In the conditions of constant changes, the emergence of new technologies and transformations at the micro- and macro-level, professions are changing. In the atlas of new professions developed in the Russian Federation in 2021, the new profession «agro-economist» is defined as a new one. However, it is difficult to consider it fundamentally new, because in the Russian pre-revolutionary period, in the Soviet period and in the first 16 years of post-Soviet life, economists for the agricultural sector of the economy were trained within the framework of specialized educational programs. That is conditioned by the agriculture specifics. The transition of Russia to the Bologna system of higher education, the highlighting the necessity to prepare bachelors with wider competences, without taking into account the industry specifics, and the elimination of the program «Economics» in non-core universities led to the fact that the number of specialists in the economics of agricultural enterprises decreased badly. At present, when the Russian system of higher education is preparing for the next global reforms – transition to a unique system of higher education, the issues of the content of educational programs focused on the training of economists for agriculture of the Russian Federation are mainstreamed. The combination of the best experience of the past and a clear vision of the future will make it possible to create curricula that meet contemporary requirements and the current level of scientific and technological development.