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About Us

Description

The Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics is proud of the service we have provided to the people of North Dakota since our formation in 1918. Our mission is to provide objective economic analysis to support informed decision making in areas of resource allocation, business management, and public policy for the people of North Dakota and beyond. We provide high-quality education programs for undergraduate and graduate students and for audiences across the state reached through University outreach efforts.

TEACHING

All of our faculty and staff strive to make our students’ years at NDSU as rewarding as possible. Our goal is to make our Department's programs worthwhile, progressive, and forward-looking to better prepare students for their future careers.

The Department offers three undergraduate majors:

  • Agribusiness is designed to train students to assume leadership in all aspects of the Agribusiness Industry. Students in this program earn a minor in the College of Business Administration at the same time they are earning their Agribusiness degrees.
  • Agricultural Economics focuses on the management, marketing, and financial aspects of production agriculture and resource decisions.
  • Economics is the social science concerned with personal, business, and social choice and values.

We also offer four graduate degrees:

  • Agribusiness and Applied Economics (MS) builds upon a core set of courses in economic theory and quantitative methods to provide the foundation necessary for specializing in such areas as agribusiness strategy, natural resource management, or applied economics.
  • International Agribusiness (MS) provides students with economics and agribusiness coursework at NDSU, language training, and international work and educational experience.
  • Agribusiness (MBA.) focuses on preparing managers of agribusiness firms to make decisions that consider factors unique to agribusiness.
  • Applied Economics (PhD) leverages the strength areas of the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics (AAE) in applied risk analysis and institutions (leveraging the graduate certificate in New Institutional Social Science) while maintaining flexibility to provide for a variety of student specializations.
RESEARCH

Our faculty and research staff conduct research on a wide variety of applied topics. Studies have determined the economic role that agriculture plays in the economy of North Dakota, the effects of changes in international trade policies on agriculture, alternative policies to stabilize farm household incomes, investments to promote economic development in the state’s rural areas, market effects of crops modified by biotechnology, housing market characteristics in the state, and market and nonmarket values associated with alternative water management strategies.
 

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION AND OUTREACH

Extension economists provide service to North Dakota citizens by offering programs and analysis in areas such as crop and livestock marketing, risk management, computer use on the farm and in small businesses, and rural economic development opportunities. Our research faculty also have a tradition of contributing to meet state needs through presentations, publications, and media releases based on research studies.

If you have any questions or comments, please be sure to contact us.