Sustainable Agriculture with Crop Management

You will gain a well-grounded understanding of the science and management of sustainable crop production systems, and be able to apply this to real-life situations. In your first year, you will focus on gaining a sound theoretical and practical understanding of sustainable agricultural production through develop your knowledge and skills in the foundations of agricultural science and production, before specialising in Crop Management in your second year.

The Crop Management pathway combines the science and principles of a range of crop production methods. Integrated Crop Management will focus on field-based crop production and its holistic approach to the sustainable agronomic management of crops; in particular crop protection, soil health, nutrition, genetics and waste management, whilst making key connections to environmental land management, regenerative agriculture, and associated eco-systems services.

You will also explore the principles and applied practices of protected growing in our state-of-the-art hydroponic vertical farm and glasshouse systems as complementary or alternative soil-less cropping method, which are growing in popularity due to their potential in plant-based alternative and “Urban Agriculture” markets.

Rural business management is integrated throughout your foundation degree, covering areas such as diversification, marketing, and accounting. These skills are hugely important in the assessment, monitoring and management of successful agricultural businesses and are often looked for by employers in the food industry. You will also explore the field-to-fork concept and methods of adding value to produce and the overall supply chain.

Upon graduation you will be armed with the toolkit required to progress the crop industry forward in a role in crop management, as well as be able to progress to the BSc (Hons) in Sustainable Agriculture Top-up degree.

Course features

• Training on our commercial farm — a regional centre for agricultural education

• Centre for Horticulture, the Environment and Sustainable Technology – including vertical farm and glasshouse

• Projects run by the Institute of Sustainability & Food Innovation (IoSFI) and the Reaseheath Sustainability Committee

• Industry work placement and visits from guest speakers

• Field trips and study for additional industry-recognised qualifications

Careers

• Farm/Unit Management

• Farm and Environmental Consultancy

• Farm Business Analyst

• Agronomist

• Vertical Farm or Glasshouse Manager

• Research and Development

Level 4
At level 4 all Sustainable Agriculture students will study a suite of core modules which will provide the foundations in agricultural science and production to aid specialisation at level 5. Modules will include:

• Animal, Plant and Soil Science
• Sustainable Livestock Production Systems
• Farm Animal Welfare and Nutrition
• Farm Business Diversification and Marketing
• Sustainable Crop and Forage Production Systems
• Agricultural Machinery & Technology

Level 5
At level 5 students studying the Sustainable Agriculture with Crop Management pathways will study:

• Environmental Land Management
• Business Management and Finance
• Work Based Learning for Land-Based Industries
• Protected Growing
• Integrated Crop Management
• Applied Crop Investigation

Module assessments are designed to encourage both academic and workplace skill development. They include a wide range of coursework-based assessments in both independent and collaborative formats including reports, data processing, presentations, academic posters, lab-reports, seminar discussions, literature reviews and portfolios. Assessments will range in size and will be spread throughout the year to give you the greatest level of support and feedback whilst maintaining an even, manageable workload.

Examples include a short lab-report as part of the Integrated Crop Management module in which you will develop the skills to undertake soil analysis and report key results, whilst your digital communication skills will be challenged in a series of blog posts on the market opportunities for alternative crops as part of the Protected Cropping module. To investigate the crop industry further, you will conduct an Applied Crop Investigation, in which you will examine the latest research in an area of crop management, develop a research methodology, conduct statistical analysis and later produce a scientific poster to share the results of your group investigation.