Bachelor of Agriculture
Bachelor of Agriculture
A Bachelor of Agriculture is your opportunity to use science, technology and business to tackle critical sustainability issues and build a career with lasting impact. If you’d like to understand how to harness natural processes to sustainably feed our growing population, improve natural resource management and contribute to Australia’s growing…
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COURSE DESCRIPTION
A Bachelor of Agriculture is your opportunity to use science, technology and business to tackle critical sustainability issues and build a career with lasting impact. If you’d like to understand how to harness natural processes to sustainably feed our growing population, improve natural resource management and contribute to Australia’s growing agricultural industry, the Bachelor of Agriculture is an ideal choice. Graduates with a degree in agriculture are highly sought after in Australia, with an employment rate of over 92 per cent. LEARN IN THE LAB AND THE FIELD: An agriculture degree lets you apply biology, chemistry, physics, and economics and see the real-world results of your actions. Whether you start your post-university career in a laboratory, on farms or in a bank, you’ll be making a real impact on the world. You’ll complement your lab and classroom learning with fieldwork, and you can even choose to spend a semester learning at our agricultural research and teaching campus at Dookie, giving you additional hands-on experience and knowledge of farm operations. APPLY THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY: Agriculture is at the beginning of a technological revolution, with research by Melbourne academics playing a leading role.
Drone-based sensors can monitor plants for disease and water stress across areas equivalent to hundreds of football fields in under an hour. ‘Big data’ and machine learning will give you tools to help farmers grow more food while reducing agriculture’s environmental impact. Study the science and economics underpinning these innovations and enter the workforce ready to contribute to sustainable and profitable agriculture. IMPROVE CROP AND ANIMAL HEALTH: Plants and animals provide more food and fibre when we protect their health and welfare. Our academics determine the best ways to maintain the welfare of farm animals, develop diets to help livestock thrive in hot and dry conditions, discover the origin, spread and effects of disease and develop new medicines. Our scientists are using precision gene-editing tools to develop crops that can survive disease, drought and heat. Develop an understanding of plant and animal health and welfare to prepare you for a career in the agricultural industry or for further study in veterinary medicine. MAKE OUR FOOD SUPPLY SUSTAINABLE: Farmers manage 48 per cent of Australia’s landmass, and each year, on average, an Australian farmer will feed 600 people. But in a changing climate we need to maintain a healthy environment too. Benefit from the knowledge and expertise of our researchers as they find ways to make farming more drought-resilient, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve soil health and re-use waste while producing high-quality food. You’ll learn how to monitor and optimise the transfer of nutrients from soils to plants to animals and how to make land and water use more sustainable by applying agricultural science and economics.
With essential input from industry experts and employers, the Bachelor of Agriculture will prepare you for a range of career options with global, sustainable impact. As populations increase and climate change affects agriculture and the natural world, healthy, economically viable and sustainable food and fibre production is quickly becoming the most pressing issue of our time. Our graduates find work all along the value chain of agriculture and its supporting industries and agencies in Australia and around the world, in roles involving: Sustainable practice; Water management improvement; Responsible fertiliser use; On-farm advising; Food and fibre production increase; Disease-resistant crop development; Animal welfare; Biosecurity; Post-farm processing and marketing; Agribusiness management and agricultural finance; Government and industry policy.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
Established in 1853, the University of Melbourne enjoys an outstanding reputation with world rankings, consistently being placed as Australia’s leading comprehensive research-intensive university, and is one of the world’s top 50 (as per Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015 – 2016 and Academic Ranking of World Universities 2015). There are over 80 different undergraduate study areas and over 270 graduate courses at Melbourne for students to choose from. The University has extensive global networks and has seven campus locations across Melbourne and rural Victoria.
