Purdue University College of Agriculture

What Purdue University College of Agriculture does

Purdue University College of Agriculture is one of the constituent academic colleges of Purdue University, a public land-grant research university established in 1869 in West Lafayette, Indiana. The college delivers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs across more than a dozen departments spanning agronomy, animal sciences, food science, forestry and natural resources, horticulture, agricultural economics, and agricultural and biological engineering. It also operates Purdue Extension, a statewide network of county offices that delivers practical, research-based information to Indiana residents, farmers, and agricultural producers. The college serves four primary stakeholder groups: prospective and current students, Indiana farmers and agricultural producers, academic and industry research partners, and the broader Indiana public.

The college's technology and research portfolio is anchored by the Institute for Digital Forestry, which combines LiDAR (terrestrial, backpack, aerial/drone-based), satellite imagery, and proprietary AI/computer vision to measure, monitor, and manage urban and rural forests. Its flagship product, uTREE (Urban Tree Resilience and Environmental Equity), is an AI-based cyberinfrastructure that achieves 92.5% count accuracy across a preliminary dataset of 278 million trees in 330 U.S. cities. Additional research outputs include the patent-pending soybean-based biokerosene process (ozone-cracking of soybean oil into nonanoic acid, validated at -40°F) developed by the Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering, the PERSEUS multi-institute digital forestry program funded by USDA NIFA, and the interactive U.S. Farm Balance Sheet visualization tool. The college manages significant physical research assets, including a 1,600-acre Agronomy Center for Research and Education (ACRE) supporting 80 researchers from 15 departments annually and 4,173 acres of forest land across 25 Indiana properties.

The business model is a hybrid public-university revenue structure. Funding streams include tuition and fees, federal and state research grants (NSF, USDA NIFA), industry-funded research (Indiana Soybean Alliance, California Almond Board), private donations and endowments, and a tiered annual giving program (Dean's Club at $500, Agriculture Patron at $1,000+). The college does not generate revenue in a commercial sense but rather operates as a budgeted academic unit within Purdue University; it received notable external grant funding including a $5 million NSF award for uTREE in September 2024. Strategic positioning is reinforced by top-tier rankings: #3 in the U.S. and #6 globally for Agriculture (QS 2026) and #1 Agricultural and Biological Engineering graduate program (U.S. News 2026).

Name

Purdue University College of Agriculture

Legal name

The Trustees of Purdue University

Website

https://ag.purdue.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1869

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Purdue University College of Agriculture is a public land-grant academic college offering undergraduate and graduate programs, conducting agricultural and forestry research, and delivering statewide extension education to Indiana farmers, producers, and residents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education (Agricultural and Life Sciences)

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Research Universities with Engineering/Polytechnic Emphasis (EDAHAAAD)

Keywords

• Agricultural education
• Agricultural research
• Digital forestry
• Extension services
• Higher education

Headquarters

HQ city

West Lafayette

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Fees: Revenue from undergraduate and graduate student tuition, fees, and educational programs across multiple departments and online offerings.
2. Research Grants and Contracts: Funding from federal agencies including USDA, NSF, and other research organizations for agricultural, forestry, and environmental research projects.
3. Private Donations and Endowments: Gifts from alumni, corporations, and foundations supporting scholarships, faculty positions, facilities, and research programs.
4. Dean’s Club Membership: Annual giving program with membership tiers starting at $500 for individuals and $1,000+ for Agriculture Patron level, providing benefits including exclusive events and communications.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Purdue University College of Agriculture delivers undergraduate and graduate academic programs in agricultural sciences, life sciences, forestry and natural resources, food science, and agricultural and biological engineering. It conducts applied and basic research through departmental labs and dedicated centers (e.g., Institute for Digital Forestry, ACRE research farm), and provides Purdue Extension outreach to Indiana residents, producers, and communities. The college also licenses or publicly releases proprietary digital-forestry tools and bioenergy technologies developed through its research programs.

Product overview

Purdue University College of Agriculture is a higher education institution offering academic programs and conducting agricultural research. The college operates the Institute for Digital Forestry, which provides a platform of interconnected tools including uTREE (AI-based urban tree monitoring), iForester (mobile application), D2S (data platform), BackPack LiDAR system, and drone-based remote sensing. Additional offerings include the 'Trends in the U.S. Farm Balance Sheet' data visualization tool, soybean-based biokerosene research, the One Health initiative, and Purdue Extension educational services. The portfolio combines educational programs with research tools and platforms for agricultural innovation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Institute for Digital Forestry: A multidisciplinary research institute leveraging digital technology to measure, monitor and manage urban and rural forests
• Purdue Extension

