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Agricultural Careers

Agribusiness Manager

By: Dr. Frank Flanders and Shannon O’Berry

Georgia Agricultural Education Curriculum Office

Georgia Department of Education

June 2005

Job Duties & Responsibilities•Plans the business from layout, finances to physical location.

•Organizes work schedules and directs the work of employees.

•Makes business decisions on a daily basis.

•Writes schedules and verifiesdocuments such as tax reports, time sheets, and sales reports.

•Assists customers

•Hires and fires employees

•Handles employee disputes and concerns

•Handles customer complaints

•Oversees all business operations

Qualities and Skills•Working well with people because interaction with employees and customers occur everyday

•Be skilled in taking initiative, decision making, problem solving, and analyzing data

•Creative and critical thinking skills are also needed for becoming an agribusiness manager

•Being able to withstand stress of planning and decision making is vital

•Working long hours in an office, especially utilizing computer recordkeeping and sales analysis programs

Salary

•The range of salary for an agribusiness management position is from $24,375 per year up to $60,000 per year

•These averages are determined by experience, education, sales and management ability, and years of work with a company.

Work Environment

•Work may be in a retail, wholesale, or production setting

•Possibly in a farm setting, such as production manager

•Indoor and outdoor work is necessary

•A lot of office work is usually necessary

•Long work days with long hours are common with paper work being more than in many other careers

•The agribusinesses may be in large cities, rural towns, or in more isolated rural areas.

•The minimum education required for the position is a high school education, but it is becoming increasingly important for agribusiness managers to have a college degree.

•The lack of a college degree will hinder career advancement.

•Students should aspire to obtain a four-year degree in agriculture science, agriculture economics, or a similar major, with an emphasis on agribusiness management.

•If the business involves pesticides, the agribusiness manager will have to obtain a pesticide license.

Becoming an Agribusiness Manager

Career Resources

American Agricultural American Agricultural Economics AssociationEconomics Association80 Heady Hall80 Heady HallIowa State UniversityIowa State UniversityAmes, IA 50011-1070Ames, IA 50011-1070Internet: www.aaea.org/Internet: www.aaea.org/

IAMA Business OfficeIAMA Business Office333 Blocker Building333 Blocker Building2124 TAMU2124 TAMUCollege Station, Texas College Station, Texas 77843-212477843-2124Internet: www.ifama.orgInternet: www.ifama.org