agriculture majors

[venablefarms12]

what would be the best major if i want to be a farm/ranch manager agirbusiness or animal science?
or is there any other majors that would be good

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

I'm majoring in Agribusiness: Animal Science (Agribusiness with an option in animal science). Since those are the two majors you are considering, you can get both from this major.

Depending on what university you are going you, you might be able to major in farm management too.

 

[bfn5005]

im majoring in animal science:business option

 

[stangs13]

Im getting into beef cattle nutrition!!

 

[venablefarms12]

im really looking into the ranch management program at tcu then transferring to lsu or la tech just because of where i live and tops

 

[shortdawg]

My Associates was in Ag Business and my 4yr in Ag Econ. I think most all the AG majors will offer some business classes which I think would be very useful to you in the future in whatever you do.

 

[vet tech]

shortdawg

what are you doing now...

 

[shortdawg]

Running our family farm and cattle operation.

 

[creativecattle]

I would strongly encourage you to look at Ag Business as your primary and then Animal Science as an option or minor. You may not go straight back onto a farm, and ASI students are finding it harder to find jobs because they haven't learned enough about the business or marketing side. Also, once you are on your own place those business classes will come in handy.

 

[KCK]

Take as many business classes as you can. Wish someone would have said that to me. I was only a few credits short of a minor in ag business and an sci with my communications degree.... should have stayed for one more semester

 

[chambero]

I went to college on an ag scholarship from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  Started out wanting to be an agricultural engineering major.  I had a professor at Tarleton State pull me aside one day and offer me the single best bit of advice anyone has ever given me - that at first offended me.

Unless you
1.  come from a family with large amounts of land or one that already owns an agricultural based business
2.  want to be a veterinarian
3.  Already know exactly who you will work for

You need to be very cautious about getting a degree with the word "agricultural" in front of it.  The fact is there aren't that many agricultural companies out there relative to the entire employment market.  Most ag jobs pay substantially less than other market sectors.  Most companies from other market sectors will not even give an interview to someone with an ag-based degree.  Conversely, ag companies hire employees with "non-ag" degrees all the time.

As an example of what I'm trying to say:  My company is a large engineering design firm.  We do not hire agricultural engineers - the degree program is much lighter on math, etc than traditional civil/mechanical/structural engineering programs.  Conversely, John Deere probably has many more mechanical engineers working for them than people with agricultural engineering degrees.

Ag business degrees are another example.  You can get a job with an ag business company if you have a general business degree (or one of the many specialities like finance).  Most other common employers of folks with business degrees will not hire (or aren't nearly as likely to hire) someone with an ag business degree.

My advice - if you really know you want to be involved in agriculture, get a minor in your ag area of interest or even a double major.  But I know a lot of people that have struggled finding jobs when they are anxious to be starting families, etc and are shocked to find how many doors are closed to them with ag degrees.  Shouldn't be that way, but it is.

Unlike many areas of business, most real knowledge of agriculture comes from real world experience - not a classroom.  If you come from a cattle ranching family, that animal science degree isn't going to teach you a whole lot you don't already know.  If you don't come from a cattle ranching family and aren't going to be a vet, you may be sorely disappointed with the realization of the kind of job and pay that animal science degree is going to get you.

 

[JWW]

sit down with a GOOD academic advisor and plan out a double major, agribusiness adn animal science, it may take 5 years to do it all, but in the end you will have exactly what you want, a good academic advisor can get some bogus electives class waived (like anceint chinese history, or gender studies... etc) and allow you take an animal science class or business class instead. it only takes few signatures and buddy up to folks to get it done. otherwise choose one major and fill the electives with a minor in the other area.
i worked in the recruitment office of Animal Science for about 2-3 years at University of Nebraska and have come to know how these things work.

JWW

 

[chambero]

it may take 5 years to do it all, but in the end you will have exactly what you want, a good academic advisor can get some bogus electives class waived (like anceint chinese history, or gender studies... etc)

JWW

That's another great point.  You don't have to be in such a hurry to get out.  There is NOTHING wrong with taking 5 years.  Get it right - and do something you find interesting.  Don't be afraid to change majors once you get in if you don't like what you started with. Just don't switch just because something seems too hard.

