With essential input from industry experts and employers, the Bachelor of Agriculture will prepare you for a range of career options with global, sustainable impact.

As populations increase and climate change affects agriculture and the natural world, healthy, economically viable and sustainable food and fibre production is quickly becoming the most pressing issue of our time.

Our graduates find work all along the value chain of agriculture and its supporting industries and agencies in Australia and around the world, in roles involving:

• Sustainable practice
• Water management improvement
• Responsible fertiliser use
• On-farm advising
• Food and fibre production increase
• Disease-resistant crop development
• Animal welfare
• Biosecurity
• Post-farm processing and marketing
• Agribusiness management and agricultural finance
• Government and industry policy.

In recent years, our graduates have joined employers including Agriculture Victoria, NAB, ANZ, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, Fonterra, Murray Goulburn, Warakirri Cropping, Rural Bank, Rabobank, Stock and Land, BASF and Perfection Fresh.

Find out more about how Bachelor of Agriculture students prepare for the workforce, and the careers they enter.

Have you thought about these career paths?

BUSINESS, BANKING AND FINANCE

Agricultural business must balance the need for environmentally safe practice with economically sound models. Professionals in this area combine agricultural science and economic knowledge to deliver tailored solutions to challenging issues. You can go on to advise agribusinesses on financial planning as a finance officer, analyse market conditions as a commodity trader or determine the viability of new markets or products as a sales and marketing manager.

ANIMAL PRODUCTION

To feed our human population, we must take care of our animal population. Animal production management, from genetics and reproduction through to nutrition, disease control, behaviour and welfare, are vital to global health. Improve growth and productivity as an animal nutritionist, enforce laws and educate the public as an animal health or welfare officer, or maintain biosecurity and prevent a potentially devastating disease outbreak.

AGRONOMY

As the effects of global warming become more intense, you could make a real difference by improving the use of plants for food, fuel, fibre and land reclamation. Increase production output, preserve water efficiency, maintain soil nutrition and maximise the yield of farming lands by working in plant genetics, plant physiology and soil science.

POLICY

Agricultural science also applies to the social science of food and production. Apply your understanding of agriculture to advise government and industry bodies on the most effective and balanced way to regulate and prioritise agriculture policy.

INTERNATIONAL AID

As climate change exacerbates the occurrence of natural disasters around the world, understanding people, culture and landscape will assist vulnerable communities to become more resilient. Aid organisations need agricultural specialists who can help these communities by improving their agricultural profitability and teaching them skills to become more resistant to threat in the future.

Further study and research for a competitive edge

A graduate degree can be a life-changing option. You’ll be equipped with specialised cognitive and technical skills and an internationally recognised graduate qualification, setting you apart from those who study a traditional Australian single or double degree. In Australia, students with a graduate degree earn more, too – on average, 36 per cent or more than $22 700 more per year^.

Embark on your research journey through an honours year or a research higher degree with one of the Faculty of Sciences’ leading researchers supervising your project. Work with laboratories and institutes around the world to advance our understanding of issues such as climate change, food security and conservation biology, to name a few. A fourth honours year draws together your previous studies and focuses your knowledge, skills and intellect on a piece of original research. Honours can further prepare you for employment, or for a higher research degree like a PhD.

GRADUATE STUDY IN AGRICULTURE AND VETERINARY SCIENCES

Graduate study areas include:

• Agricultural sciences
  • Agribusiness
  • Agricultural extension and innovation
  • Animal science
  • Crop production
  • Food sustainability
• Food and packaging innovation
• Food science
• Veterinary medicine
  • If you have completed the Production Animal Science major and have achieved high average marks, you can even apply to study the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with up to 25 points of credit.

_{^Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching, 2018 Graduate Outcomes Survey}