Sustainable Agriculture with Dairy Herd Management

In your first year, you will focus on gaining a sound theoretical and practical understanding of sustainable agricultural production through developing your knowledge and skills in the foundations of agricultural science and production, before specialising in Dairy Herd Management in your second year.

On the Dairy Herd Management pathway, you will explore different management strategies in key areas such as genetics, nutrition and health which will enable you to effectively combine science and production to combat key global issues such as food security and climate change. In particular, you will explore the role of autonomous and biological technologies, such as our robotic milking facility, and concepts such as OneHealth to improve livestock health, efficiency and sustainability.

Rural business management is integrated throughout your foundation degree, covering areas such as diversification, marketing and accounting, which are hugely important for the performance monitoring and management of successful agricultural businesses and are often looked for by employers in the food industry.

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

Course features:

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

• Developing research skills using new state-of-the-art technologies, including our Lely Astronaut A5 automated robotic milking systems and Data Hub

• 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:

• Herd Management

• Farm and Environmental Consultancy

• Animal Health Advisory & Sales

• Animal Genetics Advisory & Sales

• Farm Business Analyst

• Vet Technician

• 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 Dairy Herd Management pathway will study:

• Environmental Land Management
• Business Management and Finance
• Work Based Learning for Land-Based Industries
• Farm Animal Health and Behaviour
• Sustainable Dairy Herd Management
• Applied Dairy 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 report in Sustainable Dairy Herd Management, in which you will develop analytical skills to report on progression of dairy herd enterprise case-studies, whilst your digital communication skills will be challenged in a series of blog posts on farm animal behaviour as part of the Farm Animal Health and Behaviour module. To investigate the dairy industry further, you will conduct an Applied Dairy Investigation, in which you will examine the latest research in an area of dairy herd management, develop a research methodology, conduct statistical analysis and later produce a scientific poster to share the results of your group investigation.