Agricultural Business and Food Systems (ABFS)

4 Years On Campus Bachelors Program

Rutgers The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick

Program Overview

The Agricultural Business and Food Systems (ABFS) major at Rutgers–New Brunswick is an interdisciplinary program designed for students interested in the business, economic, social, environmental, and policy dimensions of agriculture and food systems. It suits students who want to build careers in agricultural business, food-system management, policy, advocacy, food security, or food justice while developing practical skills in business management, quantitative analysis, communication, and systems thinking.

Curriculum Structure

Year 1: Students begin by building a broad understanding of agriculture, food, people, and economics through courses such as Introduction to Agricultural Business and Food Systems, Introduction to Human Ecology, and Foods: From Field to Table. They also gain an early understanding of the biological side of food production through Animal Science and Plants and People, alongside Principles and Applications of Microeconomics.

Year 2: Students move toward the business and analytical side of agriculture, developing skills through subjects such as Introduction to Marketing, Applied Mathematics for Agriculture, and Agricultural Accounting. Coursework also introduces sustainability and food-system decision-making through options such as Introduction to Sustainability or Sustainability Decision Tools and Sustainable Food: Politics, Policy, and Ethics.

Year 3: The focus becomes more applied, with students examining how agricultural products move through markets and how agricultural enterprises are managed. Courses such as Agricultural Supply Chain, Agricultural and Food Policy, and Farm Business Management or Food Marketing Management build practical knowledge of supply chains, policy, farm operations, and food-sector marketing.

Year 4: Students bring their business, sustainability, analytical, and communication skills together through advanced coursework and experiential learning. The curriculum includes the Econ Peasant Agriculture capstone, while students can deepen their interests through electives such as Global Marketing, Business Finance I, Natural Resource Economics, Food, Nutrition, and Health Policy, or Data Analysis for Human Ecology.

Focus areas: Agricultural business; food systems; agricultural economics; marketing and supply chains; sustainability; food policy; food security and food justice; quantitative and data analysis; agricultural entrepreneurship; communication and ethics.

Learning outcomes: Students learn to analyze the human, socioeconomic, and environmental dimensions of food systems; evaluate agricultural production approaches; understand agricultural marketing, logistics, and producer-to-consumer channels; conduct research and quantitative analysis; communicate effectively; work in teams; and apply their knowledge to real agricultural and food-system problems.

Professional alignment (accreditation): Rutgers identifies ABFS as an interdisciplinary undergraduate major jointly developed and managed by the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics and the Department of Human Ecology. The official program information does not identify a separate professional accreditation for the ABFS major, so no specific accreditation claim is made.

Reputation (employability): Rutgers' official ABFS career information reports graduates working with organizations including Aerofarms, Rutgers University, Tomasello Winery, Agri-business and community farming organizations, and Mercer County Administration, demonstrating the breadth of sectors accessible to graduates. The university's official ABFS pages do not publish a program-specific QS or Guardian employability ranking, so none is attributed to the major.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

The Agricultural Business and Food Systems (ABFS) program at Rutgers is designed to connect classroom learning with the realities of agriculture, food businesses, markets and policy. Students build practical skills in business management, quantitative analysis, research, systems thinking and teamwork, while Rutgers’ School of Environmental and Biological Sciences provides access to farms, research facilities, internships, field experiences and study-abroad opportunities.

Students can put these skills into practice through approved experiential-learning credits, internships, practicums, applied projects and field-based experiences:

