You are in the official 2005-2006 General Catalog
for California State University, Fresno.
Department of Agricultural Economics
COURSES
- Economic Principles (AGEC)
- Farm Management (AGEC)
- Agribusiness Management (AGEC)
- Financial Planning (AGEC)
- Agricultural Development (AGEC)
- Public Policy (AGEC)
- Product Marketing (AGEC)
- Decision Analysis (AGEC)
- Special Topics (AGEC)
- Agricultural Business (AGBS) --- Graduate Courses
- Agriculture (AGRI) --- In-Service Courses
Note: Active immunization against tetanus (available
through Student Health Services) is a prerequisite for registration
in any laboratory course in agriculture and for any student employment
on the University Farm.
Note: Cost to the student of extended field trips will
vary each semester depending upon itinerary. The student should
ask the course instructor.
Economic Principles (AGEC)
AGEC 1. Introductory Agricultural Economics (3)
Prerequisite: G.E. Foundation A2. Microeconomic principles of
resource allocation, production, cost, and market price equilibrium
with primary application to farms and agribusinesses. Supply and
demand in commodity pricing under perfect and imperfect competition.
Optimizing single variable input production function; total/marginal
approaches to profit maximizing output. G.E. Breadth D3.
AGEC 2. Agricultural Sector Analysis (3)
Domestic and international forces affecting industry profitability
of farm input suppliers, agricultural producers, commodity processors,
food marketers; government fiscal, monetary, trade policies interaction
with agricultural credit, price support, food subsidy programs;
impact on agribusiness asset values, debt accumulation, income
levels.
AGEC 5. Survey of Agricultural Economics
and Agribusiness (3)
Not open to students with credit in any upper-division AGEC course.
Orientation to agricultural sector, institutions, and historic
farm problems. Basic economic concepts and business principles
applied to management, marketing, finance, and trade. Consumer
demand and producer supply functions. Competitive market price
determination. Overview of resource, environmental, consumer,
and farming issues and government policies
AGEC 100. Intermediate Agricultural Economics
(3)
Prerequisites: AGEC 1; AGEC 78 or DS 71 or MATH 75. Microeconomic
theory of agricultural production in factor-product, factor-factor,
product-product decisions; production costs and economies of size;
consumer choice theory; price and output determination under imperfectly
competitive markets; marginal productivity theory and the derived
demand for agribusiness inputs.
Farm Management (AGEC)
AGEC 110N. Introductory Farm Management (3)
Prerequisites: AGEC 1, 31, and 76. Survey course for non-agricultural
business majors. Introduction to applied economics and farm business
management topics: farm accounting, financial statement analysis,
management principles, computer assisted decision aids, animal
and crop enterprise budgeting, farm business planning, tax management,
investment analysis, agricultural finance. (2 lecture, 3 lab hours)
AGEC 110. Farm Management (3)
Prerequisites: AGEC 31, 76, and 100. Production economics and
management techniques for analysis of efficient farm resource
use, planning and organization; analysis of budgeting and optimization
techniques, and computer applications for developing farm management
plans. (2 lecture, 3 lab hours)
AGEC 114. Advanced Farm Management (3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 110. Design, computerization, and analysis
of profit maximizing; cost minimizing and multiperiod linear programming
models; risk and uncertainty; data and information requirements
for decision making; optimizing the level and mix of crop livestock
enterprises; development of farm management plans.
AGEC 117. Agricultural Labor-Management Relations
(3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 1. Economic analysis of the farm labor market;
labor productivity, agricultural mechanization and farm employment;
farm labor laws and government regulations; agricultural labor
relations, unionization, and collective bargaining; farm personnel
administration practices and supervisory management principles.
Agribusiness Management (AG
EC)
AGEC 28. Introductory Agricultural Law (3)
Fundamentals of agricultural law including historical sources;
legislative laws and business ethics; administrative regulations,
judicial decisions affecting agriculture; express and implied
contracts with remedies for their breach in agricultural situations;
real and personal property law plus secured transactions in agriculture.
