agribusiness
AG-ree-biz-ness
/ˈæɡ.rɪˌbɪz.nəs/
Commercial agriculture considered as a large-scale corporate enterprise.
Encompasses everything from farming equipment manufacturing, processing, and seed biotechnology to distribution networks.
The story behind the word. Coined in 1957 by John Davis and Ray Goldberg of Harvard Business School to describe the modern integration of agriculture with industrial business operations.
Word relationships
- corporate farming: Corporate farming refers strictly to farm ownership by corporations, whereas agribusiness includes the entire supply chain from fertilizers to food packaging.
- commercial agriculture: Commercial agriculture emphasizes farming for market sale rather than corporate integration.
- subsistence farming: Subsistence farming produces only enough food for family survival without corporate involvement.
Commonly confused with
- agronomy: Agronomy is the science of soil management and crop production; agribusiness is the commercial industry surrounding agriculture.
Word family
- agribusinessman (noun): An executive or operator in corporate agriculture.
Collocations
- agribusiness conglomerate
- global agribusiness
- agribusiness sector
- corporate agribusiness
Example sentences
- "Multinational agribusiness firms now control large sectors of seed production and grain distribution." Corporate economics
Memory hook
AGRI (field) + BUSINESS = farming run like a massive corporate enterprise. Farming as a big corporate business.
When not to use
Do not use to describe small, non-profit family subsistence plots.
Fun facts
- The term was invented at Harvard to reflect how modern farms had transformed into sophisticated industrial supply chains.
Explore more words
aggregation, supply chain, industrialize, manufacturing, biotechnology, agrarian
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