This course will provide students with broad underpinning knowledge of practices and systems of the Australian agricultural sector. This course is intended to provide breadth of systems knowledge to allow students of a range of knowledge domains to come together and apply their knowledge in an agricultural context. It will focus on the interface between domain knowledge relevant to the modern agricultural system. Students will gain an understanding of the complex ecological and biophysical processes and interactions between climate, soils, crop plants, livestock, and management systems. A range of land management issues are examined, with students developing the skills to design and implement improved farming systems to address these issues in the context of barriers to adoption, and key enablers of practice change.
This course is co-taught with undergraduate students but assessed separately.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts to the modern agricultural system.
- Integrate knowledge of production systems to view Australian agrifood as a system.
- Critically evaluate literature and 'real life' examples of agricultural production in context as a system.
- Apply higher-level problem solving skills to interpret and critique agricultural data using standard analytical and communication techniques.
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of holistic thinking on course topics, in the context of real-world challenges.
Work Integrated Learning
Projects
All students engage with WIL partners (internal/external) as a minor component of the course
Other Information
This winter intensive course will involve farm visits to the greater ACT or Central West region. Overnight stays may be required and additional accommodation fees would apply. Please refer to the Class Summary for full details.
Indicative Assessment
- Quizzes (15) [LO 1,2]
- Practical exercises (15) [LO 1,2,3]
- Stakeholder communications exercise (30) [LO 2,3,4,5]
- Field trip engagement and report (40) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the session including:
- Face-to face component consisting of 65 hours of contact delivered intensively over 2 weeks comprising: lectures, practicals and field excursions;
- Approximately 65 hours of self-study which will include preparation for lectures, practicals and other assessment tasks.
Students are expected to actively participate and contribute towards discussions.
Inherent Requirements
This course includes local field activities that will not incur additional costs. It may include an interstate overnight field trip which would incur additional accommodation costs.
For general information on field trips please
visit: https://students.science.anu.edu.au/program-admin/college-science-field-trips
Please refer to the Class Summary for full details. Students with accessibility concerns are encouraged to discuss with the convenor.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Nil
Preliminary Reading
Students will be assigned published papers or reviews as background to core topics and expected to discuss these in the workshops.
Assumed Knowledge
No prior knowledge in agricultural sciences required.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Winter Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6295 | 16 Jun 2026 | 24 Jul 2026 | 24 Jul 2026 | 21 Aug 2026 | In Person | N/A |