AGEC 120. Agribusiness Management (3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 1. Organizational forms and management functions
of agribusiness firms; human resource management systems; management
science principles for optimizing plant location, equipment replacement,
inventory control, and sales volume; operations research techniques,
including probability-based network and decision models, for solving
agribusiness problems.
AGEC 122. Agricultural Cooperative Management
(3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 120. Philosophical, historical, and legislative
evolution of U.S. agricultural cooperatives; uniqueness of cooperative
organization, planning, direction and control functions vis-a-vis
standard corporations; legal, financial, and tax considerations
in managing input-supply and marketing cooperatives; case studies
and field trips to cooperatives.
AGEC 124. Food and Fiber Industry Management
(3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 1. Production management of farm input manufactures,
agricultural commodity processing, food/fiber product distribution;
functional approach to transformation/value-added operations including
planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, controlling; case
applications to materials handling, product development, food
packaging, quality control, transportation logistics, inventory
management.
AGEC 128. Advanced Agricultural Law (3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 28 or BA 18. Case applications of agricultural
business law; torts covering trespass, negligence, liability for
farm livestock and chemicals; surface and mineral property rights;
water law; farm labor law; agribusiness firm incorporation; agricultural
cooperative regulation; state and federal marketing orders; farm
estate taxation.
Financial Planning (AGEC)
AGEC 31. Farm Accounting (3)
Basic concepts and principles of financial accounting systems
applied to farm operations; mechanics of recording single and
double entry transactions under cash and accrual accounting methods;
preparation and analysis of enterprise records and financial statements
to generate management information.
AGEC 32. Agribusiness Managerial Accounting
(3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 31 or ACCT 4A. Application and analysis of
accounting information for farm and agribusiness management; integration
of economic, and financial principles in preparing business plans;
equipment cost control and crop enterprise accounting methods;
capital investment and profit performance; introduction to computerized
farm accounting systems. (2 lecture, 1 arranged)
AGEC 130. Agricultural Finance (3)
Prerequisites: AGEC 2, 31, 76; 100 or instructor's permission.
AGEC 32 recommended. Analysis of farm financial statements; legal
instruments of financial transactions; institutional sources of
farm credit; time value of money and capital budgeting for agricultural
investment; cost of debt and equity capital; risk management strategies;
insurance, tax, and farm estate planning.
AGEC 131. Agricultural Capital Markets
(3)
Prerequisites: AGEC 2, 31, 76, 100 or instructor's permission.
AGEC 32 recommended. Analysis of farm financial statements; legal
instruments of financial transactions; institutional sources of
farm credit; time value of money and capital budgeting for agricultural
investment; cost of debt and equity capital; risk management strategies;
insurance, tax, and farm estate planning.
AGEC 136. Farm and Ranch Appraisal (3)
Prerequisites: AGEC 1. AGEC 110 or 110N recommended. Principles
of agricultural appraisal; physical and economic factors affecting
land values; estimation of real estate value using income, cost,
and market data approaches; case studies and field problems involving
the valuation of local farm and ranch properties.
Agricultural Development (AG
EC)
AGEC 140. International Development and Agriculture
(3)
Comparative development of low- and high-income countries;
policies/programs addressing inequality, poverty, malnutrition,
disease, overpopulation, underemployment, pollution, globalization;
structural, institutional, technological change; investment, trade,
and aid strategies for growth; food production and distribution
efficiency; environmentally sustainable, culturally compatible,
economically viable agricultural systems.
Public Policy (AGEC)
AGEC 150. Agricultural and Food Policy (3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 1. AGEC 2 recommended. Analysis of public policies
affecting the economics of U.S. and California agriculture; government
programs influencing agricultural production, commodity distribution,
market prices, farm income; environmental and natural resource
issues; nutrition, food safety and biotechnology concerns; food
industry regulation; international agricultural trade.
AGEC 153. Agricultural Trade (3)
Prerequisites: AGEC 2, 150. Comparative advantage, trade models,
protectionist barriers and balance of payments; world agricultural
trade patterns and international commodity agreements; domestic
farm programs and foreign trade policies; surplus food aid and
concessionary sales overseas; trade liberalization versus preferences
issue and economic development.