Experiential-learning requirement: SEBS requires students to complete at least 3 approved experiential-learning credits for graduation, with ABFS specifically included among the programs offering experiential opportunities.
Internships and practicums: ABFS learning goals specifically include participation in an applied experiential internship or practicum, allowing students to apply research, quantitative, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in real agricultural and food-system settings.
Entrepreneurship projects: In Entrepreneurial Agriculture, students develop their own virtual production-agriculture and food enterprise, including simulated business and marketing plans, followed by presentations of their proposed ventures.
Business Model Canvas: Rutgers' agriculture and food systems entrepreneurship coursework uses the Business Model Canvas to help students analyze and create agricultural and food enterprises.
Group projects: Innovation and entrepreneurship coursework includes an extended group project in which students develop and pitch an agricultural or food innovation.
Field trips: The same course includes an all-day off-campus field trip to the Rutgers Food Innovation Center and EcoComplex, giving students direct exposure to food innovation and agricultural-business environments.
Farm-based learning: Students can gain experience through Rutgers' network of campus farms and research/extension farms, including Horticultural Farms I, II and III and the Snyder Research & Extension Farm.
Research facilities: Students have access to the broader SEBS research environment, including the Rutgers Agricultural Research & Extension Center, Rutgers Specialty Crop Research & Extension Center and Rutgers Plant Science Research & Extension Farm.
Career-connected experiences: Rutgers offers the Student to Professional Internship Network (SPIN), along with career and professional pathways designed to connect students with internships and professional opportunities.
Study abroad: SEBS provides study-abroad opportunities that extend experiential learning internationally, allowing students to use different agricultural and food-system environments as a practical learning setting.
Real employer exposure: ABFS graduates have gained employment with organizations including Rutgers University, Aerofarms, Tomasello Winery, Montclair Community Farms, The Hawthorne Gardening Company and Vid Verde Farms, demonstrating the range of agricultural, food and business environments connected to the degree.
Agricultural innovation: Students can engage with Rutgers' Healthy Harvest Initiative, which includes new production technologies, food entrepreneurship, commercial teaching-kitchen activities and student internship opportunities in agriculture, business and food systems.
Team and communication skills: The ABFS learning goals explicitly require students to develop effective oral and written communication and the ability to work in teams, alongside quantitative and research skills.
Software/digital tools: The official ABFS sources reviewed identify the Business Model Canvas as a specific business-analysis tool. They do not identify a dedicated software package that is mandatory for the ABFS major, so no additional software is claimed here.
Library resources: ABFS coursework makes use of Lucy Chang Library in Foran Hall for course materials, including assigned books placed on reserve for students.

Progression & Future Opportunities

The Agricultural Business and Food Systems (ABFS) program prepares students for careers across agricultural production, food-system management, business, policy and advocacy. Its interdisciplinary training develops business management, quantitative analysis, marketing, logistics, research and systems-thinking skills that can be applied throughout the food supply chain.

Typical Job Roles: Agricultural Business Manager; Food Systems Manager; Agricultural Marketing Specialist; Agriculture and Food Policy/Advocacy Professional.

Career Services: Rutgers Career Exploration and Success provides one-to-one career advising, career planning, interview preparation, internship and job-search support, employer networking, career fairs and access to Rutgers Handshake. The Food, Agriculture, Animals, and the Environment Career Community provides ABFS-relevant job and internship resources, alumni mentoring and dedicated career advisers and industry consultants.

Employment Outcomes: Rutgers reports that 89% of students graduate with experience such as internships, leadership or research. Across Rutgers, 56% of students reported an internship experience in the Class of 2025 survey, and 64% of students with an internship were employed upon graduation.
Salary Figures: Rutgers' official ABFS sources reviewed do not publish a specific average starting salary for ABFS graduates, so no unsupported salary figure is provided.
University–Industry Connections: ABFS graduates have found employment with organizations including Aerofarms, The Hawthorne Gardening Company, Angel Plant Foods, Vid Verde Farms, Tomasello Winery, Montclair Community Farms and Rutgers University. Rutgers also connects students with employers through Handshake, employer networking sessions, career and internship fairs and its Industry and Student Connections activities.
Internship & Experiential Advantage: The ABFS learning goals explicitly include applied experiential internships or practicums, allowing students to apply research, quantitative, critical-thinking and communication skills to real agricultural and food-system problems.
Long-Term Accreditation Value: The official Rutgers ABFS sources reviewed do not identify a separate professional accreditation for the ABFS bachelor's program. Its value instead comes from its interdisciplinary preparation in agricultural business, food systems, economics, policy, quantitative analysis and applied learning.
Graduation Outcomes: Graduates can enter agricultural and food businesses, food-system management, government and policy organizations, farming enterprises, and advocacy-related roles. The program's career page specifically identifies farming and agricultural business, food systems management, and agriculture and food policy as major career areas.

Further Academic Progression: After completing the ABFS bachelor's degree, students can pursue graduate study at Rutgers, including the M.S. in Food and Business Economics. Rutgers' Department of Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics also offers a 4+1 B.S./M.S. Degree Program in Food and Business Economics, creating a particularly relevant pathway for students who want to progress directly from undergraduate study into advanced food-business and economics training.