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agribusiness

 
American Heritage Dictionary:

ag·ri·busi·ness

(ăg'rə-bĭz'nĭs) pronunciation
n.
Farming engaged in as a large-scale business operation embracing the production, processing, and distribution of agricultural products and the manufacture of farm machinery, equipment, and supplies.


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Agriculture operated by business; specifically, that part of a modern national economy devoted to the production, processing, and distribution of food and fibre products and byproducts. Commercial farming has largely supplanted the family farm in production of cash crops. Some food-processing firms that operate farms have begun to market fresh produce under their brand names. In recent years, conglomerates involved in nonagricultural businesses have entered agribusiness by buying and operating large farms.

For more information on agribusiness, visit Britannica.com.

Large-scale production, processing, and marketing of food and nonfood farm commodities and products. Agribusiness is a major commercial business. California has the largest concentration of agribusiness in the United States.


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Large agricultural operations which are run like an industry. A single business can be concerned with the whole of agricultural output: the ownership of land, the agricultural process, the manufacture of agricultural machinery, the processing of the product, and its shipment. This is typical of agribusinesses in the USA; European equivalents are not generally as all-embracing. An agribusiness is characterized by very large production units, and considerable vertical and horizontal integration. For example, a firm producing frozen vegetables sets up contracts with farmers and also owns the company which provides their contract labour and sells them fertilizer. Management tends to be by administrators and accountants rather than farmers because the farms may be only a minor part of the business.

The part of the economy devoted to the production, processing, and distribution of food, including the financial institutions that fund these activities.

  • Agribusiness emphasizes agriculture as a big business rather than as the work of small family farms.

  • Random House Word Menu:

    categories related to 'agribusiness'

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    Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
    For a list of words related to agribusiness, see:

    Wikipedia on Answers.com:

    Agribusiness

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    In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales.

    Contents

    Connotations

    The term has two distinctly different connotations depending on context.

    Descriptive

    Within the agriculture industry, agribusiness is widely used simply as a convenient portmanteau of agriculture and business, referring to the range of activities and disciplines encompassed by modern food production. There are academic degrees in and departments of agribusiness, agribusiness trade associations, agribusiness publications, and so forth, worldwide. Here, the term is only descriptive, and is synonymous in the broadest sense with food industry. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, for example, operates a section devoted to Agribusiness Development [1], which seeks to promote food industry growth in the Third World.

    Corporate farming

    Among critics of large-scale, industrialized, vertically integrated food production, the term agribusiness is used negatively, synonymous with corporate farming. As such, it is often contrasted with smaller family-owned farms. Negative connotations are also derived from the negative associations of "business" and "corporations" by critics of capitalism or corporate excess. As concern over Global warming intensifies, biofuels derived from food crops are gaining increased public and scientific attention, driven by factors such as oil price spikes, the need for increased energy security, concern over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, and support from government subsidies. In Europe and in the US, increased research and production of biofuels has been mandated by law.[1]

    Examples

    Examples of agribusinesses include Monsanto, seed and agrichemical producer; ADM, grain transport and processing; John Deere, farm machinery producer; Ocean Spray, farmer's cooperative; and Purina Farms, agritourism farm.

    Studies and reports

    To promote exports of food products, many government agencies publish on the web economic studies and reports categorized by product and country. Among these agencies include four of the largest exporters of food products, such as the FAS of the United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Austrade, and NZTE . The Federation of International Trade Associations publishes studies and reports by FAS and AAFC, as well as other non-governmental organizations on its website GlobalTrade.net.

    See also

    Notes and references

    1. ^ Backpedaling on Biofuels

    External links


    Translations:

    Agribusiness

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    Dansk (Danish)
    n. - forretningsmæssigt landbrug, kommercielt landbrug

    Nederlands (Dutch)
    commerciële landbouw

    Français (French)
    n. - agro-industries

    Deutsch (German)
    n. - Agrarindustrie

    Ελληνική (Greek)
    n. - (οικον.) καθετοποιημένη αγροτική επιχείρηση

    Italiano (Italian)
    agroindustria

    Português (Portuguese)
    n. - agroindústria (f)

    Русский (Russian)
    фермерство

    Español (Spanish)
    n. - agroindustria

    Svenska (Swedish)
    n. - jordbruksnäring

    中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
    农业综合企业

    中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
    n. - 農業綜合企業

    한국어 (Korean)
    n. - 농업 관련 산업

    日本語 (Japanese)
    n. - 農業関連産業

    العربيه (Arabic)
    ‏(الاسم) صناعات و أعمال متعلقه بالزراعه‏

    עברית (Hebrew)
    n. - ‮עסקי חקלאות‬


     
     
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    Copyrights:

    American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Barron's Business Dictionary. Dictionary of Business Terms. Copyright © 2007 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Oxford Dictionary of Geography. A Dictionary of Geography. Copyright © Susan Mayhew 1992, 1997, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: Economics. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Agribusiness Read more
    Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

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