Agriculture Today

Unit 1: Agribusiness in Today’s Agriculture Industry

Lesson: AT1

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Objectives

Lesson Objective:

After completing the lesson on agriculture today, students will demonstrate their ability to apply the concept in real-world situations by obtaining a minimum score of 80% on an Agriculture Careers Tri-fold.

Enabling Objectives:

1. Describe the concept of utility and identify the five sectors of agriculture and how they fit together within the industry.

2. Identify five careers available in agribusiness today.

3. Explain the free enterprise system while examining agribusiness at the local, state, national, and international level.

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Key Terms

• Utility

• Free enterprise

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How do we get from A to B?

• How does the product get from the picture on the left to the picture on the right?

• Who and/or what is involved in this process?

• Why is it important for this process to take place?

• How does this process affect our local economy?

• How does this process affect our state economy?

• How does this process affect the United States economy?

• How does this process affect the international economy?

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Concept of Utility

Form Utility

•Creation of a product starts at the farm, or production, level•Satisfaction, or utility, grows as the product is changed to a form which meets the needs of the customer•Processing efforts are put into place to add value to the product and increase utility

Place Utility

•Consumers want products in a specific form, and with convenient access•Stores where you can buy everything under one roof, food delivery services, etc.

Time Utility

•Consumers want products in a timely fashion

Cues are taken from consumers’ utility for a particular product to drive future production, processing, wholesaling, and retailing of that product.

UTILITY

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Major Sectors Agriculture Industry

• Farm level activities Produc

ing• Changing a product from the raw farm product

to a consumable or sellable productProcessing • Organizing the purchase or sale of products by

retailers Wholesaling

• Making products available to customersRetailing • Buying or not buying specific products to meet personal needs• Sends a price signal back through the sectors to cause a production

responseConsuming

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Ag Business &

Management Systems

Ag Mechanics & Technology

Systems

Plant Science & Horticulture

Systems

Food Science Systems

Natural Resources

Conservation Systems

Animal Science Systems Agriculture

Career Clusters

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FREE ENTERPRISE

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Free Enterprise

• Economic system

• Regulates itself in a freely competitive market through supply and demand

• Minimal government control and regulation

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Characteristics of American Free Enterprise

Private ownership of the land and capital

needed for production •Buildings, machines, and other equipment used to produce goods and services for profits•Potential reward of profit motivates individuals and business firms to risk their private capital

Organization and coordination of economic activity through

interaction of buyers and sellers or buyers and producers in the

different markets •Interaction guided by needs of the buyers and ability of seller or producer to meet needs•Consumer Sovereignty •Freedom of consumers to spend income in ways that will create the most satisfaction for them•Producers are forced to produce what best satisfies the needs of customers;•If they don’t, their competitors who do meet those needs will receive the profits

•Self-interest guides production of goods and services

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Characteristics of American Free Enterprise

Freedom of the owners of land and capital and the workers that they

employ to pursue their own interests in seeking maximum gain from the use of their resources and labor in production

•Customers are free to spend their income in ways they believe will yield the greatest satisfaction•Businesses and workers are free to seek the most profit possible from what they product

Minimal government supervision

•If competition is present, economic activity will be self-regulated•Competition in the market meets the needs of consumers for inexpensive, well-made goods; government does not limit choices of entrepreneurs •Everyone has the right to invest his or her money in any type of business and compete with others in the marketplace

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WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE?

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Conclusion

• The agriculture industry is a vast free enterprise system encompassing producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers working together to create commodities and products to meet local, state, national, and international demands.

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Exit Card

• What did you learn today about the agriculture industry today?

• What questions do you still have about the agriculture industry?