The concept of agribusiness is old. It dates back to 1957 when Davis and Goldberg published A Concept of Agribusiness. This work began the study of agribusiness separately from the rest of the economy.
In that book, they defined agribusiness as “the sum of all operations involved in the manufacture and distribution of farm supplies; production operations on the farm; and the storage, processing, and distribution of farm commodities and items made from them.”
Much later, in 2016, Van Fleet expanded that definition. He described agribusiness as “all organizations, large and small, profit-seeking and eleemosynary, that engage in the production, distribution, marketing, or utilization of food, fiber, forest products, or biofuel, including those that supply water to and collect waste from those organizations.”
From that research emerges the division of agribusiness into three fields: (a) agricultural supply activities or before the farm gate. (b) agricultural activities or inside the farm gate. and (c) processes that add value to the rural products or post the farm gate, as shown in the table below.
The activities before the farm gate provide the rural producer with the inputs, equipment, services, and even financial resources he needs to perform his function.
The activities inside the farm gate are those of rural production: agriculture, livestock, forestry, and animal and vegetal extractive (hunting, fishing, and gathering).
The activities after the farm gate involve all the processes that transform or add value to the agricultural product, including transport services, storage, port services, distribution, and marketing.
Another way of classifying agricultural activities is according to their principal purpose. Following this criterion, those producing food are part of the agri-food system, while the others are part of the non-food agribusiness system.
Some consumer products derived from agribusiness are meals, drinks, clothes, shoes, furniture, books, cigarettes, medicines, spices, and flowers.
C. L. Eckhard, author of Pricing in Agribusiness: setting and managing prices for better sales margins.
Claudio Luiz Eckhard is a former professor, business consultant, and author of the books “Ajustando o Rumo”[Adjusting the Business Course], “Gestão pela Margem”[Management by Margin], “A Empresa Saudável”[The Healthy Company], and “Pricing no Agribusiness”[Pricing in Agribusiness].
