Agriculture with Business Management

Why study Agriculture at Aberystwyth University? 

• This degree is delivered by our award-winning Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), which is also the home of the Farm Business Survey. Aberystwyth University has a long-established and enviable reputation throughout the world for its teaching and research in agriculture and rural science, and the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences is the largest and best-resourced university department of its kind in the UK;
• You will be taught by leading experts who you may have already seen on TV documentaries or heard on the radio; 
• The University offers students over 1000HA of farmland, including lowland and upland sheep farms; a 500 cow dairy herd; intensive and extensive beef production systems; an equine centre and a flow of layer poultry;
• At Aberystwyth University, we place a great emphasis on providing you with a student experience that is memorable and enables you to succeed in your degree.

Our Staff

The majority of teaching staff at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences are qualified to PhD level and are research active. Vocational courses also have staff whose background lies within industry.  The Institute has a large number of research only staff with whom students may have contact.

What opportunities exist after studying?

Our graduates have progressed and are successful in the following;

• Agricultural consultant
• Consultancy
• Farm Management
• Rural practice surveyor
• Financial services
• Animal nutritionist

Students wishing to obtain the relevant work experience that employers are seeking in graduates, then you should take a look at the sister course BSc Agriculture and Business Management (with integrated year in industry) 4D12. The sister course is identical to this course, but you have an additional year to undertake work experience in an environment relative to this degree. 

Transferable Skills

Studying for a degree in Agriculture with Business management will equip you with a range of transferable skills which are highly valued by employers. These include:

• the ability to express ideas and communicate information in a clear and structured manner, in both written and oral form
• effective problem-solving and creative thinking skills
• the ability to work independently
• time-management and organisational skills, including the ability to meet deadlines
• self-motivation and self-reliance
• team-working, with the ability to discuss concepts in groups, accommodating different ideas and reaching agreement
• research skills.

What will I learn?

In the first year you will discover;

• Technologies that are increasingly being developed for and adopted by the agricultural industry
• Factors that influence land use
• And identify management requirements of agricultural grassland and cereal crops
• Marketing
• Management
• Accounting and Finance

In the second year you will explore;

• The impact of agriculture and food supply systems on the environment
• Crop production systems and strategies
• Animal production systems
• How to analyse, budge, and appraise a farm business

In your third year you will study;

• Business planning techniques, and how to construct fully detailed farm business plans
• Systems of crop production
• Modern plant breeding strategies
• The use of crops for bioenergy production
• The environmental impacts of different agricultural systems

A week long course involving visits to farms, rural businesses and organizations involved in the regulation and management of the countryside will enable you to see the practical business applications of your theoretical and academic learning.

How will I be taught?

You will be taught through a balanced programme of lectures, seminars and tutorials, workshops, practicals, study tours and demonstrations.

Our assessment methods take various forms including essays, practical reports and exercises, oral presentations, exams, plans, worksheets, field notebooks and case studies.

Further information:

You will be assigned a personal tutor throughout your degree course, who will help you with any problems or queries, whether these are academic-related or personal issues. You should feel free to contact them at any time for help and advice.

The Agriculture course  has a great mix of modules which has opened my eyes to many other aspects of agriculture. The information given in lectures on important subjects is usually simple but thorough which makes work easy to both understand and remember. Farm visits are also enjoyable as it gives you a chance to observe and understand different systems. It's also interesting to hear the views of the farmers and the different ways they implement systems to suit their business. Aled Rhys Lewis

Business & Management provides academic insight to firm behaviour within internal and external business environments enabling individuals to fully comprehend the wider context of operations within a global context in an informative yet interesting manner. It’s diverse as it examines a variety of business topics. Students get to experience economics, accounting, and marketing providing a sound grounding in wide variety of business areas that may be extended in the second and final years. The modules set individuals in good stead for understanding a variety of business functions. Andrea Jane Phillips

The course has been a great deal of help for me and has given me confidence within marketing and business, particularly when we worked as business consultants for Aber Town Trader within Marketing Case Studies. It gives us an insight for future work and is great work experience for students. Marketing Communications last semester was also a very interesting topic as we learnt and analysed different communications that companies use within marketing in order to reach their target audience and potential customers. These opportunities have been great and good to put on CV as experiences! Dwynwen Medi Evans

Studying Business and Management at Aberystwyth University has enabled me to develop my understanding, and better appreciate the world in which we all live and work. With a limited understanding of Business and Management prior to studying, I have benefited greatly from this course, and the ability to select and choose which route I best want to follow. Through a range of in-class and interactive learning sessions my passion for the subject has flourished. The degree has fuelled my desire to pursue education to the next level in order to ascertain a more thorough understanding of the business environment. Peter Hamilton-Gray

What do I love about Agriculture at Aberystwyth University? The people - students from a wide range of backgrounds, all getting together, sharing experiences and learning together; lecturers with a passion for their subject, who are down to earth and approachable. The place - the green hills, quiet woods, impressive views, and the sea. The course - learning about a topic which is foundational to society; stretching my mind with new knowledge, and shivering out in freezing farmyards (yes, even that has a kind of pleasure to it!). That's what I love about agriculture here. Benjamin David Latham