Course summary

A ‘top up route’ to a BSc honours degree or BSc ordinary degree, for those who already hold a Foundation Degree, HND or equivalent qualification. This programme has been designed to equip you with technical and management skills to enter the agricultural supply chain. With an increasing population to feed, sustainable agricultural practice is more than ever at the forefront of global food production. Continuing advances in science and technology, environmental considerations and diverse land-based activities and enterprises emphasis the need for those working in the agricultural and allied industries to develop high level technical knowledge and forward-thinking management skills and abilities in both a domestic and global context. The BSc/BSc (Hons) Agricultural Management (top-up) provides you with the requisite academic grounding, together with the broader technical and management skills that are required to develop and build a career in the increasingly technical and continually changing global agricultural sector. The programme using underpinning technical and management theory, will develop the your technical and managerial skills, in livestock or crop production, the integration of agricultural production systems, environmental sustainability, building an understanding of the supply chain and influences that impact on the commercial industry. The modular programme makes studying while you work accessible, it provides a more flexible approach to learning with delivery focused to fit in with demands of those wanting to be actively involved in the industry or earn an income. The flexibility of the hybrid approach to studying provides time to work while studying as lectures are focused on specific days of the week, with content and support being available outside of this to fit into busy 24/7 lifestyles or busy times within the agricultural year. The uniqueness of the BSc/BSc(Hons) Agricultural Management (top-up) lies in its flexibility which allows you to work within the agricultural industry to develop and apply their technical and managerial skills as they study. The online, in-industry and onsite approach to delivery adds to the flexibility allowing access from any location with content and support being available outside of this to fit into busy 24/7 lifestyles or busy times within the agricultural year. University Centre Askham Bryan has access to the 238-hectare Home Farm, which houses a milking herd of 200 cows, which are milked through a rapid exit parlour and a DeLaval Robot, a state-of-the-art high welfare precision beef facility in which students will actively participate in the use of the latest precision-livestock equipment, research, and industry engagement and a commercial flock of 200 breeding ewes. Crops grown on the grade 2 arable land, include wheat, sugar beet and maize, using the latest precision field technology and variable rate application techniques and software to maximise arable returns and the production of high-quality forage to improve the performance and returns of the dairy and livestock enterprises. The Farm also features a new £2.4 million Agri-Tech Innovation Centre dedicated to advanced agricultural and engineering training, the DeLaval Digital Farm and robotic milker which provides live data for analysis and interpretation of dairy cow performance. On-farm data from the different enterprises is also drawn together using the latest Map of Agriculture software to provide live updates on what is occurring on the farm, the level of inputs and physical performance of the different enterprises’ adding to the learning experience and knowledge of the students on the BSc/BSc (Hons) Agricultural Management (top-up) course.