Carolina State University.

ABM Minor Requirements

Resources

Distance Education Programs

Check the Distance Education website for current lists of distance education programs.

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The Class Search page has the current schedule of ARE distance education courses.

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ABM Minor - Online and Distance Education

The ABM Minor is only available to students enrolled in a degree program (other than Agricultural Business Management) at North Carolina State University.

Requirements

Requires cumulative GPA of 2.0 and completion of ARE/EC 201 or EC 205.

Please review the admission requirements before you apply.

Note: Not all of the courses required for the Agricultural Business minor are currently offered through Distance Education and some course are offered through other colleges and departments.

Instructions to Add a Minor on MyPack Portal

Students are required to take three (3) courses online, including ARE 201 – Introduction to Agricultural and Resource Economics, to fulfill the AMB Minor. Students may select any two of the following courses below:

ARE 215 – Small Business Accounting Units: 3


Record keeping for small businesses organized as sole proprietorships, partnerships, and family held corporations. Double entry accounting principals applied to service and merchandising businesses. General Journals, Combination Journals, Subsidiary Journals, Ledgers, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Posting, Worksheets. Financial Statements, Closing, Payrolls, Cost Basis, Depreciation, Section 179, Amortization, Financial Adjustments, and Income Tax Forms. Both manual and computerized systems. Semester project of keeping records for a business for a portion of the year.

Prerequisite: ARE 201 or EC 201 or EC 205

ARE 304 - Agribusiness Management Units: 3


Management decision-making by food, fiber, horticulture, and forestry firms. Emphasis on current agribusiness topics such as information utilization, strategic planning, organization structures, competitor intelligence, pricing, leadership, crisis management, ethics, and human resource management. Business communications, agribusiness case studies, and a computerized management simulation game.

Prerequisite: ARE 201 or EC 201 or EC 205

ARE 306 - Agricultural Law Units: 3


Legal principles of practical importance in an agricultural setting: the court system; tort, contract and real and personal property law; legal aspects of organizing an agribusiness; environmental and labor regulations affecting agriculture; income and estate taxation of agriculture. Credit for both ARE 306 and BUS 307 is not allowed

Prerequisite: ARE 201 or EC 201 or EC 205

ARE 309 - Environmental Law & Economic Policy Units: 3


Current federal and state environmental laws and regulations and their common law foundations. Relationship of the law and its regulatory mechanisms to economic policy issues: externalities, pollution taxes, incentives, permit trading, and cost-benefit analysis. Major environmental topics including water and wetlands, solid and hazardous wastes, pesticides, clean air, endangered species and nuisance actions. Overview of the legal system.

Prerequisite: ARE 201 or EC 201 or EC 205

ARE 312 - Agribusiness Marketing Units: 3


Application of marketing and economic principles to decision making in contemporary agribusiness firms. Marketing strategies, marketing research and information, segmentation and targeting, marketing mix, and market plans within food, fiber, natural resource, and production input industries. Professional selling skills and knowledge. Off-campus field experience and visiting lecturers from the agribusiness industry.

Prerequisite: ARE 201 or EC 201 or EC 205

ARE 323 - Agribusiness Finance


ARE 323 teaches the history of monetary systems, the development of business finance tools and banking, and detailed creation and use of business financial statements, including Income Statements, Balance Sheets, and Statements of Cash Flow, within the context of the agribusiness industry. Two Finance courses are offered in the Agribusiness Management Major: ARE 321 – Agricultural Financial Management, which focuses on the history of finance in agriculture and financial planning for farmers and similar independent agricultural enterprises; and ARE 323 – Agribusiness Finance, which focuses on finance for larger agribusinesses and for managers of agribusiness divisions in larger organizations.

Prerequisites: [ARE 201 or EC 201] and [ACC 200 or ACC 210 or equivalent Introductory Accounting Course]

ARE 332 - Human Resource Management for Agribusiness Units: 3


Students learn how to manage the human resources in a small business.  Presentations about laws and candidate selection techniques will provide business owners the know how to obtain the best labor while navigating a litigious environment.  Methods for employee development along with approaches toward performance management will prepare students to train and retain employees.  Maximizing employee contributions through proper motivation, leadership, and change management is covered.

