WHY AGRIBUSINESS?

Well, one reason is this: Agribusiness prepares you for employment in areas such as the food industry, in which there are more jobs than applicants. Consider food service, with its innovative ideas in marketing or the international sector and opportunities for export and production abroad. To be a part of this industry, students need a strong background in agribusiness and production. This unique combination can be found in the Agribusiness Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

The agribusiness industry accounts for nearly one-fifth of the U.S. gross national product. It employs close to one-fourth of the U.S. labor force. During the past decade, this major economic sector has been undergoing overwhelming changes that have affected every phase of the industry.

On the domestic scene, we are witnessing the consolidation of farms and ranches into larger, more efficient operations that are increasingly industrialized and have more sophisticated management.

At home and abroad, the upheaval and opportunity spawned by new technologies, the ascendancy of environmental and nutrition awareness among consumers and agribusiness, and the influence of U.S. and foreign policies on agricultural support and trade are having a significant effect on the way all facets of the industry do business.

Perhaps the most momentous change in the past ten years, however, is the increasing globalization of agriculture; it is a phenomenon that has been accompanied by the loss of U.S. dominance in the international marketplace.

The ability of the key agribusiness players -- the agricultural producers, the businesses that provide supplies and services to the producers, and the businesses that add value to agricultural products -- to respond to these changes will depend on the knowledge, managerial expertise, leadership ability, and creativity of agribusiness managers and leaders.

Today's need by agribusiness firms for more and better employees trained in both management and the agricultural sciences can no longer be ignored. Improving competitiveness is a key to success.