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SUNY Canton to offer agribusiness program in the fall

Posted 2/14/17

CANTON -- SUNY Canton will offer a new four-year degree program starting in the fall. SUNY Canton President Zvi Szafran says the college received final approval to offer a bachelor of business …

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SUNY Canton to offer agribusiness program in the fall

Posted

CANTON -- SUNY Canton will offer a new four-year degree program starting in the fall.

SUNY Canton President Zvi Szafran says the college received final approval to offer a bachelor of business administration agribusiness management, commonly known as agribusiness. The program can optionally be earned in an online format.

"Many of our successful alumni in St. Lawrence County and beyond trace their roots back to our agricultural programs, so I'm glad we're offering programs in this area once again" Szafran said in a news release. "Our faculty members have developed a new degree mirroring the advances in the industry and focusing on the management side of modern farming."

Students in the agribusiness management programs will learn the principles of accounting, finance, marketing, strategy, operations, human resources, economics, ethics and communications.

"There are numerous opportunities for skilled careers in agriculture," said Jondavid S. DeLong, dean of the SUNY Canton School of Business and Liberal Arts. "Crop management, production and distribution are going to be critical as the world's population continues to grow. Our new degree responds to the growing interest in ownership of agricultural enterprises in communities that have historically benefitted from farming."

Graduates will be prepared to bring together and apply their knowledge from previous agribusiness and production agriculture courses, as well as from their internship experience.

"An important component of this program will be the upper-level internship requirement," noted Assistant Professor and Business Department Director Alexander Lesyk, who will be overseeing the program. "We look forward to partnering with local agricultural enterprises to offer our students the first-hand experience necessary to become effective managers and business leaders."

According to a 2015 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report, there will be approximately 57,900 average annual employment opportunities for bachelor's degree graduates who have expertise in food, agriculture, renewable natural resources or the environment.

SUNY Canton faculty members designed the program for both entrepreneurial students and those seeking established careers in related fields.

The North Country has long been a farming hub with agriculture as a core industry. Currently there are over 4000 farms in the region, with more than 1 million acres of land used for farming according to supporting research used to establish the Agribusiness program.

Agriculture is a driving force in the North Country's economy. According to the USDA, New York ranks third nationwide in milk production; 20 percent of this milk originates in the North Country.