agribusiness

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

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

After health care, finance and insurance and communications industries, agribusiness ranked 9th overall in lobbying spending at $65.7 million so far this year, even beating out defense which was ranked 10th.

— bartholomew d sullivan, USA TODAY, "Mega-mergers in agribusiness raise concerns about food costs, biodiversity," 29 Aug. 2017
The center also reported agribusiness organizations – which include farming, food production and stores – spent $127.5 million last year in lobbying the federal government.

— special to the oregonian, OregonLive.com, "Farm communities face contaminated water from manure, nitrates, records reveal," 15 Aug. 2017
Life-changing for the college students Mr. McVay, who was a longtime executive at the agribusiness company Cargill, saw the program thrive before his death in 2011.

— bobbi dumas, The Christian Science Monitor, "How a couple's gift to a university benefits more than just college students," 11 Aug. 2017
Many of the state’s leading industries, including agribusiness, aerospace, health care, software and construction, need employees with advanced degrees.

— washington state university, The Seattle Times, "The world needs more people with graduate degrees," 4 Aug. 2017
Food and agribusiness is a $5 trillion market globally.

— mike freeman, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Qualcomm invests $15M in digital farming startup," 26 July 2017
Since Howard Buffett moved to the Decatur area in 1992 to become a corporate vice president and assistant to the chairman at agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland, the city has been home, at least part of the time.

— ally marotti, chicagotribune.com, "Warren Buffett's son taps family fortune to jump-start Decatur's recovery," 13 July 2017
Which means the few really concerted efforts to reduce nutrients have been overwhelmed by the usual way of big agribusiness in the watershed.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Gulf of Mexico “Dead Zone” May Be Size of New Jersey This Year," 23 June 2017
Barton, 48, has been a partner in the Boise law firm Givens Pursley LLP since 2011, focusing on environmental, mining, agribusiness and natural resources law, and on government regulations and administrative law.

— peggy calhoun and david staats, idahostatesman, "Barton named judge; ‘Idaho the Movie 2’ wins Emmys; Nampa’s Clothing Exchange reopens," 12 June 2017

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.