Products and services

• uTREE Urban Tree Resilience and Environmental Equity Platform AI-driven platform that supports urban tree inventory, resilience analysis, and environmental equity assessments for urban-forestry and city-planning users.
• iForester Mobile Application Mobile app developed by the Institute for Digital Forestry for tree identification, forest inventory, and field-data collection by foresters and land managers.
• D2S (Data-to-Science) Data-Sharing Platform Platform that supports forestry data sharing and analytics workflows for researchers, land managers, and partners.
• BackPack LiDAR System Backpack-mounted mobile laser-scanning (LiDAR) hardware developed at Purdue for forest-structure measurement and carbon inventory.
• Drone-Based Remote Sensing Service Drone-based remote sensing and aerial phenotyping services used to characterize forest and crop structure at landscape scale.
• Trends in U.S. Farm Balance Sheet Visualization Tool Online visualization tool developed in collaboration with USDA Economic Research Service that displays trends in U.S. farm balance-sheet data.
• Soybean-Based Biokerosene Process Patent-pending ABE-developed process for converting soybean oil into biokerosene renewable fuel, with potential for licensing to bioenergy partners.
• Undergraduate Academic Programs Bachelor's degree programs in agriculture, life sciences, forestry and natural resources, food science, and agricultural and biological engineering, delivered on the West Lafayette campus.
• Graduate Academic Programs Master's and doctoral programs in agricultural and life-science disciplines, typically involving funded research assistantships with faculty advisors.
• Agriculture Online Certificate and Degree Programs Online certificates and degree programs in agriculture and related fields delivered remotely through Agriculture Online.
• Purdue Extension Outreach Services Statewide extension and outreach programming delivered to Indiana producers, landowners, and communities through county offices, field days, and educational events.

Quantifiable outcome

• 92.5% tree count accuracy with uTREE AI system
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• California Almond BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 June 2026Research partnership with postdoctoral scholar Han Chen and professor Betty Feng to study how the California Almond Board successfully formed an alliance among growers and processors for food quality and safety after Salmonella outbreaks in the early 2000s.
• Vincennes UniversitysecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2026Purdue's Indiana AgrAbility Project partnered with Vincennes University and Easterseals Crossroads to host a free Assistive Technology Expo featuring demonstrations of adaptive tools and machinery for farmers and ranchers with disabilities.
• Easterseals CrossroadssecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2026Partnership with Purdue's Indiana AgrAbility Project and Vincennes University to host Assistive Technology Expo for farmers and ranchers with disabilities. Addresses the issue of farmers ranking second among laborers with disabilities due to work-related injuries.
• Institute for Physical Artificial IntelligencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 September 2024Collaboration with Purdue's Institute for Physical Artificial Intelligence, a Purdue Computes initiative, to demonstrate AI-based approaches operating in previously unseen urban areas for the uTREE project.
• The Morton ArboretumsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 September 2024Research collaboration with The Morton Arboretum, where graduate student Lindsay Darling now works as GIS and Data Specialist, contributing to urban forestry research and buckthorn invasion mapping in the Chicago region.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences: Direct peer: Big Ten land-grant college with overlapping departments in food science, forestry, and agricultural engineering, and an extension footprint in an adjacent state.
• Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources: Direct peer: Big Ten land-grant peer with parallel forestry, natural resources, and agricultural extension programs, competing for the same Great Lakes regional students and grants.
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of ACES: Direct peer: Big Ten land-grant agriculture college with overlapping programs in crop sciences, food science, and digital agriculture, and a similar Midwestern farmer stakeholder base.
• Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Direct peer: Ivy-league land-grant agriculture college competing for top-ranked status, federal grants, and faculty in plant, animal, food, and environmental sciences.
• Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Direct peer: another top-ranked public land-grant college of agriculture with comparable teaching, research, and extension missions, competing for the same faculty, students, and federal grants.
• North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Direct peer: large public land-grant agriculture college with strong research programs in plant sciences, forestry, and food science, frequently co-listed with Purdue in national rankings.
• Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Direct peer: large public land-grant agriculture college with strong extension network and research portfolio directly comparable to Purdue's mission and scale.
• University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences: Direct peer: Big Ten land-grant college with similar scope across food, agriculture, and natural resource sciences, and a regional extension mandate.
• UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences: Direct peer: leading agriculture college within a major public research university, with overlapping departments in plant sciences, animal science, food science, and environmental/forestry research.
• University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences: Direct peer: Big Ten land-grant agriculture college with comparable dairy, agronomy, and natural resources programs, ranking in the same top-tier band as Purdue.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/PurdueAg
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/Purdueagriculture
• Facebookfacebook.com/PurdueAg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/purdue-university
• Instagraminstagram.com/purdue_ag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Purdue University College of Agriculture