New program created in response to region’s workforce needs, interest from area high school students.
by Duane Bonifer
COLUMBIA, KY. (03/17/2026) In response to regional workforce needs and a growing interest from area high school students, Lindsey Wilson University will begin an agribusiness major in the 2026-27 school year.
“We are excited about this major because it is an alignment between agriculture, business and our region’s workforce needs,” said Lindsey Wilson School of Business and Communication Dean Benson Sexton ’04. “Our goal was simple: create a program where students don’t have to leave rural America to get a world-class, career-ready agribusiness education connected to the land and the communities they call home.
“We wanted to do more than just launch a new agribusiness program — we wanted to create a program that would launch the next generation of Kentucky agribusiness leadership.”
The 120-hour bachelor of arts degree will include 12 core courses (36 hours) and four electives (12 hours) that will draw on the disciplines of agriculture, biology, business management, communication, economics, English, and sustainability and environmental studies.
“Students will develop analytical, problem-solving, and communication and leadership skills that are in high demand in the modern agricultural economy,” said Sexton. “Lindsey Wilson’s multidisciplinary approach to agribusiness reflects our university’s commitment to giving students a well-rounded liberal arts education that cultivates critical thinking and lifelong learning while preparing them to enter the workforce.”
Career-ready graduates
Lindsey Wilson’s agribusiness major will also produce career-ready graduates through internships, field experiences and partnerships with agricultural enterprises, community organizations and government agencies.
“These components will provide students with meaningful, hands-on learning opportunities that connect classroom knowledge to professional practice,” said Sexton. “Students won’t just study agribusiness, they will practice it alongside the people who live it every day. By engaging students in practical applications, our program will reinforce Lindsey Wilson’s tradition of developing graduates who are prepared to contribute immediately and effectively to the workforce.”
Benson said Lindsey Wilson’s agribusiness major will prepare students for a plethora of career options. While the focus of the major is on Kentucky’s rural economies, Sexton said it will also appeal to students from urban areas who are interested in having a career in an industry that contributed more than $1.5 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2023, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
“This program is designed to give students a direct pathway into the wide range of careers that power today’s agricultural economy — not only farm ownership and management but careers like crop insurance, agricultural lending, ag sales, supply chain coordination, commodity marketing, equipment operations and agribusiness consulting,” he said. “Modern agriculture runs on informed business decisions, risk management, data and relationships, and this program prepares students to step into those roles with confidence.”
Conversations with region’s ag industry, high schools
Benson said that before the new major was approved by the university’s faculty and Board of Trustees, Lindsey Wilson leadership consulted with the region’s agriculture industry; it also surveyed area high school students and high school agriculture teachers about the program.
“Area high school students and ag teachers we spoke with expressed a great deal of excitement of having a well-rounded, multidisciplinary agribusiness major in Southcentral Kentucky,” said Sexton.
Another characteristic that makes Lindsey Wilson’s agribusiness program unique is that it combines agriculture, business, English, sustainability and environmental studies, and service in a rural context aligned with community development.
“This is a high-impact, professionally oriented degree while staying rooted in liberal arts values,” said Sexton. “This program will offer students high-value experiential learning that will enhance their degree in numerous ways.”
Lindsey Wilson University will launch an agribusiness major in the 2026-27 school year. “We are excited about this major because it is an alignment between agriculture, business and our region’s workforce needs,” said Lindsey Wilson School of Business and Communication Dean Benson Sexton ’04. “Our goal was simple: create a program where students don’t have to leave rural America to get a world-class, career-ready agribusiness education connected to the land and the communities they call home.”
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
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(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)