While Business is one of the most well-known colleges at the University, it is often forgotten that students can take an alternative route to the world of business — through agriculture. Agricultural accounting, or AgAccy, allows students to apply their knowledge of accounting to the production and processing of the agricultural industry.

Students that choose this major are also not limited to the confines of agriculture because the required coursework is very versatile. Many of them are able to earn their title as certified management accountant or certified public accountant prior to graduation. Internships that have been approved by ACES can also count for course credit for the major. This allows students to gain hands-on experience in agribusiness. More information can be found at the ACES Career Center.

Osayuki Uwumarogie, freshman in ACES, has already decided on a five-year college plan in order to better prepare herself for the CPA examinations. She also will be choosing to take additional course work — which is optional for AgAccy — to better prepare herself for the examinations and her future career.

Students are required to take many of the same classes as accounting majors in Business, according to Ann Finnegan, director of undergraduate admissions and advising for ACES. These courses include: microeconomics, macroeconomics, applied computing, statistics, calculus, finance and classes of specialization in agriculture.

As a freshman, Uwumarogie is currently taking more business-related classes in order to fulfill her 126-hour graduation requirement. Although she said she feels there is a certain amount of stress in relation to her classes, she believes it will all be worth it in the long run. Students at the University have argued which students have a more difficult course load — accounting majors in Business or Agriculture. However, Uwumarogie said both require a special degree of proficiency to master. She said it is difficult to determine which is more rigorous. 

“I feel like people think that because my accounting has the word ‘agricultural’ in front of it that it’s a completely different concept from regular accounting. Both deal with a lot of the same applications because it is essentially accounting,” she said.

However, if a student decides agricultural accounting is not the field for them, it is also a major that allows leniency when transferring. Abby Koepke, sophomore in ACES, is currently transferring out of ACES and into  LAS. She said there has been little difficulty with the process, and many of her classes were transferable.

Finnegan also said transferring into ACES is relatively simple with no special requirements needed. Applications are strengthened by one’s GPA, success in relevant classes and compatible interests with the AgAccy program, Finnegan said.

AgAccy students have a variety of internships available to them as well, such as Fortune 500 food and agribusiness companies and public accounting firms.  With multiple options available, Uwumarogie hopes to enter the world of financial auditing one day or possibly become a financial analyst. Originally, her decision to join ACES was an accident, because she had wanted to be in Business for accounting. However, she believes this accident was actually an unexpected, positive change to her original plans because it opened her eyes to new possibilities.

Whether it may be an accident or on purpose, agricultural accounting is a diverse major that allows students at the University to gain extensive knowledge of accounting with an agricultural twist.

Christen can be reached at [email protected].