Agriculture and Forestry

The public perception of agricultural courses is that they are finishing schools for simple-minded, ruddy-faced toffs before they drive off in the Range Rover to manage the family estate. Some places may still be like that, but the subject now involves the increasingly complex scientific issues that characterise modern farming and forestry: from genetically modified produce and the use of pesticides to conservation issues, organic farming strategies and environmental science.

Quality of life, conservation and "alternatives" such as organic farming are now serious issues for what might be termed rural degrees. Food production may play only a small part, compared with issues of flooding and landscape conservation.

The courses have, by and large, reacted to these challenges and are now much more widely multidisciplinary. New developments in agriculture increasingly have a strong scientific basis, and biotechnology (such as genetic engineering of crops), embryo transfer in cattle and bio-control of plant diseases are taking their place on the courses, as well as continuing developments of the technology involved in food production. Course content can, therefore, range from cell biochemistry and molecular biology to plant breeding, plant and animal nutrition, and even engineering and computing. The degree has grown up and in many ways leads the environmental and political debate - think of GM crops, BSE and foot and mouth.

The course - a three-year BSc - is of use to those who wish to join the agribusiness, run father's farm, get involved with research and development, overseas development, or even to environmentalists who want to understand the issues. Employment rates are good, so if those options aren't to your taste, there's always seed or feed companies, or estate and park management.

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