Ohio AgriBusiness Association - Agribusiness and Production Systems Certification

The Ohio AgriBusiness Association provides an industry-recognized, agribusiness credential that verifies high school student expertise in the areas of agriculture, agribusiness and production systems.

To be eligible for the program, a student must be enrolled in a career­-technical agricultural program and complete four of the following courses, where they are engaged in learning and applying technical skills in foundational agricultural concepts:

• Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources
• Agronomic Systems
• Animal & Plant Science
• Business Management for Agricultural & Environmental Systems
• Environmental Science for Agriculture and Natural Resources
• Global Economics & Marketing of Food
• Greenhouse and Nursery Management
• Livestock Selection, Nutrition & Management
• Mechanical Principles
• Science and Technology of Food.

As one of the four required courses, students must complete either Business Management for Agricultural & Environmental Systems or Global Economics & Marketing of Food. These upper­-level courses test students’ knowledge of global agriculture marketing and business principles applied in agribusiness.

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE) ­– a student project that involves real world agricultural activities done by students outside of the planned classroom and laboratory time are also integral in attaining the OABA credential.

To be considered, a student’s SAE must be an entrepreneurial, placement, or research-­driven project pertaining to the agriculture industry. The student must document at least 500 hours of work on their project(s) and identify the Ohio Agricultural & Environmental Systems Career Field Technical Content Standards achieved through their SAE.