Agricultural Sustainability

Can a beef herd, a wetland and a profitable crop share the same quarter section? Lakeland College’s Agricultural Sustainability diploma works through that question over two years of face-to-face study at the Vermilion campus, linking livestock and crop production with soil, water and habitat conservation.

First-year courses blend ecology with production. Introduction to Agricultural Sustainability sets the frame; Ecology & Field Biology, Field Botany & Plant Taxonomy and Managing Rangeland Ecosystems build plant and habitat knowledge; and Introductory Soil Science covers the ground itself. Animal Handling, Welfare and Ethics and Beef Production put you among livestock, while Statistics & Data Management, Scientific Writing & Computer Applications and Agribusiness Simulation sharpen analysis. Year two turns to landscapes and policy through Applied Hydrology, Aquatic Habitat Protection, Invasive Plant Ecology & Management, Environmental Mapping & Technology, Fertility Management, Beef Sustainability and Technology, Agricultural Law & Policy, Microeconomics and Ag-vocacy and Consumer Messaging.

Teaching leans on field and lab sessions: identifying plants and weed species outdoors, working with herds and flocks in animal labs, measuring stream discharge and collecting GPS field data. Environmental Mapping & Technology trains you in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro. To finish, you choose a three-week industry placement through SU 201 Industry Practicum or a farm plan in SU 202 Student Land Sustainability Planning, with the Student-Managed Farm, Powered by New Holland, as a learning base. Graduates can add another agricultural science major in one year, continue to Lakeland’s Bachelor of Agriculture Technology or Bachelor of Applied Science: Environmental Management, or use 2+2 pathways with NAIT, the University of Alberta, the University of Lethbridge and the University of Saskatchewan.

Lakeland reports that producer associations, certified value chains, conservation groups and municipalities seek out these graduates, along with provincial departments, regulatory agencies and agricultural or environmental consultancies. Typical roles include sustainability coordinator, agricultural fieldman, conservation technician, range and riparian technician, environmental monitoring technician and extension assistant. It suits students who care about both food production and the land.