agribusiness

noun ag·ri·busi·ness \ ˈa-grə-ˌbiz-nəs , -nəz \

Updated on: 21 Apr 2018

Definition of agribusiness

: an industry engaged in the producing operations of a farm, the manufacture and distribution of farm equipment and supplies, and the processing, storage, and distribution of farm commodities

See agribusiness defined for English-language learners

Examples of agribusiness in a Sentence

Several large agribusinesses own most of the farms around here.

Recent Examples of agribusiness from the Web

The Smithfield acquisition gave the Chinese company access to advanced agribusiness know-how and high-quality U.S. pork to sell to middle-class consumers in China.

— lucy craymer, WSJ, "Bringing Home the Bacon Gets Costly for Chinese Firms With U.S. Units," 11 Apr. 2018
And in many areas of rural America the best jobs are in chicken processing plants, private prisons, agribusinesses, and other large-scale employers that dominate their local economies.

— suresh naidu, eric posner, Vox, "More and more companies have monopoly power over workers’ wages. That’s killing the economy.," 6 Apr. 2018
The world of private capital markets includes companies of all sizes, from small oil-well operators to agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. that raise equity and float debt with a few investors.

— coulter jones, WSJ, "The Fuel Powering Corporate America: $2.4 Trillion in Private Fundraising," 3 Apr. 2018
Back at the agency, Pruitt’s steadily rolled back or stalled environmental regulations to benefit the fossil fuels industry, the chemicals industry, and big agribusiness.

— umair irfan, Vox, "Outrage from environmentalists will only boost Pruitt’s standing in Trump’s orbit.," 30 Mar. 2018
The thriving economy is a diverse mix of oil and gas-related industries, medical technology, agribusiness, construction, Fortune 500 companies, government and seafood.

— ardie a. davis, kansascity, "Houston BBQ contest full of fun, flavor and hospitality | The Kansas City Star," 2 Mar. 2018
The deal announced Tuesday is meant to keep the playing field level between co-ops and other crop buyers, ranging from independent local grain companies to agribusiness giants such as Cargill and ADM.

— Washington Post, "Deal reached to fix unintended tax break for certain farmers," 14 Mar. 2018
Miles turned his family’s seed business into one of Kentucky’s largest agribusinesses and owned a 40,000-acre ranch in Bolivia and another in Belize.

— andrew wolfson, The Courier-Journal, "Billy Joe Miles, ex-UK board chairman, who fended off sexual assault charges, has died," 13 Mar. 2018
Even still, the agriculture secretary’s comments may offer some hope for agribusiness lobbyists and other Nafta supporters who warn that scrapping the accord will bring painful economic costs.

— alan bjerga, Bloomberg.com, "Trump Has Come to See Nafta’s Benefits, Agriculture Secretary Says," 17 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'agribusiness.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.