 

[simtal]

it may take 5 years to do it all, but in the end you will have exactly what you want, a good academic advisor can get some bogus electives class waived (like anceint chinese history, or gender studies... etc)

JWW

That's another great point.  You don't have to be in such a hurry to get out.  There is NOTHING wrong with taking 5 years.  Get it right - and do something you find interesting.  Don't be afraid to change majors once you get in if you don't like what you started with. Just don't switch just because something seems too hard.

ah college... the best 9 years of my life

 

[KCK]

I wish someone would have steered me away from going straight Ag Communications. There is nothing wrong with my degree, the teachers or the job I have, but it pigeon holed me more than I would have liked. I should have let my ag background speak for that on my resume and gone a different direction. If someone would have told me how much I would love meat science classes and maybe said this "We always have to have a safe food supply" I would have went food science or meat science. Oh to know what I know now.

And, graduating in four years is like leaving a party at 10 p.m.  <beer>

 

[JWW]

And, graduating in four years is like leaving a party at 10 p.m.  <beer>
[/quote]

;D  lol


I was completely amazed when i looked at UNL's degree audits b/w a food science major and an animal science major, about 5-6 classes separted them, equals to about a minor in credit hours, wish i would have know that earlier on too, food science majors that i know all have good jobs, either w/ cargill, blue bunny, hotpockets, tyson and JBS.

yeah and if want to be a vet, there are tons of ways to get that done too, i belive in my class right now we have a music major, CBA, physics major, along with the Animal science and vet science degrees.

JWW

 

[shortdawg]

I went to college on an ag scholarship from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  Started out wanting to be an agricultural engineering major.  I had a professor at Tarleton State pull me aside one day and offer me the single best bit of advice anyone has ever given me - that at first offended me.

Unless you
1.  come from a family with large amounts of land or one that already owns an agricultural based business
2.  want to be a veterinarian
3.  Already know exactly who you will work for

You need to be very cautious about getting a degree with the word "agricultural" in front of it.  The fact is there aren't that many agricultural companies out there relative to the entire employment market.  Most ag jobs pay substantially less than other market sectors.  Most companies from other market sectors will not even give an interview to someone with an ag-based degree.  Conversely, ag companies hire employees with "non-ag" degrees all the time.

As an example of what I'm trying to say:  My company is a large engineering design firm.  We do not hire agricultural engineers - the degree program is much lighter on math, etc than traditional civil/mechanical/structural engineering programs.  Conversely, John Deere probably has many more mechanical engineers working for them than people with agricultural engineering degrees.

Ag business degrees are another example.  You can get a job with an ag business company if you have a general business degree (or one of the many specialities like finance).  Most other common employers of folks with business degrees will not hire (or aren't nearly as likely to hire) someone with an ag business degree.

My advice - if you really know you want to be involved in agriculture, get a minor in your ag area of interest or even a double major.  But I know a lot of people that have struggled finding jobs when they are anxious to be starting families, etc and are shocked to find how many doors are closed to them with ag degrees.  Shouldn't be that way, but it is.

Unlike many areas of business, most real knowledge of agriculture comes from real world experience - not a classroom.  If you come from a cattle ranching family, that animal science degree isn't going to teach you a whole lot you don't already know.  If you don't come from a cattle ranching family and aren't going to be a vet, you may be sorely disappointed with the realization of the kind of job and pay that animal science degree is going to get you.

Chambero, We talked about this over on showsteers a couple of years ago. I think it is very unfortunate that businesses look down on any degree with AG in front of it. I sat right beside some Finance, Business, Marketing, etc. Majors while getting my degree. Some of those in the classes with me were getting their Masters while I was getting my undergrad and our course load was the same ???? I think it shows how little the real world knows about agriculture by them looking down on those degrees. Farming is a business and requires a lot of knowledge to be successful. Some just picture a farmer as a dumb guy with a hoe and a few seed !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jill]

I agree with Chambero on this one, very few wanting to major in an ag related field are able to actually work in an ag related field unless you fall into a catagory he listed you are better off to get a general degree with a minor in something you love. 
I know this isn't probably a popular view point, but Animal Science degrees aren't worth the paper they are written on unless you want to be a vet.  I don't know how many kids I have seen spend 4 years getting that AS degree and then can't find a job because it doesn't really translate in the real world.

 

[knabe]

Animal Science degrees aren't worth the paper they are written on unless you want to be a vet. 

so are we as a society, wasting our money by propping up all these universities with undergraduate ag programs?

what it boils down to is that the program has to be fed like many federal programs.

at what point do we ask if they need to be reorganized, classes eliminated like wasting a semester and hundreds of dollars keying plants when the concept is pretty simple, but there is not a reason on earth to make so many people take classes in simple memorization.

on the other hand, for some kids, it's plainly obvious that college is simply baby sitting for older kids.

 

[cdalton9008]

TCU- ranch management. Otherwise go ag business with a minor in ansci