Sustainable Agriculture Program Information

Through a unique combination of classroom and farm-based learning, the program offers a comprehensive perspective on:

• The science of agro-ecosystem design and stewardship;
• Innovative and ecologically sound crop production methods;
• Sustainable farm business management; and,
• Economic, social, and environmental challenges facing our food system.

Communities want local and sustainable production of healthy food. This program explores practical opportunities for land and food to strengthen community and ecosystem health.

Program graduates find employment in fields as diverse as planning, resource management, government, non-governmental organizations, agricultural support enterprises, and production agriculture. Some students use their Bachelor's degree as a foundation for graduate studies.

Learning Outcomes

The curriculum offers both practical experience and academic training in sustainable agriculture. Course work fosters experiential learning and exploration of personal interests. The four-year Bachelor's degree program is designed to help students achieve three major learning outcomes:

• The ability to grow fruit and vegetable crops within a sustainable ecological context. Experiential field-based agricultural courses are offered in the third and fourth year, allowing students to follow a complete cropping cycle from early spring through summer and into late fall. These applied courses function as a mechanism to bring the theoretical concepts and principles of sustainable agro-ecosystem design, function, and management to practical realization.
• Develop the business, sales and marketing skills necessary to manage a sustainable agricultural farming business. The development of these skills is facilitated by the inclusion of a broad base of foundational courses in early years, capped off with a multidisciplinary business management course in year four.
• Develop practical problem solving and research skills. All students learn the fundamentals of experimental design and analysis, in order to plan and conduct an experimental research project relevant to sustainable agriculture. Students present their findings at an annual student research symposium. A required internship also gives students an opportunity to diversify their practical experience in a particular area of interest.

Program Overview

The first two years of the degree program emphasize foundational understanding of our natural and social environment as well as concepts inherent to sustainable agriculture and food systems. The latter part of the program immerses students in living agricultural laboratories — our teaching and research farms. Through participation in crop and animal production and year-round agro-ecosystem management classes, as well as community/land-based research and internships, our undergraduates become confidently knowledgeable of the scientific, practical and business elements of sustainable land-based, management-intensive, alternate market farming and food systems.

Credential Awarded: Bachelor of Applied Science in Sustainable Agriculture

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