Certificate in Agriculture VAG001

Online Study Course - Enroll in a Certificate in Agriculture Qualification. for home study by e-learning

The Certificate in Agriculture is a 600 hour course comprising 3 core modules as listed below and 3 electives (choose from the electives list below).

Requirements: To obtain this certificate you must successfully complete assignments in all six modules and pass an exam for each module (additional exam fees apply). If you fail to meet any requirements, you are given the option of resubmitting or resitting exams, until requirements are satisfied.

Duration:  600 hours

Prerequisites: Most applicants for this certificate are either adults or have successfully completed at least year 11 at secondary school. Younger students who have not completed year 11 may study this certificate, but should expect to take longer than the usual 600 hours to be successful.

Course Structure:
Core Modules:

Module 1. Farm Management (BAG104)Learn to analyse, diagnose and make decisions related to management of a farm business. The course relates to managing all resources, including: Production; Staff; Physical Resources; and Natural Resources. You learn strategic planning, whole farm planning, and how to prepare a business plan.

Module 2. Agricultural Marketing (BAG304)
Develops the ability to analyse and manage marketing problems in an agricultural enterprise. There are eight lessons covering: Marketing and economic theories; Target marketing; Promotions techniques (including advertising; Handling (ie. transport and storage; Market Research methods; Customer service.

Module 3. Animal Health Care (VAG100)
Develops understanding of veterinary and animal health care practices. This course provides a starting point for someone seeking to develop a career in the veterinary industry, or a broad grounding for the health care of domestic pets or farm animals. The module covers topics such as various pest and disease problems, their symptoms, and treatments in a variety of animals; animal behaviour and handling; materials and methods used in professional animal healthcare; legal and administrative considerations.

Plus three (3) Electives (choose 3):

These can be any 100 hr modules that are relevant to agriculture and do not cross over with the core modules above. Normally the electives will be chosen from the following.

• Sustainable Agriculture
• Organic Farming
• Animal Anatomy & Physiology
• Animal Health
• Poultry
• Aquaculture
• Horse Care I
• Protected Plant Production 
• Outdoor Plant Production
• Soil Management
• Herb Culture
• Viticulture
• Mushroom Production

Below is more information about some of the electives:
Sustainable AgricultureThis course presents many different techniques and general measures which may be adopted in part or full, in order to move a farm toward greater sustainability, whether the concerns are commercial, environmental or something else. Improving sustainability is sometimes as simple as changing what is being farmed or how it is being marketed; but it may also be a multi facet problem that requires changes in a whole range of farm management practices. This course was developed by our principal, John Mason author of the best selling book "Sustainable Agriculture 2nd ed." published by Landlinks Press (CSIRO)

Organic Farming
Organic farming has been adopted by some farmers for economic reasons, others for ethical or sustainability concerns. Whatever the reason though for going organic, there is no doubt this method of farming is here to stay.  Learn to manage both plant and animal production in a more natural and envioronmentally sensitive way. Lessons include:

1. Introduction to Organic Farming
2. Integrated Farm Management Systems
3. Organic Management Issues
4. Organic Soil Management and Crop Nutrition
5. Weed Management
6. Pest and Disease Management
7. Livestock Management I
8. Livestock Management II
9. Pasture
10. Management Principles
11. Crops

Animal Anatomy & PhysiologyLessons are as follows:

1. Introduction, Cells & Tissues
2. The Digestive System
3. The Circulatory System
4. The Urinary System
5. The Nervous System
6. Respiration
7. TheReproductive System
8. Muscles & Meat
9. The Skeleton
10. Animal Growth, Development & The Endocrine System
11. Comparing Different Animals

Animal Health

Learn to care for the health of any type of animal (focus is on mammals and birds) and understand the scope of services offered by animal care services, including in veterinary practices. his course is appropriate for anyone interested in working with animals including on a farm, a wildlife park or a veterinary practice. It is a sound foundation course and designed to cover most of what is found in a typical veterinary assistants course in many countries around the world.

PoultryLearn about: Terminology, Breeds , Nutrition, Diseases In Poultry, Layers, Broilers, Incubation, Brooding, Record Keeping, Economics & Marketing.
For farmers, farm workers, breeders, amateur enthusiasts or anyone seeking to develop a sound in depth foundation understanding of poultry.

AquacultureDevelop your ability to independently analyse and make decisions about the development and management of freshwater aquaculture enterprises. Aquaculture is the farming of water creatures for human consumption. This subject is concerned with the culture and care of fresh water aquatic animals.