ARE 345 - Global Agribusiness Management Units: 3


Global trade is the largest growth area in American agribusiness, and knowledge of international agribusiness markets is one of the primary qualifications desired from college graduates entering the workforce. This course provides detailed knowledge of the six major regions for agribusiness trade worldwide, to prepare students to understand, speak intelligently about, and capitalize on opportunities for NC and US agribusiness products in the global marketplace. Students will be required to provide their own transportation to local markets and incidental expenses for meals representative of the six major regions connected with class assignments. Please see the Instructor for details.

Prerequisite: EC 201 or 205 or ARE 201

ARE 444 - Ethics in Agribusiness Units: 3


Ethical behavior is a crucial issue in American business, especially after numerous ethical lapses over the past decade, and for agribusiness given claims of marketing unhealthy foods, development of genetically-modified organisms, hiring of undocumented workers, and consolidation into industrial production facilities. Students are taught ethical theories and frameworks, used to discuss general ethical questions such as death, theft, and lying, followed by the more specific agribusiness issues mentioned above. Students will formulate their own opinions about these issues, recognize and understand the opinions of others, and be able to accurately and adequately communicate those opinions.

 

Testing Policy

All ARE online courses require in-person proctoring of exams. This policy requires students to arrange for proctoring of exams for each class with the assistance of DELTA Testing Services for 601 and 602 sections. Students enrolled in 301 (web-based) sections must work directly with their instructors to arrange for the proctoring of their examinations.

Agricultural Entrepreneurship Minor Description

The Minor in Agricultural Entrepreneurship is available to undergraduates in all majors. Courses in the minor cover the basic mindset, principles, and practices of entrepreneurship, including how to start a new business and how to add value to an existing business. Entrepreneurship skills are valuable to not only entrepreneurs but also to managers and others in careers in agricultural and related industries. Student teams work on projects with real businesses in all of our entrepreneurship courses. We also form teams around entrepreneurship projects that students bring to our classes. Students participate in poster and pitch contests judged by entrepreneurs and investors. We help students obtain seed money for prototypes and start-ups, and we fund class-related expenses such as travel that are associated with team projects. We immerse students in our extensive agribusiness network and in the NC State entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Agricultural Entrepreneurship Minor requirements

Requires cumulative GPA of 2.0 and completion of ARE/EC 201 or EC 205.

Instructions to Add a Minor on MyPack Portal

Required classes in minor are: ARE 270, 370 & 470

ARE 270 Principles of Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Units: 3

Principles of Agribusiness Entrepreneurship is the first course of three in the Agribusiness Entrepreneurship course sequence. It teaches students the applied entrepreneurship skills needed to identify and create an opportunity in agribusiness and how to develop a business canvas model and conduct a feasibility analysis for a real business idea. Students attend class at the NC State E-Clinic in HQ Raleigh for four classes and transportation is included.

Corequisite: ARE 201

ARE 370 Agribusiness New Venture Development Units: 3


Agribusiness New Venture Development is the second course of three in the Agribusiness Entrepreneurship course sequence. It teaches students how to develop a new venture idea into a business model. Students learn how to collect and interpret data needed to evaluate new businesses and to evaluate new ventures in existing businesses or institutions. Students develop actionable plans for start-up businesses or ventures. Student teams gain experience pitching their business models to prospective investors and partners. Students attend class at the NC State EClinic in HQ Raleigh for five classes and transportation is provided.

Prerequisite: ARE 270

ARE 470 Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Clinical Skills Development Units: 3


Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Clinical Skills Development is the third of three courses in the Agribusiness Entrepreneurship course sequence. This course teaches students the clinical skills needed to analyze questions faced by startups and other companies as they pursue opportunities in agribusiness. Students provide counseling to agribusiness developers in exchange for experience and an opportunity to build their business networks. Students will create and execute action plans with partner companies, conduct research, and develop a written analysis and recommendations for specific questions posed by the companies.

Prerequisite: ARE 270 and ARE 370