Commercial Agriculture Production (Crops) Post-Bachelor Certificate

What happens when an engineering or science graduate steps into a Prairie grain operation? Lakeland College’s Post-Bachelor Certificate in Commercial Agriculture Production, Crops stream, answers that in one year of face-to-face study at the Vermilion campus, turning an existing bachelor’s degree into practical grain, oilseed and pulse production skills.

Crops stream students start with Plant Science & Field Crops, covering plant botany and the grain and oilseed crops of Western Canada, then move through Weed & Herbicide Management, Insects & Diseases of Crops and Integrated Crop Management, which ties those threads into sustainable cropping systems. Machinery courses sit at the centre: Tillage & Direct Seeding Systems, Pesticide Application Technologies, Grain Harvesting Systems and Applications in Precision Farm. Grain, Oilseeds and Pulse Crop Marketing analyses pricing and delivery options, and Agricultural Sales uses role-play and case studies to build client skills.

Unlike the livestock stream, the crops stream has no electives: ten agronomy, machinery and marketing courses give every student the same field-ready core. Pesticide Application Technologies studies spray equipment and the legislation behind pesticide applicator licensing, Grain Harvesting Systems covers combine design, operation and grain conditioning, and Applications in Precision Farm introduces precision techniques and the equipment that delivers them. Learning is hands-on with crops, equipment and technology on the Student-Managed Farm, Powered by New Holland. Lakeland notes the certificate is not a pathway into a two-year agriculture diploma; it is a focused conversion year for degree holders.

Graduate roles named by Lakeland include technical sales representative, production advisor, research technician, agricultural service board fieldman and producer. On the crops side, that points to agronomy sales with input retailers, crop production advisor, field research technician, custom spray or harvest operator and grain farm manager. It suits graduates in engineering, biology or agriculture who want Canadian crop production experience without starting a second degree.