Horse Care ILearn to manage the daily requirements of a horse at grass. The course aims to develop:

• The ability to handle horses using a range of different procedures
• Skills to evaluate a horses conformation
• An understanding of diet
• Knowledge of grooming procedures
• An ability to develop appropriate management procedures
• Knowledge of commercial opportunities, including trading horses. Protected Plant Production

Soil Management (Horticulture)
Good soil conditions are critical to the healthy growth of most plants. Over eight lessons this course will develop an understanding of physical & chemical properties of soils, the ability to carry out simple tests and determine soil characteristics, and to decide ways of treating a soil to improve its ability to grow plants.

Outdoor Plant ProductionDesigned to gain broad knowledge on outdoor crop production, from flowers to fruits and vegetables, this course is a basic step to start a commercial venture on many types of crops. The course consists of ten lessons that cover site selection, crop selection, soil management, cut flowers, vegetables, berries, nuts, herbs, tree fruits, other crops, managing a market garden and more.
Student comment (M.Simpson): "This course has been excellent.... I would be willing to recommend this course to any of my friends and colleagues"

Herb CultureThis is designed to develop a solid grounding in herb growing and the herb industry. An average student will take around 100 hrs. Half of the course deals with general herb culture, including identification, soils, mulching, feeding, watering, propagation, pest & disease control, harvest, storage, processing, companion planting, nursery management and herb farming. The remainder of the course involves detailed studies of major groups of herbs such as: mints, thymes, lavenders, scented geraniums, garlic, roses, artemisias and parsley.

ViticultureThis includes lessons on the history of viticulture, the modern wine industry, grape varieties and their characteristics and uses, cultural practises, soils, vineyard design, planning and layout, improving crop quality, harvest & post harvest procedures, winemaking, marketing and more.

Mushroom ProductionThis is a comprehensive 8 lesson course covering how to grow mushrooms on either a small or large scale. Emphasis is placed on the Agaricus species (the Champignon), though other commercially important edible fungi are also considered. Growing, harvesting, marketing, storage, pest and diseases and even ways of cooking and using mushrooms are covered.

Why Choose This Course

• Course notes and materials are unique (written by our staff) and up to date (most revised annually) –our graduates are more up to date with what they learn than many other institutions.
• We don’t just present you with information; we also work to help you understand and remember it, develop an ability to apply it in the real world, and build networks with others who work in this field.
• Start any time, study at your own pace, study from anywhere
• Don’t waste time and money traveling to and from classes
• More choices in your assignment work –courses are written to allow you more options to focus on parts of the subject that are of more interest to you.
• Tutors more accessible than many colleges – academics are hard at work in both the UK and Australia, 5 days a week, 16 hours a day, and answering individual queries from students are top priority and always attended to within a day –often within an hour.
• Be treated like an individual –don’t get lost in a crowd of other students. Our tutors interact with you one to one.
• Extra help at no extra cost where needed.. If you find a task you can’t do, we will help you through it or give you another option.
• Support after graduation –We will advise on getting work, starting a business, putting a CV together. We will promote students and their businesses through our extensive profile on the internet. Any graduate who asks will be helped.

How You Study

• When you enroll, we send you an email that explains it all.
• You are given a short orientation video to watch, where our principal introduces you to how the course works, and how you can access all sorts of support services
• You are either given access to your course online, or sent a CD or course materials through the mail (or by courier).
• You work through lessons one by one. Each lesson has at least four parts:
• An aim -which tells you what you should be achieving in the lesson
• Reading -notes written and regularly revised by our academic staff
• Set Task(s) -These are practicals, research or other experiential learning tasks that strengthen and add to what you have been reading
• Assignment -By answering questions, submitting them to a tutor, then getting feedback from the tutor, you confirm that you are on the right track, but more than that, you are guided to consider what you have been studying in different ways, broadening your perspective and reinforcing what you are learning about
• Other - Your work in a course rarely stops at just the above four parts. Different courses and different students will need further learning experiences. Your set task or assignment may lead to other things, interacting with tutors or people in industry, reviewing additional reference materials or something else. We treat every student as an individual and supplement their learning needs as the occasion requires.
• You are given access to and encouraged to use a range of supplementary services including an online student room, including online library; student bookshop, newsletters, social media etc.
• You are provided with a "student manual" which you can refer to if and when needed. It provides a quick solution to most problems that might occur (some people never need to use this; but if you are studying late at night & have a problem, the manual provides a first port of call that can often get you moving again).

Recognition

• ACS is known and highly respected internationally: by employers and academics alike:
• Recognised by International Accreditation and Recognition Council
• ACS has been training people around the world since 1979
• Over 100,000 have now studied ACS courses, across more than 150 countries
• Formal affiliations with colleges in five countries
• A faculty of over 40 internationally renowned academics –books written by our staff used by universities and colleges around the world.