What makes you say it’s disturbing? Having grown up near several Ag colleges, I never questioned it.

I cannot avoid reading it as silver (the chemical element), especially when the first letter is uppercase. I had a hard time understanding some sentences of the article due to that. My mind just refuses to parse "ag" as "agriculture". It's just that I'm not used to it.

EDIT: In your case, I cannot help to think about your colleges as very shiny, kitsch buildings.

> Do people pronounce that in speech?

I've heard it frequently in politics. (It's also an acceptable Scrabble word.) Pronounced the same way it is in the word agriculture.

Chapter in a James Bond book "The Man From Ag And Fish", that is the Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry.

It is pronounced the same way as the beginning of agriculture.

/æɡ/

Yes farmers say it in speech. Pronounced ag. Like the first syllable of agriculture.

It is a weird abbreviation. Laziness precludes me from typing agriculture too much.

Pronounced "Aaahggg"

I believe there's python documentation about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlIz0q8aWpA