If you’d like to join an industry focused on the important goal of sustainably feeding an ever-growing global population, why not consider studying one of UQ’s agribusiness programs?
What can you do with an agribusiness degree from UQ?
With the world’s population set to reach 10 billion by 2050, there is growing global demand for experts who can supply us with sustainable, high-quality and affordable products.
With a career in agribusiness, you have the potential to shape the world’s future, both economically and environmentally – now is the perfect time to get serious about a career in this field.
Agribusiness graduate Gayathri Rajagopal.
What is agribusiness?
As a US$5 trillion industry, food and agribusiness plays a massive role in national and international economies. There are many ways to define agribusiness, but a simple way of looking at it is it covers everything from the production of food and fibre, through to its distribution and marketing.
Agribusiness is an interdisciplinary industry that places a strong focus on the commercial and business side of farming and agricultural efforts. Farmers, distributors, processors and consumers exist within a system that produces, processes, transports, markets and distributes agricultural products.
Cultivate an agribusiness career in Australia
UQ is ranked #1 in Australia for agriculture and forestry, so studying agribusiness here will set you up with strong knowledge of the commercial side of agriculture and will teach you about the growing, processing, trading and financing of food and fibres. You’ll also gain valuable and transferable business skills, which can be applied across any industry, nationally and internationally.
What will you learn in an agribusiness program at UQ?
Combine technical and scientific knowledge of the agriculture industry with heightened commercial awareness and a market-oriented, global outlook in the field of agribusiness.
UQ’s agribusiness programs will prepare you by building your skills and confidence with courses focused on:
UQ’s agribusiness programs are taught at the specialist rural campus in Gatton, located roughly 1 hour west of Brisbane. Explore the Gatton campus online through a virtual tour. Home to over 1,000 hectares of farmlands, the campus has state-of-the-art research and teaching facilities, including:
- a dairy, and sheep and goat herds
- research greenhouses and nurseries
- an extensive range of precision agriculture tools and farming technologies.
You can also study agribusiness online with UQ. Our Master of Agribusiness is available for digital delivery, so you can gain a world-leading master’s degree from anywhere in the world.
Study agribusiness at UQ and gain access to state-of-the-art agriculture facilities.
We’ve collected a couple of examples of the future-focused and world-changing research, development and consultative work being done by agribusiness graduates and researchers at UQ.
Adding value to milk in Ghana
After completing an agribusiness program designed by UQ, Martha Adjorlolo now manages the University of Ghana’s dairy processing unit. In this role, Martha teaches vulnerable single mothers the business skills needed to support themselves and their families.
Martha’s Australian Awards Short Course in Agribusiness, delivered by a team from UQ, focused on small-scale yoghurt processing and opened her eyes to how food supply chains can be made more successful.
“It demonstrated the demand-led approach of the agribusiness industry and the importance of understanding what consumers want, and then working back up the chain to ensure everyone collaborates to deliver the type of product valued by consumers,” she says.
“We targeted 27 vulnerable single mothers and taught them how to produce strawberry and vanilla yogurt, and wagashie, a fried soft cheese that is popular in Ghana."
“Critically, the processes we taught reflected my consumer research about how to make these products really popular. It will make a huge difference to their lives.”
Martha Adjorlolo, second from right, with Australian High Commissioner HE Gregory Andrews next to her.
Dr Benjamin Dent, who co-delivers the course, says the story is a great example of UQ’s research excellence and commitment to creating meaningful change in the world.
“It shows the University’s capacity to deliver high-quality, practical courses that genuinely improve people’s lives,” he says.
Pineapple flower research could ‘transform industry’
New pineapple varieties that grow more reliably and predictably are being developed in a UQ-led project that will benefit farmers and industry.
Professor Jimmy Botella from UQ’s School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability and his team of researchers are working to address the biggest issue affecting pineapple farming’s viability – premature flowering of pineapple plants.
“This can lead to highly erratic pineapple supply, both in Australia and internationally,” he says.
“It’s bad for long-term sustainability of the industry, but luckily new technologies offer solutions.”
The UQ research team are working to deliver a more sustainable breed of pineapple that is resistant to premature flowering.
These efforts have the potential to transform the industry with concrete benefits to national and international consumers and industry including:
- highly planned and managed production efforts for producers and consumers
- wider distribution into new domestic and international markets
- increased production for farmers
- a boost for the economy.
Agribusiness programs available at UQ
With growing demand for passionate agribusiness experts, now’s the time to join an industry at the forefront of ensuring food security for a growing population.
Start shaping your career in agribusiness at UQ by studying a:
