The heart of agriculture is the growing and fattening of crops and livestock. By its very nature, the study of agriculture begins with an understanding of science. Animal physiology, nutrition and reproduction are all standard fare in animal science departments. Similarly, crop breeding and soil profile classes, as offered by agronomy departments, both cover the genetic and geological aspects of growing food. Courses of this sort almost always require prerequisites in biology and chemistry. Agricultural engineering units, offering classes in irrigation and farm machinery, require physics and math before tackling those subjects.
The business of agriculture has local, regional, national and global influences. Agricultural economics departments cover the bases with classes on world commodity markets, federal regulation, regional economics and farm management. A relatively recent development is the inclusion of classes in rural sociology, i.e., the unique behavior of rural populations. Also offered in the green economy are credits in environmental economics and rural development. Lectures can be practical ones, like farm accounting or theoretical in substance, such as the effects of federal environmental regulation of agribusiness.
Farmers and agribusinesses have long learned the art of organization. By necessity, they pool their resources to promote their interests, whether marketing their goods to the public or lobbying state and national legislatures. Such associations call for talented administrators, publicists and policy experts. Colleges provide coursework to educate future leaders, including agricultural journalism, telecommunications, advertising and public relations. Often these programs are joint efforts between colleges of agriculture and schools of journalism. As the world gets smaller, agriculture increasingly depends on trained professionals to represent its interests.
Agricultural education students are unique in that they take a wide variety of classes among the agricultural disciplines as part of their core curriculum. Crop science, animal science, agricultural economics, farm management and leadership courses are all given to those who plan to teach in public schools or county extension offices. Agricultural educators often teach at vocational technical high schools and must also enroll in specific classes required for teacher certification. Extension specialists may choose to get an advanced degree after graduation.