Agricultural education

Agricultural education is about producing food and caring for land and animals on a modern farm. You learn both plant cultivation — growing crops — and livestock farming, as well as how to run a farm with machines, technology and economics. It's a field for you who want to work outdoors, like responsibility and aren't afraid of early mornings and practical work.

§What do you do on a farm?

The everyday depends on whether the farm has livestock, fields or both. In livestock farming you feed and care for, for example, cattle, pigs or other animals, keep an eye on their health and keep the stalls clean. In crop farming you prepare the soil, sow, fertilise, spray and harvest, and you drive and maintain tractors and large machines. In addition there is planning, recording and ensuring everything happens on time and according to the rules.

• 01You learn to care for and feed livestock and monitor their health.
• 02You learn crop cultivation: soil preparation, sowing, fertilising and harvesting
• 03You learn to drive and maintain tractors and agricultural machinery.
• 04You learn about animal welfare, environment, and the rules that apply in agriculture.
• 05You learn to plan work to fit with season and weather.
• 06You get understanding of the operation and economics behind an enterprise

§How do you get started?

Agricultural education is a vocational education that alternates between school and practice. You start with a basic course and continue in the main course with practice on a farm, where you get paid and learn the trade from an experienced farmer. You can start after primary school or later, and it's an advantage to have tried working on a farm before you start.

§What can you become afterwards?

Once trained, you can work as a skilled farmer, feed manager or operations manager, and over time you can take responsibility for an entire farm. If you want to go further, you can build on it to e.g. agricultural economist or agricultural technologist, or yourself pursue farming or owning a farm in the long term.

“You work with living things — animals, soil and weather — so no two days are quite the same, and that is exactly the point.”