AGEC 155. Environmental and Natural Resource
Economics (3)
Economic analysis of public policies governing land use, water
management, energy generation, mineral exploitation and forest
administration; review of population pressures and resource conservation;
examination of externalities, property rights issues, resource
use planning, agricultural zoning, environmental regulations,
and reclamation law.
Product Marketing (AGEC)
AGEC 64. Agricultural Sales and Promotion (3)
Principles and practices of selling agricultural products; merchandising
techniques and sales approaches; customer prospecting and service;
promotional programs, advertising campaigns, and public relations
for agricultural industries and organizations; multimedia utilization
strategies; written/oral communication abilities, and computer
presentation skills development. (Formerly AGEC 166)
AGEC 160. Agricultural Marketing Analysis
(3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 100 or permission of instructor. Commodity
transformation and product flow through processing and distribution
channels; market structure, conduct and performance; marketing
system efficiency and marketing bill components; over supply,
marketing orders, grading and standards, and price stabilization;
price forecasting, futures market trading, and risk management.
AGEC 162. Commodity Futures Trading (3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 160 or permission of instructor. Study of commodity
futures and options markets; speculative trading and techniques
of fundamental and technical analyses; crop and livestock hedging
strategies for commodity procurement and marketing; integrating
options and futures trading for risk management; and development
of futures trading plans.
AGEC 163. Agricultural Export Marketing (3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 160 or permission of instructor. Determination
of potential overseas markets for U.S. agricultural products through
export marketing studies; foreign business environment and distribution
channels; product preparation and transportation abroad; cultural-specific
promotional and advertising programs; international sales agreements,
financial transactions, plus banking and shipping documentation.
AGEC 164. Agribusiness Sales Management (3)
Prerequisite: AGEC 1. Marketing management strategies for stimulating
business and consumer demand for agricultural goods and services;
food and fiber merchandising using institutional, functional,
value approaches; sales program organization and staff development
for effective communication of product information and timely
completion of transactions.
AGEC 168. Agricultural Marketing Management
Project (1-3; max total 3)
Prerequisites: AGEC 71, 160, 164 and permission of instructor.
Marketing management principles in preparing marketing plan for
annual National Agri-Marketing Association intercollegiate competition;
strategic planning for product development, sales projections,
distribution channels, pricing tactics, promotion/advertising,
market share analysis; focus group, survey research, oral/audio-visual
team presentation. (2 activity hours per unit)
Decision Analysis (AGEC)
AGEC 71. Agricultural Business Statistics (3)
Prerequisite: ELM requirement met. Study of statistical techniques
and formal reasoning applications to management and social and
agricultural sciences. Calculation, interpretation, critical evaluation,
and historical relevance of quantitative tools, data analysis,
and results including graphical presentations, descriptive and
inferential statistics, hypothesis formulation and testing, and
regression.
AGEC 76. Agribusiness Microcomputer Applications
(3)
Applied microcomputing for agribusiness management; use of spreadsheet,
database management, and presentation software; applications to
basic farm accounting and financial budgeting, farm production
recordkeeping, crop and livestock enterprise management, and commodity
price trend tracking. (2 lecture, 3 lab hours)
AGEC 78. Agribusiness Quantitative Analysis
(3)
Prerequisite: ELM requirement met. Functional relationships, marginal
analysis and decision-making models in agribusiness; logic and
probability in diagnosing problems, designing operations and achieving
objectives; identification of procedures for efficient resource
utilization.
AGEC 170. Advanced Agribusiness Applications
(3)
Prerequisites: AGEC 110, 120, 130, 150, 160; upper-division writing
skills requirement. Research methods applied to agricultural business;
problem definition and solution formulation; data collection and
analysis using statistics and other techniques. Culminating activities
may include research proposal, feasibility study, project review,
business plan, strategic management, case study; written reports
and oral presentations.
Special Topics (AGEC)
AGEC 80. Undergraduate Research (1-4; max total 4)
Prerequisites: AGEC 1 and permission of instructor. Directed study
or research on particular problems in the field of agricultural
economics and business. Consult department policies and procedures
governing undergraduate research. Approved for RP
grading.
