FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRICULTURE

Target Audiences

Field salespeople, sales managers, management

Course Length

2 - 4 days; a ½ day program is available

Overview

Before organizations can truly add value to the complex and rapidly changing North American agribusiness industry, they must first understand it. This program is focused on helping people with limited agricultural backgrounds understand the players, products, and practices involved in this industry. Especially appropriate for manufacturers and marketers of agricultural inputs, this program offers a special emphasis on agricultural input products, production practices, and farm management decision-making.

Knowledge and Skills

Specific objectives for this program include:
  • Develop an understanding of key agribusiness trends and a working knowledge of the crops and livestock produced in North America
  • Become acquainted with basic production principles and practices
  • Gain a better understanding about the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing sectors of the ag input industry
  • Examine crop protection products, their strengths and weaknesses; to explore how today's farmers make decisions and how they make/lose money.

Course Outline
  1. Agriculture: An industry in transition
    1. Primary crops profile
    2. Overview of livestock
    3. Understanding today’s farmer
  2. The food production system
    1. General crop production timeline
    2. Basic soil science and fertility
    3. Fertility considerations in different markets
    4. Tillage systems in different markets
    5. Seed
    6. General pest management practices
    7. Precision agriculture
  3. The agricultural input system
    1. Key trends in marketing and distribution of inputs
    2. Key input suppliers - seed
    3. Key input suppliers - feed
    4. The fertilizer distribution system
    5. Credit
    6. The future
  4. IV. The crop protection industry
    1. Economic impact of the crop protection industry
    2. Major issues facing the crop protection industry
  5. The business of farming
    1. Key management variables