Beginning in September 2009, Olds College will offer its new Agricultural Management Diploma, blending soon-to-be-retired diplomas in Agricultural Business, Crop & Agri Food Technology, and Agricultural Production.
Students within the Agricultural Management Diploma program will be able to choose between majors in Finance, Marketing and Production. A Bioprocessing & Distribution Major will be added to the diploma program in 2010.
In a release, Olds said interviews with agricultural employers and producers revealed a requirement for multiple skills, and emphasized the need for greater understanding of thin financial margins at all levels of agriculture, evolving technology, the consumer-driven marketplace and to shift away from commodity marketing.
Read Also
Is inflammation the real cause of milk fever in cattle?
UAlberta researcher Burim Ametaj’s theory challenges 200 hundred years of science and his work may change the approach for treatment.
“What came out clearly is that modern agribusinesses need good generalists. Agriculture is very much about integrating multiple elements, not just about a single discipline,” says Joel Gingrich, Chair of the Olds College School of Agriculture and Land Management. “It’s about making sure students have career flexibility when they graduate from the program.
Olds says that core agricultural production and business education that is a mainstay for students is still very much present.
“Somebody who is interested in going back to the farm can still do that. We integrate animals, agronomy, business and technology so they can be successful,” says Gingrich. “But now, more than ever, they also have the option of taking that education and carrying on into agribusiness – where there is a greater abundance and diversity of jobs than ever before.”
