Agribusiness Merit Badge History
Introduced1987
Preceded byFarm and Ranch Management, Food Systems
StatusDiscontinued 1995
Replaced withNone
Earned through 20036,716
Best year19931,138 earned
All-time popularity#216official, as of 2020#218by 2025 (estimate)
The Story
The Agribusiness merit badge was short-lived and is one of the shortest run merit badge titles as well as total earned during its tenure in the merit badge offerings. Agribusiness was introduced along with 5 other merit badges in 1987; the first new offerings since 1982 (Backpacking).
Trivia
Timeline
1987 The Agribusiness merit badge is introduced. The earliest known Agribusiness pamphlet printing (Type 9A-1).
1993 First known count: 1,138 Agribusiness merit badges earned. All-time high: 1,138 Agribusiness merit badges earned. Best ranking: 117th of 123 merit badges.
1995 Last year the Agribusiness merit badge is offered.
Merit Badge Patches
Select a patch to enlarge it; many include the back.
What do the patch types mean?
- Type H
- Plastic back (1972 - 2002). A plastic stiffener on the back. Collectors tell them apart by the back, which can be clear, white, or a very light blue plastic, with waffle-textured and smooth molded versions. These are sorted into variations H1 through H5.
- Type I
- Computer designed (1993 - 1995). Flat-edged badges with machine (computer) embroidery and a wider border. Only some badges were made this way.
Dates are approximate and can vary by badge.
Merit Badge Pamphlets
The printings come from Scoutmaster Bucky's own collection and research.
Select a cover to see its back covers and every known printing.
4 printings, all in the collection.
Type 9A-1 1987 - 19881 back · 3 printings · 3 in collection
back 9B-21987 - 1988 · No. 3272
- 1987 Sep · 2M
- 1988 Jan · 5M
- 1988 Jun · 6M
In collectionConfirmed, not in collectionUnconfirmed: not yet seen, may not existM = thousand copies, as printed on the pamphlet.
Type 9A-2 19951 back · 1 printing · 1 in collection
back 9D1995 · No. 33272
- 1995 Apr · 1M
In collectionConfirmed, not in collectionUnconfirmed: not yet seen, may not existM = thousand copies, as printed on the pamphlet.
Earned by Year
First earned in 1993. Peak year 1993 with 1,138. Hover over or tap a year for its numbers.
Known count No data available
"—" means merit badges were earned that year but the exact number is not currently known. "#128 of 130" means the badge was number 128 of the 130 merit badges earned that year. The grand total comes from official reports and includes the years without a known count. The 2025 all-time place is an estimate, because the counts for 2021 to 2025 are worked out from each year's official ranking and the total number of merit badges earned that year.
1987—
1988—
1989—
1990—
1991—
1992—
19931,138#117 of 123
1994—
1995—
1996192#121 of 134
1997—
1998—
1999—
200077#124 of 128
200143#122 of 129
200212#126 of 129
200312#128 of 130
Grand total through 2003: