Improving Agricultural Sustainability

Sustainable Agriculture

Learn to be more sustainable in the farming sector: as a farmer, a farm worker or a supplier of goods or services to farming.
Many issues are impacting agriculture today; biosecurity, climate change, soil degradation, fires, market volatility and food miles, to mention just a few. This course helps you to become more aware, and understanding of such issues, and in doing so leads you to a better understanding of how to keep an agricultural business sustainable.

Lesson Structure

There are 11 lessons in this course:

1. DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE
   • What to do
   • Know your Land
   • a) Evaluating a site
   • b) Land Carrying Capacity
   • c) Assessing Land Capacity
   • An Indication of Sustainability
2. SUSTAINABLE CONCEPTS
   • Organic Farming
   • WHOLE Farm Planning
   • Systems Thinking In Sustainable AGRICULTURE
   • Permaculture
   • Minimal Cultivation
   • No Dig Techniques
   • Biodynamics
   • Crop Rotation
   • Seed Saving
   • Urban Farming
   • Hydroponics
   • Aquaponics
   • Vertical Farming
   • Environmentally Friendly Farming
3. SOILS
   • Growing Media
   • Major Types of Soil Problems
   • Erosion
   • Salinity
   • Soil Sodicity
   • Soil Structural Decline
   • Soil Acidification
   • Build-up of Dangerous Chemicals
   • Adding Organic Matter
   • Cultivation Techniques
   • Plant Nutrition
   • Natural fertilizers
   • Soil Life
   • Earthworms
   • Mycorrhiza
   • Nitrogen Fixing
   • Composting
   • Guidelines for Using Compost
   • Mulches
   • General Rules for Mulching
4. WATER MANAGEMENT
   • Water Usage
   • Methods of Water Storage
   • Rainwater Collection and Storage
   • Livestock Water Requirements
   • Problems with Water
   • Mosquitoes
   • Algal Blooms
   • Livestock Contamination
   • Water Quality
   • Water Saving Measures
   • Water Wastage
   • Reed Beds
   • Swales and Keylines
   • Irrigation Systems
   • Irrigation System Design
   • Maintenance Procedures and Scheduling
   • Innovations in Water Management
   • Surface or Flood Irrigation
   • Sprinkler Irrigation
5. PEST AND DISEASE CONTROL
   • Use of Pesticides
   • Cultural Controls
   • Physical Controls
   • Sprays and Dusts
   • Biological Controls
   • Companion Plants
   • Legislation
6. SUSTAINABLE WEED CONTROL & CULTIVATION
   • What is a Weed?
   • Ways to Control Weeds Without Chemicals
   • Check Soil Condition
   • Biological Weed Control
   • Chemical Control of Weeds
   • Herbicides
7. FARM MANAGEMENT
   • Changing an Existing farm to a Sustainable property
   • New Farm Products
   • Pre-Planning
   • Monitoring and Reviewing the farm System
   • Socioeconomic Considerations
   • Production planning
   • Organic Certification Schemes
   • Contingencies and Seasonal variations
   • Planning for drought
8. GROWING AND HARVESTING PLANTS
   • Selection Criteria for Plants
   • Grain and Other Broad Acre Crops
   • Row Crops
   • Cover Crops
   • Ways of Using a Cover Crop
   • Hay and Silage
   • Silage Production
   • Silage Timing
   • Quality Control
   • Hydroponic Fodder
9. TREES, FODDER AND OTHER PLANTS
   • Agroforestry
   • Timber Trees
   • Fodder Trees
   • Windbreaks
   • Firebreaks
   • Habitat Corridors for Wildlife
   • Tree Planting Methods
10. SUSTAINABLE ANIMAL MANAGEMENT
    • Possible Problems Of Livestock Production
    • Production Systems
    • Land Care Practices
    • Pastures
    • Sustainable Pasture Varieties
    • How Much Grazing?
    • Grazing Methods
    • Guidelines For Raising Different Livestock
11. TECHNOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
    • Precision Agriculture
    • Machines And Tools
    • Drones
    • Wearable Technology
    • Robotics
    • Computer Technology
    • Fertilisers And Soil Conditioners
    • Chemical Pesticides and Herbicides
    • Soil Microbes
    • Biotechnology And Sustainable Agriculture
    • Modifying Organisms Genetically
    • Cloning
    • Nuclear And Isotopic Techniques
    • Problems For Biotechnology
    • FINAL ASSESSMENT

How Your Course Works

1. Enrol any time. Your enrolment will be processed usually within a day or two; and during business hours, often within an hour.
2. You will then receive an email explaining the course and how to access to a study guide, and our help desk. The guide contains both an audio and written explanation of how the course can be undertaken in a way where you can choose to emphasise or de-emphasise aspects of your learning, according to where your greatest interest or needs may lay.
3. You then follow the study guide, reading and undertaking varied learning tasks, designed by professional educators to broaden and deepen your understanding of the subject. These tasks can vary from practicals to research and more.
4. If and when you need to, you can contact our academic staff via a help desk. Emails are answered every working day.
5. On concluding each lesson, you are presented with a series of automated self assessment questions, to review and reinforce your learning experience.
6. On conclusion of all lessons, you are presented with a major online exam comprising numerous questions reflecting the scope of all lessons.
7. The exam is assessed in our online training system immediately as it is submitted; and if you achieve a result of 60% or more, you are given access to download a “Certificate of Completion”. This certificate carries your name (extracted from the original enrolment order); together with a current date, and carrying endorsements from this school and the ACS Global Partners Network.

Everything is automatic; but if you do need help at any point along your journey of discovery; but there is a help desk, with real people who have real expertise – only an email away!