Getting Grounded in Ag Provides a Depth of Knowledge that Can Build Your Business
Working in agriculture allows you to make a meaningful difference in the world, but to contribute at depth, you have to learn the language, science, and people. That knowledge is a critical element of trust in such a tight-knit industry.
Grounded in Ag makes it easy to learn those things, allowing you to focus on customers, and the big challenges agriculture faces.
Learning from the Experts
One of the pieces that drives impact of Grounded in Ag is all of the courses and lessons include perspectives from people in the industry who live this day in and day out.
We have people who have learned on the job and others who not only have earned PhDs. You will learn from folks who host field days, quiet spoken farmers who prefer to stay close to home, and renowned global experts. All of them value having more people working on the challenges faced by agriculture in feeding our communities and preserving our resources. Check out the expertise page on our website to learn more about the experts involved with Grounded in Ag as teachers and advisors.
A Systems Approach to Building Knowledge
Our courses are designed to meet people where they are and begin developing the depth of knowledge, vocabulary, and understanding of agriculture that can be elusive to build without focused, structured efforts. The All Access Program provides you with a full slate of a dozen courses -- one on the basics of agriculture, courses that take you to a focus on crops and a focus on livestock and nine crop & livestock courses that provide a deep dive into the biggest commodities in the U.S.
Ag 101 Build Foundational Knowledge
The Ag 101 course provides multiple sources across the US to provide you with the basic building blocks you need to understand agriculture, but more than that, we give you the context you need to put that information to work right away. The video modules in this course are designed to help you understand:
Farmers, the way they set up their businesses, the changes they see happening, and their communities
The industry and business as it works in the real world, with topics including cash flow, mental health, equipment, and farming organizations
Sustainability from multiple perspectives discussing varying approaches to soil, water, carbon & climate, pollinators & wildlife, and people.
(more than 6 hours running time)
Depth in Crops & Livestock Comes Via Focus
Once you have the foundational knowledge of agriculture, we begin layering in depth. This comes in the form of two courses:
- Focus on Crops – Topics range from decisions about what crops to plant and how varieties/hybrids are chosen to some of the seasonal activities undertaken. Experts in weed science, entomology, and plant pathology also provide in-depth lessons on these critical challenges farmers face in the field and how the ways those challenges can be addressed.
- Focus on Livestock – We take you through lessons on how farmers choose feed, manage pastures, and day-to-day activities on livestock operations, and combine those with expert perspectives on animal handling, animal health, and other challenges faced by farmers with livestock.
(more than 2 hours running time each)
Nine Commodity Courses
For many in agriculture, their roles require additional depth in a set of crops or livestock (beef, corn, cotton, dairy, pork, poultry, soybeans, specialty crops and wheat). These courses include the various pieces that help you get your bearings each follows a similar structure:
- Overview of a Year
- Interviews with farmers/ranchers about key topics
- In-depth discussion with an expert
- Must Know Facts & Trivia
- Essential Resources
- Things Easily Misunderstood
(each is 1.5 to 2 hours running time)
Just need one crop or livestock sector?
We have packages that concentrate on one crop (corn, cotton, soybeans, specialty crops or wheat) or one segment of the livestock world (beef, dairy, pork or poultry) with Ag 101 and the corresponding Focus Course.
See Other OptionsGet a PDF of information on the courses offered
Want more information? We have a multi-page PDF that gives you the detail on lessons built into the Ag 101, Focus on Crops and Focus on Livestock and commodity courses. You can also find information on our blog or social media (LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook).
New to ag or taking on a new role? Interested in learning all about ag? This program is for you!
Grounded in Ag is geared to be a learning resource. We have courses that build out information and you can come back and revisit them as you dive in deeper. You will learn from farmers directly... but we help them get to an understandable level and we add popups on vocabulary that may be unfamiliar, photography, etc. It's the things that you can learn before you get out on the farm to make each visit, call or client meeting more successful and productive.
