WHAT IS AGRONOMY?
Agronomy is the science of crop production and soil management. It focuses the growth, management and improvement of field crops (such as corn, barley, soybeans, and wheat) with the goal of increasing food supplies while maintaining a healthy environment.
Agronomy is important economically because sustainable crop production improves the profitability and competitiveness of crop producers, and it is important environmentally because sustainable crop production results in improved soil, water, and air quality.
WHAT ARE THE EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS?
Agronomy students can expect to study the basic principles of biology, genetics, and soil science to understand how to improve food production while protecting the environment. Coursework also will typically include water, environmental, crop, range, and weed sciences, as well as chemistry, horticulture, management, nutrition, physiology, ecology, and agribusiness. Specific courses we've seen include:
- Agronomic Management Problems
- Seed Conditioning Machinery
- Turf Management
- Golf Course Operations
- Genetic Variation
- Biometrical Genetics in Plant Breeding
- Environmental Plant Physiology
- Leadership Experience
- Renewable Resources
- Soils and Environmental Quality
- Pesticide Application
- Agriculture and Biotechnology
- World Food Issues
- Soil Interpretation and Classification
- Watershed Hydrology
- Mesoscale Meteorology
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Agroforestry Systems
- Seed Science
- Science, Policy, and Resource Management
CAREERS AND SALARY OUTLOOK
Agronomists provide technical and support services for seed production and crop protection industries and for biotechnology and conservation organizations. Agronomy graduates pursue careers in biotechnology and genetics, crop production, and sustainable agriculture. They can also be extension advisers, teachers and farm managers. Agronomy graduates work in a business or research setting to address issues and solve problems related to crop production, soil management, and environmental protection. Position titles that we've seen include:
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Great Resources
on Agronomy
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- agricultural climatologist
- biotechnology technician
- crop protection specialist/consultant
- chemical sales representative
- environmental scientist
- fertilizer plant manager
- forest soil scientist
- golf course superintendent
- land use consultant
- farm manager
- soil and water conservationist / scientist
- range manager
- seed analyst
- weed scientist
- turfgrass specialist
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that "agricultural and food scientists" (which could include Agronomy grads) has median annual earnings of $48,670 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $35,770 and $65,990. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $29,200 and the highest 10 percent earned more than $85,000. Check out full report from BLS on careers in Agronomy here
Starting salaries we've seen on the web range from $19,000 to $34,000 with an average at about $26,900. We've also seen advertisements for Agronomy Masters and PhD holders in the $47,000 to $70,000 range.
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