One of the first initiatives to be set up in Lethbridge College’s new agribusiness program will be a business risk management curriculum, drafted in a new partnership with the province’s cattle feeders association.
The college and Alberta Cattle Feeders Association announced Wednesday they’ll jointly develop programming to be “offered in a variety of delivery modes — face-to-face, online or blended.”
The BRM initiative is expected to focus on areas such as financial literacy, communications, currency, market tools, cycles, risk and opportunity policies, self-management and awareness, government policy, marketing and equity in the market. It will also include an individual case study, the college said.
Read Also
Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
The curriculum will be available both to the college’s current students and “industry participants starting this fall as part of the Southern Alberta Cor Van Raay Agribusiness Program, the college said.
The college’s Cor Van Raay agribusiness program was announced in June as a partnership with the University of Lethbridge, backed with a $5 million gift from cattle producer Cor Van Raay, to teach “advanced agribusiness practices.”
“Developing this important curriculum with ACFA and other producer groups will ensure that we are developing what is needed, not only for current students, but for producers and other industry members who, as they grow and succeed, will need to also manage risk within their businesses,” Stuart Cullum, the college’s chief operating officer, said in a release.
“As cattle prices have increased, industry needs to manage their increased exposure to market volatility,” John Lawton, a member of ACFA’s board and cattle feeder at Niton Junction, said in the same release.
BRM programming, to be taught by both college and university faculty, “will provide skills for industry participants currently trying to manage their equity as well as prepare students with a skill set that is in demand in the cattle industry as well as other livestock and grain industries,” he said. — AGCanada.com Network
