For students planning to pursue a career in agriculture and want to meet others with the same interests, the Agribusiness Club could help you grow professionally and socially.
The Department of Agriculture and Department of Agricultural Economics established the Agribusiness Club in 1937 for agricultural business students to come together.
The Agribusiness Club currently has about 25 members devoted to being leaders to help contribute to society by preparing for a career in agriculture.
The club’s objective is for members to be involved in numerous activities that not only help them grow as students but also provide them with the resources to develop professional networking skills. The club accomplishes this through conventions, expos, internship opportunities and field trips, where members are given the opportunity to meet business-related professionals.
Agricultural business sophomore Colt Hardee, president of the Agribusiness Club, said club members network with agricultural employers around the U.S.
“It gives us more of a hands-on knowledge of our industry and our curriculum,” Hardee said. “I would say we are a hybrid between a professional and social organization.”
The club goes on various field trips and tours to listen to guest speakers as they share their experience in the agricultural business industry. Club members develop their knowledge of the grain industry each year through the organization Grain Elevator and Processing Society at a national conference in New Orleans every year.
The club members try to help the other members with anything from tutoring to moral support.
“My personal goal for the organization is to make [members] competitive for the job-force, as they enter it upon graduation,” Hardee said.
In the 1980s, club members participated in a “Progressive Dinner,” where professors would cook for club members.
“[Progressive Dinner] connected students more with their professors,” Hardee said. “I’m trying to get us back to some of those roots.”
Greek organizations Alpha Gamma Rho and Sigma Alpha were created to foster students’ love for agriculture and for those who want to remain loyal to their agricultural roots. The sorority and fraternity welcome members of any major and background.
The Agribusiness Club had its first meeting Jan. 15. The club will announce its upcoming monthly meetings in the future.
“[The club] serves as an opportunity for anybody in our major to get hands-on leadership experience,” Hardee said. “It’s what we’re founded on and still do today.”