A new minor in the masters of business administration program will combine business and sustainable agriculture, beginning next fall.

Dermot Hayes, professor of economics, said students in the two-year graduate program will mainly take business classes during their first year. The second year will focus on sustainable agriculture.

“It’s an attempt to develop business skills in a segment of the industry that is not known for business skills,” he said.

Rich Pirog, program coordinator for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, agreed.

“It makes sense that we need a better linkage between sustainable agriculture and the College of Business,” he said.

Pirog said right now there are not many opportunities for students in sustainable agriculture because the students do not have a background in business.

“We’re hoping it would lead to employment opportunities in the food industry for environmentally friendly businesses,” he said.

Pirog said sustainable agriculture is a way for farmers to profit while protecting natural resources. “If we continue to practice sustainable agriculture, we’ll have the resources there as long as we’re there,” he said.

Two graduate assistantships will be added in addition to the new minor.

Pirog said the assistants will be funded by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. The grant is for the Value Chain Partnerships for Sustainable Agriculture. It is an attempt to get farmers to be a participant in the value chain, which is a link of partners that work collaboratively to meet consumer demand, he said.

“These [graduate] students we hope will be involved with work we have in this project,” Pirog said.

— Katie Drake