AGEC 85T. Topics in Agricultural Business
(1-3; max total 6)
Agricultural economics, farm management, agribusiness management,
financial planning, agricultural development, public policy, product
marketing, and decision analysis. Topics may require lab hours.
AGEC 180. Undergraduate Research (1-4; max
total 4)
Prerequisites: senior standing, upper-division writing skills
requirement, permission of instructor. Directed study or research
on particular problems in the field of agricultural economics
and business. Consult department policies and procedures governing
undergraduate research. Approved for RP grading.
AGEC 185T. Topics in Agricultural Business
(1-3; max total 9)
Prerequisite: AGEC 1. Agricultural economics, farm management,
agribusiness management, financial planning, agricultural development,
public policy, product marketing, and decision analysis. Topics
may require lab hours.
Industry Relations (AGEC)
AGEC 192. Agricultural Business Field Studies (2)
Prerequisite: AGEC 1. Business and economic functions performed
by specialized agricultural agencies with emphasis on physical
operating patterns. Field trips to production, marketing, and
finance firms. Workshops with agribusiness managers. (1 lecture,
2 lab hours) (Field trip fee, $75)
AGEC 194. Agribusiness Internship (1-3; max
total 6)
Prerequisites: junior standing. Emphasis on development of
decision-making ability through industrial experience integrated
with basic principles acquired in the classroom. Only 3 units
of internship allowable in the major. CR/NC grading only.
AGEC 195. Agribusiness Career Seminar (2)
Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of instructor. Career
exploration and academic preparation in agribusiness; assessment
of personal and professional skills matching agricultural occupational
choices; career planning, self-marketing strategies, and job-hunting
tactics; resume and letter writing, interview and job-offer negotiations;
workshops with industry representatives.
(See Catalog Numbering
System and Eligibility.)
Agricultural Business (AGBS)
AGBS 210. Agribusiness Industry Analysis (3)
Prerequisite: classified standing or permission of instructor.
Analysis of characteristics unique to agricultural institutions;
practices in financing, producing, and marketing food and fiber
products; integration of economic principles with management techniques
for optimum decision-making under risk and uncertainty; crop/livestock
enterprise budgeting; policy environment impact on agriculture.
AGBS 220. Food Processing and Distribution
Management (3)
Prerequisite: AGBS 210. Classified standing or permission
of instructor. Analysis of strategic management decisions involving
pricing relationships, processing and packaging systems, supply
channel management, transportation modes and distribution logistics
for agricultural products in domestic and global markets; applications
to food industry case problems including international food marketing
firms. (Formerly AGBS 225)
AGBS 240. International Trade and Agricultural
(3)
Analysis of global markets and national trade policies; economic
principles underlying free trade and World Trade Organization;
regional integration for growth/development; protectionism/preferences
impact on capital investment flows, firm productivity, and industry
competitiveness; domestic farm programs, international commodity
agreements, and agricultural trade distortions.
AGBS 250. Agricultural Policy Analysis (3)
Classified standing or permission of instructor. Examination of
policy-making processes; evaluation of government farm and food
programs; determination of industry responses and firm adjustments
to changing market structures and government policies; urbanization
and other land, air, water resource issues impacting agriculture;
geopolitics and agricultural trade policy.
AGBS 260. Commodity and Food Market Analysis
(3)
Prerequisite: AGBS 210. Classified standing or permission of instructor.
Economic and institutional relationships in food and fiber markets;
commodity futures trading and risk management; derived demand
by agribusiness for raw commodities; food industry marketing margins
and market price determination; distribution and merchandising
strategies; spatial and intertemporal price equilibrium models.
AGBS 280T. Topics in Agricultural Business
(3; max total 6)
Prerequisite: AGBS 210. Classified standing or permission of instructor.
Fields of study include: farm management, agribusiness management,
financial planning, international agriculture, public policy,
and product marketing.
AGBS 290. Independent Study (1-3; max total
6)
See Academic Placement -- Independent
Study. Approved for RP grading.
IN-SERVICE COURSE
(See Catalog Numbering
System.)
Agriculture (AGRI)
AGRI 300. Topics In Agriculture (1-3; max total 6)
Topics may require lab hours. In-service professional training
in selected areas of agriculture.
Agricultural Economics Degrees