Careers in agriculture have become increasingly diversified as the field itself rises to various challenges. The roles of agricultural students and professionals has been expanded to include everything from the role it plays in battling world hunger to ways nutrition can help prevent or even cure chronic illness. As a result, many students just entering the field find themselves overwhelmed by agricultural course choices. Here we’ll take a look at the best ways to find the courses to fit in with your academic and career goals.

If You Want to Feed the World

The most common career choice in the world of agriculture is the most traditional: farming and food or fiber production. With a projected population of more than 9 billion by 2050, the pressure is on for this generation of agricultural students to find new and innovative ways to plan, plant and produce. For students who want to focus on tackling this challenge, courses in responsible and sustainable farming, crop preservation, irrigation technology and advancement as well as courses in livestock and animal care.

Finding Ways to Heal the World

Another emerging area of agriculture is general nutrition. While this has often been more associated with healthcare, a renewed interest in farming practices and how they impact nutrition has given rise to a whole new crop of students. These students want to understand how food can heal, literally from the ground up. By analyzing the foundation of soil science, pesticides, bug control and crop preservation, students strive to find ways to produce crops that are healthy for the public as well as being hardy enough to grow on a large scale.

Agribusiness: The Corporate World of Agriculture

Finally, we have ‘Agribusiness’ which encompasses everything from commercial marketing and production to researching the ways in which science may be able to bolster food or fiber production. Courses in agricultural policy and law, economics, methodology and emerging research can all help students who want to be a part of one of the most diverse and forward thinking areas of agriculture.

These specialized courses should be considered in addition to the basics of agriculture which can be found in basic courses that de3al with topics such as

• Agricultural Systems
• Soil Science
• Basic Principles of Animal Husbandry
• Understanding Markets and Products

While courses titles on these subjects may vary from university to university, these basic primers on agriculture can help lay the groundwork for success no matter what specific field you choose to specialize in.